CLEVELAND — New coach Nate Bjorkgren's first game at the helm of the Indiana Pacers ended in a last-second loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers 107-104 Saturday night in Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
Domantas Sabonis led balanced Indiana scoring with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Malcolm Brogdon also scored 16 while handing out five assists. Myles Turner scored 14 points, grabbed six rebounds and blocked three shots.
Bjorkgren played his starters for much of the game.
"I thought we played hard," Bjorkgren was quoted afterward on Pacers.com. "That's what I was looking for tonight. I thought we were very active out there on the defensive end. We got our hands on a lot of passes out there, a lot of deflections, were very disruptive."
Indiana used a pair of early 10-2 runs in the first and second quarters to take leads in a see-saw half that ended with Cleveland on top 49-45.
But the Pacers went on a 22-5 run in the third quarter to take an eight point lead into to final quarter, 73-65.
Cleveland was able to pull even, though.
The game was tied at 102 and again at 104 in the final minute before Cavs rookie Isaac Okoro hit the game-winning shot with just 0.3 seconds on the clock. He finished with 18. Cedi Osman led the Cavs with 23.
