Not A Playoff Recap: Pacers 92, Cavs 90 (or, How To Disappear Completely)

After playing one of their best halves of playoff basketball, the Cavaliers chased it with one of their worst. Despite building a 17 point lead in the first 24 minutes against the resilient Pacers (who looked a bit shell-shocked at first in their return home), and holding them to a mere 40 points with some of their most inspired defensive efforts… the Cavs pulled the ultimate disappearing act in the second half, ending their streak of winning games where they have the lead going into the fourth quarter.

All of the good offensive things Cleveland did in the first half failed to translate to the final two quarters… and the results were paltry. Just 33 total points in 24 minutes for the League’s fifth highest scoring team. Nearly half of them (15 points) came from LeBron James, with 10 coming during a desperate barrage of threes down the stretch in an attempt to counteract Bojan Bogdanovic’s nuclear shooting. The next closest Cav was Rodney Hood with six points in the second half… and, in fact no one else on the team had more than one bucket after halftime. No one.

It was kind of hard to believe what was happening…

Kevin Love (partially torn thumb tendon and all), was actually really effective to start, leading the team with 16 points in the first half. He took two shots the rest of the way (making a three in the final seconds to pull the Cavs within one), while turning the ball over four times in the third quarter.

After being exhorted by Ty Lue to be more aggressive, George Hill started like he was shot out of a cannon, scoring nine points in the first (11 for the half), and even threw down a dunk in transition. One more throwdown early in the third was all he had left though apparently. Hill finished with 13 points in the game, and was a non-factor in the second half.

JR Smith started again, and made some good plays on both sides of the ball in the first half, including a couple of nifty steals. He snagged two more in the early stages of the third, and knocked down a three ball to briefly stem the initial comeback by the Pacers… but, he wouldn’t score again, missing his next four threes (including a 38 desperation heave at the end).

Even though Rodney Hood chipped in three buckets down the stretch, they were all of the mid-range variety… as he was ice cold from downtown, going 0-3. His shooting brethren were equally ghostly (for most of the game actually), with Kyle Korver pitching a shutout (0-3), Jordan Clarkson coming up small (1-4), and Jeff Green barely there (2-6). The only other guy who scored was Larry Nance, Jr., who had six points (on 3-4 shooting).

The difference was day and night… and, sure the Pacers clearly ratcheted up the defensive intensity in the second half… but, the Cavs also alternately missed open shots, and suffered from awful shot selection (going just 5-22 on threes in the last two quarters). Rather than capitalize on their sizable advantage built with hustle, defense and aggression in the first half, the Cavs seemed content to jack up easy looks instead of look for the extra pass, and even LeBron defaulted to his “let’s see if my teammates can hit shots when I pass it to them” mode.

The real tragedy in all of this, is that the Cavaliers are actually playing some very solid defense in this series. They’ve held the Pacers under 100 in all three games, and tonight they managed to contain Victor Oladipo by trapping him out to half court and forcing the ball out of his hands. And, even though they allowed Bogdanovic to go off for 19 of his playoff career high 30 points in the second half (most on a scorching 7-9 from deep), they should have been able to best the 92 points Indy totaled.

For some reason, the Cavs have eschewed pace in favor of a slow it down, grind it out style of offense. And, with the limited playmakers they feature now, that’s not the formula they were using to outscore teams by putting up numbers in the 110s and 120s. Meanwhile, the pace in the second half allowed the Pacers to claw their way back, as they turned the Cavs over repeatedly (10 in the half) and swarmed them to discourage drives to the hoop.

You might think a coach who has a championship under his belt could find a way to adjust and figure out how to maintain aggressiveness and pace… but, you would be wrong. Instead, what initially appeared to be a momentum shifting win in a historically difficult place to play, became a demoralizing disappearing act.

There’s still time for the Cavs to make their presence known… after all, they’re only down 2-1 (a place they were in 2015 to a similar Bulls team in the second round)… but the sense of urgency needs to be ramped up, and ramped up quickly.

Credit to LeBron for refusing to throw his teammates under the bus in the post-game presser…

“What are you guys looking for? You think I’m going to throw my teammates under the bus?” James said. “I’m not about that. Guys have got to play better — including myself. I had six turnovers tonight. I was horrible in the third quarter. I couldn’t make a shot. If I make some better plays in the third quarter (it’s a different game).”

Yet, if it turns out the Cavs can’t change the direction of this series, even with the heroics of LeBron… who could really blame him if he decides to disappear completely this summer?

Let’s hope this isn’t happening, and that Cleveland can even things up with a more sustained effort on Sunday…