The situation was dire [url=http://www.authenticsbuffalobills.com/cheap-jeremy-kerley-jersey]Jeremy Kerley Color Rush Jersey[/url] , requiring playoff dominance. LeBron James delivered.

No surprise there.

Taking matters into his own hands, James scored 46 points and added 12 rebounds as the Cleveland Cavaliers bounced back from a poor performance in the series opener by holding off the Indiana Pacers 100-97 on Wednesday night to even their Eastern Conference playoff matchup at one game apiece.

Dazzling from the start, James scored the game’s first 16 points and had 29 at halftime, ruling the floor as he has done in so many previous postseasons.

”Coach Lue called up the first play for me and it went down,” James said. ”So we went back to it. I was able to hit another one. And it just felt like I was in a really good rhythm, so I just tried to see how long I could stay in that zone and try to make a mark on the game early on.

”I played my game,” he said.

But in a season in which nothing has been easy for the Cavs, Cleveland was lucky that Indiana’s Victor Oladipo missed a wide-open 3-pointer that would have tied it with 27 seconds left.

”I got a clean look, I shot and I just missed,” Oladipo said, shrugging his shoulders. ”If I had that look again, I would take it every time.”

Kevin Love scored 15, but Cleveland’s All-Star center jammed his left thumb – the same hand he broke earlier this season- while deflecting a pass and sat out the final 3:43 left with the Cavs clinging to a slim lead. Lue said Love could have returned and ”he’s fine” for Game 3 on Friday.

As long as James is OK, the Cavs will always have a chance.

Lue shook up his starting lineup for Game 2 and Kyle Korver contributed 12 points [url=http://www.cardinalsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-josh-rosen-jersey]http://www.cardinalsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-josh-rosen-jersey[/url] , all on 3s, made several hustling plays and took two charges.

Oladipo scored 22 – he was in early foul trouble – and Myles Turner 18 for the Pacers, who shocked the Cavs with an overpowering win in Game 1 and head home full of confidence.

Indiana clawed back from an 18-point deficit and was within 95-92 when Oladipo, who scored 32 in the opener, somehow came free off a screen but missed maybe his easiest shot in two games.

”We blew a coverage and we were lucky and I’d rather be on time, on target than to be lucky,” James said. ”But he missed it and I was able to get the rebound.”

James then made three free throws over the final 22 seconds as the Cavs avoided falling behind 2-0 on the series.

The 33-year-old James was expected to be more aggressive than in Game 1, when he was unusually passive, deferred to teammates and suffered the first playoff-opening loss of his career.

James was his unstoppable self again, and there wasn’t a whole lot the Pacers could do about him in the first half.

”We just wanted him to set the tone and he did that by getting to the basket early, making a couple jump shots,” Lue said. ”But we ran the same first play until they stopped it. He kept getting what he wanted. We just kind of followed his lead from there.”

Lue had been contemplating changes to his starting lineup and he made two moves, going with Korver and J.R. Smith over Jeff Green and Rodney Hood. Green didn’t score in the opener and Hood only started because Korver was dealing with a sore right foot.

While the changes weren’t that surprising, Oladipo leaving after 62 seconds was stunning.

Indiana’s lightning-quick guard picked up an offensive foul and then got his second when he knocked over James [url=http://www.raidersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-arden-key-jersey]http://www.raidersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-arden-key-jersey[/url] , who was setting a screen. With Oladipo off the floor, the Pacers didn’t have an offensive answer to James.

Nobody does.

James made his first five attempts and scored Cleveland’s first 16 points, making a pair of 3-pointers and then picking up assists on 3s by Love and Korver. James outscored the Pacers 20-18 in the first 12 minutes.

THUMB PRINT

Love said X-rays were negative and he expects to play Game 3.

”It’s not going to feel great tomorrow, but I’ll throw some ice on it, tape it up and I’ll be ready to go,” he said.

HELPING HAND

Korver was limited to just four minutes in the opener because he was sick and had lingering soreness in his foot.

But he came through in Game 2, playing 31 minutes and coming up big at both ends.

”Kyle was great for us,” Lue said. ”He does all the little things it takes to win, and when you want to win a championship, you know you gotta do all the little things.”

POSITIVE PACERS

Despite the loss, Indiana’s locker room was filled with confidence. The Pacers took a big shot from James, but didn’t buckle.

”Take nothing away from what he’s done, but he had 46 points and we lost by three,” Thaddeus Young said. ”We punched them [url=http://www.authenticsdenverbroncos.com/cheap-daesean-hamilton-jersey]DaeSean Hamilton Color Rush Jersey[/url] , they punched us. We’re very, very confident.”

TIP-INS

Pacers: Shot 6 of 22 on 3-pointers. … Oladipo became the fourth player in Pacers history with at least 30 points and six 3-pointers in a postseason game in the opener, joining Reggie Miller, Chuck Person and Paul George.

Cavaliers: Improved to 40-0 when leading after three quarters. … It was the 20th time James has scored at least 40 in the playoffs. … Lue refused to reveal his lineup changes two hours before tip, saying by doing so he would give the Pacers – or any team in the postseason – and advantage. ”Being strategic in the playoffs, if you tell your lineup, they can see what matchups they want to do and who’s going to guard who, what matchups they want to guard,” Lue explained.

UP NEXT

Game 3 is Friday night.

As Boston Red Sox players donned red, white and blue outfits to celebrate a 3-0 victory on the 4th of July that completed a sweep, the Washington Nationals held a players-only meeting to discuss a fifth consecutive loss and the precarious spot they’re now in beyond the halfway point of the season.

Done in again by small mistakes that get magnified in a stretch such as this, the preseason NL East favorites lost for the 17th time in 22 games Wednesday to fall below .500 for the first time this late in the year since being 60-61 on Aug. 21, 2015.

This time, it was a throwing error by Adam Eaton on a sacrifice fly in foul territory and a wild pitch by Ryan Madson (2-4) in a disastrous seventh inning that dropped the Nationals to 42-43 and kept them from making up ground on the division-leading Atlanta Braves.

”We’re a good team and we’re going to go out there and compete with anybody [url=http://www.brownsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-denzel-ward-jersey]http://www.brownsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-denzel-ward-jersey[/url] ,” said Bryce Harper, who went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts.

”We just have to keep grinding and keep doing our thing and good things will happen. We’ve never been in this position before, and I think it’s an exciting time for us. In years past, we’ve won the division by a lot of games. We’re able to be behind right now and I’m excited to get there and test it.”

Powered by struggling outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr.’s two RBIs on the sac fly and a ninth-inning double and a strong start by Eduardo Rodriguez (10-3), the Red Sox moved 30 games over .500 under rookie manager Alex Cora.

”We know where we’re at, but we still have a long ways to go,” Cora said. ”(The Nationals) have a good team. They’ll figure it out. I’ve seen that before from them. They struggle a little bit and they’ll pick it up. They’ll be in the hunt.”

Bradley, who came into the game hitting .201, worked full counts on each of his at-bats that produced a run. He was hoping the ball Eaton caught deep in foul territory down the third-base line would go out of play so he could see another pitch but will gladly take the RBIs – the second time this season he has had two in a game without a home run.

”Just had to continue to battle and finally get a pitch I could handle,” Bradley said. ”Any time you can help the team win, it’s a positive. It’s good, any way you can do it.”

Rodriguez struck out six in six scoreless innings, mixing his change-up and slider in more often to keep Nationals hitters off-balance.

The Red Sox now have the first pair of 10-game winners in the majors with Rodriguez and Rick Porcello, whose double off Max Scherzer helped win them the first game of this series.

The Nationals have lost four series in a row. This freefall led to the postgame meeting Wednesday afternoon.

”It’s `Let’s get this thing going [url=http://www.bengalsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-logan-woodside-jersey]http://www.bengalsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-logan-woodside-jersey[/url] ,”’ Nationals infielder Trea Turner said. ”We all know we’re capable of playing better baseball. It’s time we do it. It’s do or die now.”

FEDDE HURT

Nationals starter Erick Fedde left the game one batter into the second inning with right shoulder stiffness and gave way to left-hander Matt Grace, who allowed just one hit and struck out four in four innings of relief. Manager Davey Martinez said Fedde was scheduled to have an MRI.

”We watched him throw and his (velocity) was down,” Martinez said. ”He was out there and wanted to keep pitching. I went out there and they told me he was stiff and I said `No, we’re not going to do that to you.”’

TRAINER’S ROOM

Red Sox: Manager Alex Cora said LHP Drew Pomeranz (biceps tendinitis) would most likely make a second rehab start early next week. … RHP Tyler Thornburg was activated from the disabled list after rehabbing from shoulder surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome last June.

Nationals: 1B Matt Adams was activated after missing 16 games with a broken left index finger. To clear room, LHP Tim Collins was designated for assignment. … C Matt Wieters (left hamstring strain) is doing some catching, but still hasn’t done enough running to be ready to return.

UP NEXT

Red Sox: After a day off, LHP Chris Sale (8-4, 2.41 ERA) brings a 15-inning scoreless streak into his Friday start at Kansas City, which is expected to start Jason Hammel (2-10, 5.56).

Nationals: RHP Jeremy Hellickson (2-1, 2.63) will look to last at least six innings to spare a heavily used bullpen when Washington faces RHP Pablo Lopez (1-0, 3.00) to open a four-game series against the Miami Marlins.

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