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UPCOMING MILESTONES: LeBron James is 69 points away from claiming the 3rd most in NBA playoffs history – passing Kobe Bryant. In addition, with eight rebounds, LeBron James will have pulled down the 8th most in playoff history (passing Robert Parish), and with five steals, he’ll have made the 3rd most in post-season history (passing Magic Johnson). Finally, with 11 made baskets, LeBron passes Tim Duncan in for 5th most shots made in playoff history. With Kyrie Irving’s first six points, he’ll pass Brad Daugherty for 4th most post-season points in Cavaliers history, and with just eight points he’ll pass Zydrunas Ilgauskas for 3rd most.
After 82 regular season games – 51 wins and 31 losses – the Cavaliers have once again made it back to the playoffs for the third year in a row. Despite losing the second seed, the Cavaliers aren’t worried – they still have LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love. In the first round, the Wine-and-Gold are going head-to-head against the Indiana Pacers, who ended the season with a resounding five game win streak to clinch their spot in the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers come into the playoffs having lost four straight regular season games. Despite how the Cavaliers have played of late, the playoffs are an entirely different game. With LeBron winning every single first round series he’s been – dating all the way back to 2006 – and having currently won 17 straight games in the first round, the event of an upset seems highly unlikely. However, the Cavaliers cannot disregard the Pacers, and need to come out with as much effort as they can muster – not only to advance to the next round but also to begin to find their groove and reclaim the rhythm they displayed earlier in the season.
During the regular season, the Cavaliers won three of the four games played between these two teams. In their only loss – November 16th – Kevin Love’s 27 points weren’t enough to fend off Paul George’s 21 points and 11 rebounds and Jeff Teague’s 20 points as the LeBron-less Cavaliers fell 93-103. The next time the two teams met – February 8th – Kyle Korver and Kyrie Irving both dropped 29 points – with Korver shooting 83.3% from the field – as Cleveland readily dispatched the Pacers in a 132-117 matchup. For Indiana, CJ Miles led the way with 23 points on 63.6% shooting. One week later, on the 15th of February, the Cavaliers once again took down the Pacers – this time in a 113-104 contest with 31 points from LeBron James and double digit scoring for five different Pacers players (Glenn Robinson III, Jeff Teague, Myles Turner, Monta Ellis, and Paul George). Most recently, on April 2nd, the Cavaliers are Pacers faced off in an electric double over time thriller which saw the Cavaliers claim a 130-135 victory. LeBron James dropped a triple double with 41 points, 14 rebounds, and 11 assists to match Paul George’s 43 points, 9 rebounds, and 9 assists. Since coming back to Cleveland, LeBron James has lost just one single game when facing off against the Pacers.
As a team, the Pacers have been rather deadly from distance if left open – they shoot the fourth best field goal percentage form beyond the arc at 37.6%. Despite this, they’ve only shot a fourth-fewest 23.0 threes a game over the season. In their four games against the Cavaliers, thought, they’ve been even more efficient and even more willing to shoot beyond the arc, averaging 29.5 threes a game on 43.2% shooting. One of their preferred regions to score from this season has been mid-range shots, which account for 18.4% of their entire points. With the Cavaliers’ defensive issues on pick-and-roll plays – where they allowed opposing ball handlers to shoot a fourth-best 48.0 Effective Field Goal Percentage – the Pacers might try to set high screens to get some of these open opportunities. Defensively, the Pacers have held their opponents 0.8% below their season shooting averages and 0.4% below their averages on three pointers. Despite this, the Cavaliers managed to shoot 1.1% better from the field and a full 4.2% better from beyond the arc over their season averages in the four games against the Pacers. The Pacers have been effective this season at limiting transition opportunities – allowing a third-fewest 10.6 fast break points per game – and restricting interior opportunities – allowing a fourth-fewest 39.7 points in the paint per game.
Key players to watch for on the Pacers will be Paul George (averaging 23.7 points and 6.6 rebounds per game), Jeff Teague (averaging 15.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 7.8 assists per game), and Myles Turner (averaging 14.5 points, and 7.3 rebounds per game).
Tipoff is set for 3:00 EST and will be broadcast on ABC.
