NBA Game Summary - Indiana at Cleveland

Cleveland, OH (Basketball News) - LeBron James netted a game-high 23 points, pulled down seven rebounds and dished out eight assists, as the Cleveland Cavaliers pounded the Indiana Pacers, 96-66, at Quicken Loans Arena.

Adding insult to injury, Indiana star forward Jermaine O’Neal left the rout with 9:30 remaining in the game with an apparent ankle injury and did not return.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 18 points and hauled in nine rebounds while Drew Gooden totaled 14 points and 10 boards for Cleveland, which has won two straight since dropping six in a row.

Stephen Jackson led his team with 17 points, but all of them came in the first half for the Pacers, who have dropped four straight. Danny Granger posted 12 points and 11 rebounds and O’Neal finished with seven points and 15 boards.

Indiana appeared to have solved the Ron Artest situation prior to the game, as the malcontent forward had reportedly been traded to Sacramento for Peja Stojakovic. That scenario apparently fell apart, however, because Artest did not want to play for the Kings.

"As I have said before, until there is a deal completed we do not have a deal," said Pacers president and CEO Donnie Walsh. "We do not have a deal and will not comment on any premature reports regarding a trade involving Ron Artest."

Indiana, with all of its issues, trailed just 42-38 at the break, but Cleveland exploded for a 23-2 run early in the third quarter to assume a 67-42 lead after a pair of Ilgauskus free throws.

The Pacers would never get back in the game.

"The second half of this game was probably one of our best halves of basketball that we’ve played this year," said Cleveland head coach Mike Brown.

Indiana committed 18 turnovers in the contest and shot just 32.5 percent from the floor. Even more alarming, the Pacers sank only 10 of their 24 free-throw attempts.

Cleveland, meanwhile, shot nearly 43 percent from behind the arc and outscored the Pacers in the paint, 32-22.