Six wins in a row! Why the Pacers are playing hotter than ever

Breaking down a road win over the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers 

By: Caitlin Cooper I @C2_Cooper

Entering into Sunday's marquee match-up between two of the hottest teams in the NBA, the Cleveland Cavaliers were 20-1 at home and had yet to be held below 100 points in any game this season. After giving up a 10-0 run to start the game, the Pacers were down by 13 at halftime, with Pascal Siakam going 2-of-11 from the field. Meanwhile, the team's other star, Tyrese Haliburton, was ruled out for the second half with hamstring tightness. And yet, despite trailing by as many as 15 points in the third quarter, the Pacers ended up snapping Cleveland's 12-game win streak while extending their own to a season high of six games.

Regardless of Cleveland's lack of shot-making, this was impressive stuff from the Pacers. As such, Samson Folk is here to discuss the ins and outs of how the Pacers pulled off the win, as well as what's led to the dramatic turnaround (with this core arguably playing hotter than ever!) since the last time we podcasted, when the team had lost in Toronto, going 0-4 in the NBA Cup.

Here are the relevant timestamps:

0:00 - Introductions

1:02 - Why Samson went sleeveless

2:45 - Picking the same possession of the game as hive-mind podcasters

5:20 - Pascal Siakam's shadow presence + how his defensive role has changed

10:29 - Ben Sheppard's impact in the starting lineup, extending ball pressure, etc.

10:56 - Andrew Nembhard defending at an all-league level

14:50 - Jarace Walker's best game of his career (in our opinion)

24:29 - Cleveland underperforming from three

29:16 - The chess match between Indiana's aggressive nail help and Cleveland's corner-to-dunker cuts

35:59 - What to expect in Game 2 of the mini-series as adjustments from that chess match

41:52 - Myles Turner being more active + Thomas Bryant exceeding expectations

46:18 - Play-calls that led to big, late-game shots from Nembhard and Siakam

58:43 - This is a good win regardless of what happens in Game 2 of the miniseries

1:05:46 - Thank you and goodbye

1:08:42 - Send us to Paris! (kidding!) (maybe!)

1:10:17 - Thanks again (subscribe!)