Pacers slay Cavs in Game 5, return to East Finals

My work at Basketball, She Wrote is typically paywalled. This video podcast with Samson Folk, discussing how the Pacers closed out the Cavs to return to the Eastern Conference Finals, is available as a free trial for everyone. If you're new here and want to support independent writing about actual basketball, please consider subscribing and/or sharing it around. Alright, onto the spoken and written words about the Pacers

By: Caitlin Cooper I @C2_Cooper

In what was a 114-105 win to clinch a return to the East Finals, the Indiana Pacers slayed the Cleveland Cavaliers as a staggering giant, not only holding the league's most efficient pick-and-roll team during the regular season to their worst pick-and-roll efficiency in any game this season, as Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland both limped to the finish, but also in out-targeting the opposition to such an extent that Jarrett Allen finished from the bench, toppling the double big lineup once and for all.

Here to discuss the ins and outs of how the Pacers kept Tyrese Haliburton in the action at one end of the floor and out of the action at the other end is an (ahem) fresh-shaven version of Samson Folk, making good on his promise to go mustache only in honor of Ben Sheppard if the Pacers advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals. Fun team! Fun podcast! Enjoy!

Here are the relevant timestamps:

0:00 - Introductions

1:06 - The Pacers as a misunderstood team + why their adaptability isn't a fluke

3:43 - Series-long discrepancy in passing as a commentary on the league entering its weak-link era

12:05 - Why targeting weak links on defense didn't work for the Cavs

19:27 - (Debate about whether the Cavs should've fed more touches to Evan Mobley)

21:44 - By comparison, how the Pacers targeted weak links without directly targeting weak links

27:24 - The luxury of not having to choose between offense/defense with Andrew Nembhard and Aaron Nesmith

31:14 - Jarrett Allen finishing the game on the bench

34:06 - Pascal Siakam as the most frequent screener for either team in Game 5 & everything that is asked of him as a modern four in today's NBA

43:05 - Shoutout to Thomas Bryant & Obi Toppin

47:22 - Caitlin does her promised podcast impression of Samson (w/ Dune references, of course)

54:04 - Brunson vs. Haliburton in the wrestling ring as a potential forecast of future events, with some thoughts on Knicks-Pacers

1:01:29 - Searching for Ben Sheppard gear for Samson and my sister

1:03:36 - Thank you and Goodbye!