On Wednesday, 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 JR 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 a stunning development.

Indiana's lightning-quick guard picked up an offensive foul and then got his second when he knocked over James, 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 en route to outscoring the Pacers 20-18 in the first 12 minutes.

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.

"He made tough shots. We feel very comfortable going back home 1-1 because everybody thought we were going to be swept. We punched them, they punched us.

"We're very, very confident. We feel great."

Associated Press