LEBRON JAMES scored 33 points after sitting out a game and Tristan Thompson made two huge plays in the final minute, leading Cleveland to a 100-96 win over the Indiana Pacers on Monday night.

    James was given Sunday off by coach Tyronn Lue, who wants to monitor his superstar’s playing time down the stretch, and the Cavs were lethargic in a 113-99 loss at Washington. But with James back on the floor, Cleveland played with much more energy and again looked like a team with NBA championship aspirations.

    “We showed some mental toughness,” James said. “So many lead changes, so many ties. They grabbed the momentum late in the fourth and we were able to keep our composure, get some stops, make some shots and win the ballgame.”

    Beyond that, the Cavs also caught a break when a 3-pointer by Indiana’s Paul George in the fourth quarter was nullified following a video review by the officials.

    “Huge,” Cavs forward Kevin Love said of the ruling, which reduced Indiana’s lead to one. “A game changer right there. That was a huge difference for us.”

    Matthew Dellavedova hit a tying 3-pointer for the Cavs with 1:13 left before Thompson, who was replaced in the starting lineup by Timofey Mozgov, scored underneath off a pass from James to make it 96-94 with 18 seconds remaining. Thompson then came across the lane to block a short shot by George Hill.

    Kyrie Irving made four free throws in the last eight seconds to put away the Pacers. Irving finished with 22 points — he went 11 of 11 from the line — and Thompson added 11 rebounds for the Cavs, who were criticized following Sunday’s poor performance by teammate J. R. Smith for not playing harder.

    The Cavs recovered with a solid all-around effort, but were pushed to the final seconds by the Pacers.

    “The fact that we responded like we did tonight is a good sign,” James said. “We put ourselves in dark spots and we have to build our way out of them.”

    Although it may keep him fresh for the playoffs, James said watching his teammates Sunday wasn’t easy.

    “I wish I was on the court. That’s what I felt,” he said. “I never like my guys having to go out there and go through that. And obviously those guys know they could’ve played much better than the effort that they gave. You’re the leader of a ballclub, you never want to see your guys go through that.”

    Monta Ellis scored 28 points and George had 23 for the Pacers, who lost their third straight but played much better than in a loss to Portland on Sunday.

    George’s 3-pointer with 4:46 left had given Indiana a 93-89 lead, but during a timeout with 2:27 left, the officials reviewed the shot and determined it came after the 24-second shot clock had expired. George’s bucket was wiped out and James scored on a drive to put the Cavs ahead 91-90.

    “It didn’t need to be explained at all,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. “They made the right call. We knew it was coming off. I knew it was coming off.”

    Cleveland’s three wins over Indiana this season have been by a total of 13 points.

    “Obviously they’re ahead of us, but I do feel like we’re pretty evenly matched with anybody in the East,” Vogel said. “We can play with this team. We know we can. We just haven’t finished.” (SD-Agencies)