When Love is not enough: Cavs lose without LeBron, Irving

As it turns out, LeBron James is very important to the success of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

With head coach David Blatt sitting James down due to back soreness and the team also without point guard Kyrie Irving because of a strained shoulder, the Cavaliers saw their four-game winning streak come to a close Friday.

The Cavs got out to an early lead but saw the Indiana Pacers slowly chip away and pull ahead. Cleveland trimmed Indiana's lead to as little as four with 32 seconds to play, but the Pacers hung on for a 93-86 victory.

Without James and Irving, the team's two highest-usage players, Cleveland's offense was left in far less capable hands. 

Kevin Love shot 6-of-19 on his way to 17 points and 10 rebounds, J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert both shot 7-of-17 for 21 and 14 points, respectively, and Matthew Dellavedova shot an atrocious 5-of-18, finishing with 14 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. 

The team as a whole shot an unsightly 35.9 percent and committed 15 turnovers. 

Losing the league's best player and one of its best sidekicks is never going to be easy, but the defense, a key to the team's recent success, remained solid.

Cleveland is now 2-9 when James sits, 1-3 when Irving sits and 0-2 when both sit, showing that its current 18-3 run is not infallible.

George Hill led the way for the Pacers with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists, his first career triple-double.

The win improves Indiana to 24-34 and was its seventh in nine games, pushing the Pacers to just a half-game out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. 

With Paul George potentially on the way, this lost season may not be lost after all.