I acknowledge backing Cleveland is a leap of faith. The Cavaliers are 4-11 in their last 15 games - and that's straight-up not against the spread. Chemistry is bad and Tyronn Lue has no business being an NBA head coach.

But if the Cavaliers can't show up here, at home in triple revenge, then they really are unbackable.

A new starting lineup with Tristan Thompson at center and Kevin Love at power forward should give the Pacers matchup problems especially if Myles Turner remains out due to a sore elbow. He hasn't played since Jan. 8 missing the last eight games.

Indiana has won all three meetings against Cleveland this season. This will be the first time, though, the Pacers have played the Cavaliers with Isaiah Thomas in the lineup. The Cavaliers blew a 22-point lead in their last game against the Pacers, losing 97-95 on Jan. 13. That was at Indiana.

Thomas has had eight games now to get in sync with LeBron James, Love and the rest of his teammates. Thomas is not a good defensive player, but he's due now to step up especially with the motivation of going against Victor Oladipo, who was picked to the East All-Star team by James.