CLEVELAND _ The Cavaliers public relations department comes up with a playoff theme each year.
There has been Rise Up, All In, and Defend the Land in the past few years. This year the motto is Whatever It Takes.
LeBron James came out with that mentality on Wednesday night at Quicken Loans Arena and turned into a scoring machine the Indiana Pacers couldn't contain.
James scored the first 13 points of the game and finished with 46 to lead the Cavs to a 100-97 victory in Game 2 of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference first-round series.
The series is even at 1-1 with Game 3 in Indiana on Friday night.
James came through in the clutch at the free-throw line in the final minute of the fourth quarter with the Cavs clinging to a single-digit lead. He made two free throws with 22.2 seconds to go and dropped in two more with 18.6 seconds left before a sellout crowd of 20,562.
James made 17-of-24 shots from the field, including 2-of-5 3-pointers, and 10-of-13 free throw. The 6-foot-8 Akron native also had 12 rebounds and five assists in 40 minutes.
"We needed this one," Cavs reserve forward Larry Nance Jr. told the crowd afterward during a broadcasted interview on the court. "It feels great to even this series up. ... LeBron was outstanding."
Cavs coach Tyronn Lue made some changes to the starting lineup, sticking with James, Kevin Love and George Hill, and inserting Kyle Korver and J.R. Smith in place of Rodney Hood and Jeff Green. The result was a 33-18 lead for the Cavs after one quarter.
Love finished with 15 points and eight rebounds, and Korver made 4-of-8 3-point attempts for 12 points.
Victor Oladipo led the Pacers with 22 points and six assists. Myles Turner (18), Darren Collison (16) and Lance Stephenson (10) also reached double figures in points.
James came out assertive and looking to score Wednesday. He took and made the first three shots of the game _ a jumper at 11:46, a layup at 11:19 and a jumper at 10:50.
The start for the Pacers was a rough one with James' offensive onslaught coupled with a couple of turnovers and Oladipo being relegated to the bench with two quick fouls.
James wasn't done, though, as he added a 3-pointer, a jumper and a layup to give the Cavs a 13-0 lead with 8:30 to go in the first quarter.
Bojan Bogdanovic made a free throw to give the Pacers their first point with 7:43 left in the first quarter, and then James buried another 3-pointer to extend the Cavs' advantage to 16-1 at 7:04. The Cavs' lead reached 19-3 on a Love 3-pointer at 6:34 and 22-4 on a Korver 3 at 5:52.
Turner dropped in nine points to keep the Pacers competitive in the early going, but the Cavs led 33-18 through 12 minutes as James made 9 of his first 12 shots from the field for 20 points.
Oladipo scored his first two points of the game when he converted a layup with 10:42 to go in the second quarter. The Pacers trimmed their deficit to 39-33 with 6:06 to go in the second, but the Cavs responded with James leading the charge and held a 58-46 halftime edge. James tossed down dunks at 3:50, 1:19 and 17.3 seconds, respectively, and also swished two free throws to chants of "M-V-P, M-V-P, M-V-P" from the crowd.
The Pacers kept charging in the second half and trailed 74-67 through three quarters, and 95-92 with under a minute to go in the fourth quarter when Collison made a 3-pointer.
James then followed with four free throws as the "M-V-P" chants returned, and Collison added his final bucket. J.R. Smith made 1-of-2 free throws with 6.1 seconds to go and Oladipo concluded the scoring with a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Hill scored six points, and Smith, Hood and Jose Calderon each scored five points for the Cavs.
Bogdanovic and Thaddeus Young both chipped in eight points for the Pacers.
