Cleveland’s season appears to be ending with a whimper.
INDIANAPOLIS — This wasn’t a series the Cleveland Cavaliers were supposed to win for whatever reason. It isn’t officially over, but there’s absolutely no reason to believe that this is a series that Cleveland can come back from after Donovan Mitchell crumpled to the floor after landing wrong on a warmup jumper while getting ready for the second half in a game his team was losing by 41.
The Cavs don’t know the extent of the injury. He’ll be getting an MRI on it Monday.
Even if the Cavs were able to extend the series in Game 5, they would just be delaying the inevitable if Mitchell is as hurt as he seems to be right now.
As for Game 5, the Indiana Pacers completely dominated things from the opening tip. They thoroughly controlled every aspect of this game as they ran away with a 129-109 victory.
The final score doesn’t do justice to how big of a blowout this was.
Indiana now leads the series 3-1.
Let’s try to unpack what happened on the court.
The Cavs imploded in what was their most important game of the season. There’s no excuse for the level of play we saw.
This has been a chippy series. That was taken up another notch in the first few minutes of the first quarter. Pascal Siakam elbowed Max Strus in the face on a first-quarter basket. On the next offensive possession, he shoved him to the ground.
The Pacers got away with it both times with no fouls called.
Indiana scored the first five points and turned that into a 22-10 advantage.
The Pacers decided to keep pushing their luck. Bennedict Mathurin took a shot at De’Andre Hunter after a deadball. I guess injuring his wrist in Game 1 wasn’t enough. Hunter retaliated. Myles Turner also found his way into the fray.
Mathurin was ejected. Hunter and Turner were both given technicals for their role.
A physical game doesn’t benefit Cleveland. This isn’t how they’ve played all season. It isn’t who they are. The Cavs don’t want to be grabbed, pushed while in the air, or recklessly bowled over while trying to get a rebound.
All of which are things that aren’t allowed in the regular season, but I guess this series is different for reasons that haven’t quite been explained. Or maybe you just can’t call it every possession. Either way, the Cavs needed to be better, and they simply haven’t been all series. They certainly weren’t tonight.
That ejection poured gasoline on the small brush fire that had already broken out in Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The Pacers used this to end the first quarter with a 38-23 lead. They went 6-9 from beyond the arc, not including a last-second heave. Meanwhile, the Cavs had horrendous offensive execution and went 4-15 from the field (26%).
Cleveland was lucky to only be down a 15 at the end of the one. Their luck ran out pretty quickly.
Their bad play caught up to them. A 10-0 run to start the second pushed it to a 25-point lead at the beginning of the second quarter. It’s difficult to isolate a particular Indiana run in the second quarter that broke things open. Just know that it happened.
The Pacers won the second quarter 42-16. Nothing else after that mattered.
Mitchell has been single-handedly carrying the Cavs through the first three games of the series. His season seems like it could be over as he suffered a non-contact left-ankle injury. Mitchell was dealing with a calf strain at the beginning of the series as well.
The series isn’t finished. They could still come back if they still had Mitchell, but if they don’t, it’s effectively over. You aren’t climbing out of a 3-1 hole without your best player.
Mitchell finished the game with 12 points on 3-11 shooting with one rebound and no assists in 20 minutes of play.
Siakam led the Pacers with 21 points on 9-10 shooting with six rebounds. Tyrese Haliburton provided 11 points and five assists.
Indiana continues to get incredible performances from their role players. Obi Toppin had 20 points on 9-14 shooting with five boards. Myles Turner had 20 points and seven rebounds. T.J. McConnell had 13 points, and Aaron Nesmith had 12.
Darius Garland led Cleveland with 21 points on 6-11 shooting with six helpers. Max Strus had 11 points.
The series shifts back to Cleveland for Game 5 on Tuesday evening. They will need something close to a miracle to force a Game 6 back in Indianapolis.