CLEVELAND _ The Cavaliers lived to play another day on Sunday as elimination in the first round of the NBA playoffs was a distinct possibility.
The Indiana Pacers were certainly a formidable opponent, but the men dressed in gold and blue didn't have a number 23 in their lineup by the name of LeBron James.
The Cavs, dressed in black with wine letters and numbers trimmed in gold, relied heavily on James, and he didn't disappoint in a 105-101 victory in Game 7 of a first-round series that was full of excitement and drama.
James totaled 45 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in 43 minutes to dispatch a Pacers team that at one point in the series held a 2-1 advantage.
The Cavs' starting lineup continued to evolve on Sunday with coach Tyronn Lue putting together his fourth different starting lineup of the series. Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson, J.R. Smith and Kyle Korver joined James in a starting five that didn't feature a true point guard.
Regardless, the Cavs came out aggressively in the first quarter with James, Love and a rejuvenated Thompson.
Thompson, making his first start since March 28, delivered 15 points and 10 rebounds in 35 minutes. Love (14 points, six rebounds); Smith (11 points) and George Hill (11 points) also scored in double figures for the Cavs, who will meet the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference semifinals later this week.
Victor Oladipo led the Pacers with 30 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. Darren Collison (23 points), Thaddeus Young (14 points) and Domantas Sabonis (10 points) also reached double figures.
James talked about not taking "these moments for granted" following a Game 6 loss, and the Cavs came out and built a 9-2 lead that forced Pacers coach Nate McMillan to call a timeout with 7:43 to go in the first quarter of Game 7. James made his first two shots, both layups, Thompson added a basket and Love drilled a 3-pointer.
Collison scored seven of the Pacers' first 14 points, but the Cavs jumped out to a 26-14 lead at 2:31 on seven points in a row by James. Smith and Korver added 3-pointers in the early surge, and then the Cavs' advantage reached 29-16 with a Jeff Green layup off of a pass by James and 31-19 at the end of the quarter after James buried a jumper from just inside the 3-point arc.
James scored 13 points in the opening quarter and Thompson contributed six points and seven rebounds. Thompson entered Sunday with three points and six rebounds in 24 minutes of action in the series.
James made a jumper to give the Cavs a 35-21 lead with 10:09 to go in the second quarter, but the Pacers responded with a run and trimmed their deficit to 37-33 at 6:08 with Collison, Sabonis, Oladipo and Cory Joseph leading the charge.
Love made a 3-pointer at 5:42, and then the Cavs turned to James to answer the Pacers' spurt. The 15-year NBA veteran attacked with an assortment of layups and jumpers to push the score to 51-37 at 3:08. Smith added a 3-pointer and the Cavs took a 54-43 lead into halftime.
James made his first seven shots from the field and first four free throws. He went into halftime with a stat line of 26 points, five assists and four rebounds in 24 minutes.
Thompson made two free throws to give the Cavs a 56-43 lead in the opening minute of the third quarter, but the Pacers put together an 18-2 run to hold a 61-58 edge with 6:38 left in the third. Collison, Myles Turner, Oladipo, Young and Bojan Bogdanovic supplied the scoring.
Once again, James stepped forward and propelled the Cavs to a 76-74 lead at the end of the third quarter by scoring 12 of his team's final 14 points.
A leg cramp sidelined James for the opening 3:35 of the fourth quarter and the Cavs didn't crumble. In fact, the Cavs extended their lead to 86-76 with 8:41 left with three free throws by Hill, a 3-pointer and a jumper by Love and two free throws by Green.
The sides traded baskets for approximately the next four minutes until Turner fouled out with 4:33 to go in the fourth quarter. Smith stepped to the line and made both free throws to give the Cavs a 97-88 lead.
The Pacers kept charging with Oladipo and Sabonis at the forefront, and cut the Cavs lead to 100-96 with 50.1 seconds to go.
James cut to the basket and took a Korver pass and made a layup with 30.2 to go to make it 102-96 and seal the victory.
