Vexed and Perplexed: Pacers get crushed by Cavs & their zone

Nothing gold can stay… an apology from myself and Robert Frost. I wanted the run to keep going. 

By: Samson Folk I @samfolkk

Everyone hit the lineup. The bill of health was clean. Best on best. A heavyweight fight night in Indiana. 

It made sense then, that Darius Garland's burst and creativity was what led to a wide open triple to break the seal on Game 3. No wasted time or motion. The Cavs, with the added danger of Garland (and his very sticky, grabby, aggressive defense on Haliburton to start) and the defensive potency of Evan Mobley patrolling the backline, well, they started very strong. Pinging the ball around on one end, and helping to suffocate on the other. The saving grace to keep the Pacers afloat? Myles Turner, who once again saw the Cavs scheme him into a larger offensive role, and did extremely well scoring out of it. No man is an island, though. 

Even with Turner scoring 10 points in the first 7 minutes, the Pacers still found themselves down 25-12. However, a tremendous stretch from the duo of T.J. McConnell (pushing pace, teasing defense, creating looks) and Bennedict Mathurin (scoring, scoring, scoring) helped the Pacers erase all of the work the Cavs did in the first half of the opening frame. A bit of swarming defense. A couple threes – most importantly, one from the Mustachioed Wonder, Ben Sheppard – to tie things up.

Note: Pascal Siakam is still having a tough time with shot making. Five straight missed free throws across two games. Hmm. 

As good as things got in the Pacers flurry to climb back into things, there's no getting away from the immense talent the Cavs starting lineup has. They rode that talent back to a 15 point lead in the front half of the second quarter, while also throwing their zone look at the Pacers on the other end. Mobley was terrorizing them at the top of the zone. A different zone than Caitlin and I broke down in the preview pod with Evin Gualberto. Hmm. Would've liked to see them put him in some screens. Chop those puppies, slither around. Test him out. 

Garland and Mitchell kept plowing forward, while the team turned the water off on the other end. The Pacers sorted things out a bit towards the end with hard charging cuts into the teeth of the Cavs defense, and some early offense pushes, but it wasn't nearly enough. Down 21 at the half. The starters had been dominated, and thoroughly. 

Siakam and Haliburton in particular, had to be much better. They've both had long stretches in the past where they could carry this team, and there's no better time than the present. However, it doesn't just rest on their shoulders, as the Pacers got absolutely slammed on the glass. Almost doubled up. 

The third quarter felt like every other game where a team is down big. Intensity drops off a smidge, offensive looks come by a little bit easier, and it starts to look like both teams getting some steps in. Siakam had a bit of a stretch. So did Nembhard. Still down huge. A seesaw. 

Turner fell hard on what looked like his hip? He left the floor quickly with the injury. He returned later with a pretty severe limp.

Thomas Bryant got fouled, without a call, and Rick Carlisle yelled at the refs until they called him for a tech. A minute later, Bryant got a tech. Frustrations spilled over. The Pacers improved from the first half, but still didn't have a run in them. Frustrating stuff. 

Slightly less frustrating? Watching McConnell walk the baseline, urging the fans to scream at the top of their lungs, after he helped spur on the Pacers second big run of the game. After a Siakam triple (he had a very strong 2nd half, and outscored the Cavs by himself over the first 4 minutes of the 4th quarter), the Pacers found themselves within striking distance once again. An 11-point deficit. Which, for a lot of teams would not create so much expectation, but these Pacers have been stealing every game they've wanted lately. The arena had been waiting to pop off, and they finally had the opportunity to get loud. 

These Cavs won 64 games this year, though. They're a tremendous squad, and they had a response. Donovan Mitchell went north of 40 once again. Strus was knocking on the door of a triple double. They punched back, and hard. The lead ballooned up to 24 points in no time, and the Pacers were still dealing with real troubles in how they wanted to get Haliburton loose - he finished sitting on 4 points, and maybe even odder still, 5 assists against 3 turnovers. 

James Johnson got some minutes, and so did Johnny Furphy.

The white flag was waved. 

The Pacers walk away from this one with lots to chew on, and even more to improve. It's a series, yes, but they still have a chance to go up 3-1 with a win at home on Sunday night. We'll see.

Have a blessed day.