For the second straight game, the Cleveland Cavaliers had to hold off the hard-charging Indiana Pacers in the fourth quarter. Indiana may not have come as close as it did in Game 1, but there is still some trepidation in Cleveland as the Cavs let a 15-point lead midway through the fourth frame get whittled down to five with two minutes remaining. The Pacers have not capitalized on the Cavaliers late-game struggles yet, but now the venue switches from Cleveland to Indianapolis.
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Indiana covered both games in Cleveland, losing by a combined seven points when the Cavaliers were a nine-point favorite in both games. Both games in Cleveland ended up going over the total and the last five meetings between these two squads have all had at least 217 points.
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Is Paul George trying to help inspire his teammates or just setting the stage for a potential exit this summer? For the second straight game, following a crushing loss, George was critical of one of his teammates in the postgame interview. After Game 1, he told reporters that he should have got the last shot and not CJ Miles, who had the team’s best shooting percentage against the Cavaliers this season.
Following the loss in Game 2, he called out both Lance Stephenson and Myles Turner for their performances. George told the assembled media that Stephenson needed to play with more composure and that Turner needed to be more physical against Cleveland’s Tristan Thompson in the blocks.
For his part, George has been great this series, hitting 19 of 39 from the floor and 10 of 18 from behind the three-point line while grabbing rebounds and dishing out assists too. Whether or not his harsh words help or hurt teammates though remains to be seen.
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Cleveland’s Big Three lived up to their name in Game 2 against the Pacers with Kevin Love, LeBron James, and Kyrie Irving carrying the team to the victory. No other Cavalier took more than five shots on the night as the three high-profile stars took matters into their own hands.
Love, James, and Irving combined to shoot 31 of 51 from the field and scored 89 of the team’s 117 points. Love and James also ended the night with double-doubles as both hit the mark with rebounds. Love was especially key for Cleveland in the third quarter. He was unstoppable down low when the Pacers trotted out a small ball line-up and torched Stephenson, leading a 13-point advantage for the Cavs in that quarter.
The only quibble among Cleveland’s superstars was how often LeBron turned the ball over. LBJ had eight turnovers on the night and that would have been a serious issue if Cleveland had not shot 55.3 percent from the floor.
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Defense is still a major issue for Cleveland. Indiana hit over 50 percent from the floor yet again and this team seems like it has issues in crunch time. Maybe because the mostly veteran squad is wearing down after a long regular season, or maybe it’s a scheme issue, but the Pacers are going to clip the Cavaliers in one of these games if this keeps happening.
Indiana has lost to Cleveland in five straight meetings, but the last four have been in Ohio and some home cooking will do the Pacers good. A raucous crowd cheering them on every step of the way will help spur the Pacers to steal one from the Cavaliers in Game 3 and put some fear into the defending champs for Game 4.
NBA Odds: Pacers 110, Cavaliers 106
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