After having a cakewalk in the first round against the Miami Heat, the Cleveland Cavaliers got tripped up on Sunday by Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series at Rocket Arena. The Cavs lost the series opener to Indiana via a 121-112 score.
The message to the Cavaliers from Indiana was clear that this series is not going to be as easy as what Cleveland experienced in the previous round.
That can also be encapsulated in the physical midair combat involving Cavs forward De’Andre Hunter and Pacers shooting guard Bennedict Mathurin during one moment in Game 1.
As Hunter was trying to make a layup, he was met in the air by Mathurin, who appeared to use his left hand to push off Hunter, who fell to the ground hard.
However, Mathurin was not called for a foul even after a challenge by Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson. Hunter also seemingly hurt his wrist, forcing him to head to the locker room. Fortunately for Cleveland, the former Virginia Cavaliers star managed to return eventually to the contest, a great sign for his availability in Game 2, at least.
Following the game, Atkinson shared his true feelings about the non-call on Mathurin (h/t Evan Dammarell of ClutchPoints): ” #Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson is exasperated about the non-call on De’Andre Hunter saying that it doesn’t make sense that players can be that physical when the ball is released. However, Atkinson did say that the Pacers outplayed them and that’s why they lost. Not the refs.”
As mentioned by Atkinson, the Pacers simply got the better of Cleveland in Game 1. The Pacers thwarted the Cavaliers’ defense with superb outside shooting. Indiana drained 19 of its 36 attempts from behind the arc while the Cavs were just 9-for-38 from deep. Andrew Nembhard led the Pacers with 23 points, while Haliburton provided 22 points and 13 assists.
Donovan Mitchell paced Cleveland with 33 points but he was a salty 13-for-30 from the floor and a brutal 1-for-11 from the 3-point area. As for Hunter, he had 11 points off the bench for Cleveland, which will look to avoid a 2-0 series deficit when it hosts the Pacers again for Game 2 this coming Tuesday.
