CLEVELAND, Ohio — There are plenty of reasons the Cavs fell apart in the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Indiana Pacers.
I don’t blame fans for not wanting to litigate all of those right now — and there’s plenty of time in the offseason for those big picture conversations about Cleveland getting bullied out of the playoffs for a third straight year.
Instead, humor me with a more micro-oriented discussion about their 114-105 Game 5 loss to the Indiana Pacers that ties into the macro.
Because yes, the Cavs let this game slip away because of some familiar trends.
It happened in the third quarter, when they were outscored 33-20 after the break.
The Pacers were hot, hitting 14 of 22 shot attempts, determined to close this series out in Cleveland.
But in my eyes, the Cavs helped them get hot by going away from what was working: Looking to get the ball to their bigs, and getting inside the paint.
Early in the game, the Cavs were dominating in the paint — in the first half they outscored the Pacers 34-14 inside.
Jarrett Allen, after being practically invisible in Game 4, was a factor early scoring nine first-half points on 4 of 5 shooting. Evan Mobley had 14 points as well.
In the third quarter, however, the Pacers evened out.
They were the ones to attack the rim like their season was on the line. They outscored the Cavs 18-8 in the paint for the period, as Cleveland shot just 4 of 12 from inside.
Allen scored no points in the third and attempted only one shot. Mobley hit two total shots, including one 3.
The Cavs were missing at the rim, so they started chucking up more 3s as a group, going 3 of 10. All the while, Indiana was chipping away.
The run was part of a troubling trend for the offense this series.
It just seemed like the Cavs were never quite confident enough in attacking. Never quite sure of the shots they were taking as a group. As a result, they made it easier on the Pacers defending them — quick defensive possessions, get back, and attack was the perfect recipe for Indy for most of the series, including on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Pacers were poised to go for the jugular.
The Cavs started the fourth quarter on an explosive 5-0 run, to their credit. They even cut Indy’s lead to 1 at multiple points.
But to the point of this larger trend: After getting to within 1 the first time on a Garland layup, Tyrese Haliburton of the Pacers drove into the lane for an explosive dunk to get the lead back up to 3, never rattled. With 5:03 to play, Donovan Mitchell hit a 3 from the right wing to cut the Indiana lead back to 1 again. Andrew Nembhard answered on the next possession with a 3 of his own for the Pacers thanks to an offensive rebound by Myles Turner, again unfazed.
With 1:27 to play, Donovan Mitchell cut the Pacers lead to 3, with a 3 on the left baseline. Nembhard again had the answer with an and-one layup and free throw to put the lead back up to six with 55 seconds to play.
It speaks to many of the larger themes of this series.
No, on Tuesday they didn’t get totally bowled over like on Sunday night in Indy in Game 4. Cleveland showed some fight at least, but it was too late.
In the end, the Pacers were the true bullies.