Cavs Vs Pacers Game 1 & 2 Review

Wow! This has been disappointing to say the least. Are the Pacers that good? Are the Cavs falling apart? What happens now? Can top-seeded Cleveland still win the series?

Those questions have been bugging me. The Cavaliers, well-rested after sweeping

Miami in round 1, now find themselves in an 0-2 hole against Indiana after a pair of disappointing performances.

In game 1, the Pacers had a historically good 3-point percentage at 52.8%, while the Cavs had a historically bad 3-point percentage at 23.7%.

Darius Garland was still out with his toe injury. Still, watching the game it felt like they played

with more heart, even in a packed Rocket Arena. When the Cavs came back from down double-digits late in the 3rd quarter, Indiana struck back immediately and went on a 7-2 run to regain the lead entering the 4th . Every time Cleveland tried to stage a comeback down the stretch, Indiana would counter with their own run.

Cleveland could not make shots consistently, including several open shots and good looks they just could not get to go in. They ended up losing by a final score of 121-112. Despite all of this, game 2 was much worse and much more demoralizing.

Game 1 Leading Scorers:

Cavs:

Donovan Mitchell: 33 points, 5 rebounds

Ty Jerome: 21 points, 8 assists

Pacers:

Andrew Nembhard: 23 points, 6 assists

Tyrese Haliburton: 22 points, 13 assists

In game 2, the Cavaliers had even more of an excuse to lose. I was watching the Cleveland

Guardians game a couple hours before the Cavs played when I got a notification with breaking news. Not only was Darius Garland out for game 2, but so were All-Star Evan Mobley and DeAndre Hunter. I was shocked. I knew they were questionable, but I figured they would play because it’s the playoffs and they did not seem like injuries that would keep them from playing. I knew we would now have to play an almost flawless game to win now.

However, this was not an excuse to lose in the heartbreaking fashion they did. We almost played that perfect game to come away with a short-handed game 2 win. Key word "almost". After The Pacers jumped out to a quick 9-4 lead a little after 3 minutes into the game, Cleveland took over. The rest of the quarter finished with a 28-6 run that ended with the Cavs on top 32-15.

The 2nd and 3rd quarter were not much different. Every time Indiana would make a run, Cleveland would make some nice shots and take back a commanding lead. Donovan Mitchell played incredible and got to the rim with ease and made incredible shots, often while getting fouled. Sam Merrill was a key player off the bench in a night where our bench scoring was going to be a question mark with Ty Jerome starting and DeAndre Hunter out.

Then the 4 th quarter came. Indiana slowly started whittling away at the lead. They had cut the lead down to 6 by the midway point of the quarter. They had trouble getting it any further than that. With 1:06 left in the game, Max Strus hit a 3-pointer to put the Cavs up by 7. This really felt like and should have been the nail in the coffin. Unfortunately, it was not.

The Cavaliers gave up 3 offensive rebounds and 2 turnovers in the last minute of the game.

Down by 2, Tyrese Haliburton missed a free throw with 12 seconds left, got his own rebound,

and made a game winning 3-pointer with 1 second left.

This was demoralizing. The crowd was stunned. I was stunned. Did Cleveland just choke away a necessary game 2 win while missing several key players? A heroic game by Donovan Mitchell just went wasted.

Ultimately though, when you give a team 5 extra possessions in the span of a minute, bad things are going to happen. I knew rebounding would be a problem without Mobley, but this still should have never happened. Two turnovers in the last minute is also detrimental, especially when you’re a team who typically takes care of the ball.

Game 2 Leading Scorers:

Cavs:

Donovan Mitchell: 48 points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds

Max Strus: 23 points, 8 rebounds

Pacers:

Myles Turner: 23 points, 8 rebounds, 5 blocks

Aaron Nesmith: 23 points

Are the Cleveland Cavaliers done? I don't think so. If we go win game 3, which is necessary, we actually put the pressure on Indiana to win game 4 or else Cleveland regains home court advantage. Cleveland has not had trouble winning on the road this season and if we can get everyone healthy we still will not be an easy out.

However, our backs are definitely against the ropes. If we lose game 3… well no NBA team has ever come back to win a series down 3-0. But right now, we are definitely still in this series. I’ve seen crazier. And as a big ‘It’s not over ‘til it’s over guy’, I’m going to keep saying it.

GO CAVS!!

Sources:

ESPN

StatMuse