CLEVELAND, Ohio — Not many could see this one coming.
The Cavs, after winning 64 games, claiming the top seed in the East and multiple double-digit win streaks in the regular season, made an early exit in the conference semifinals, at the hands of the fourth-seeded Indiana Pacers.
So it’s only fitting to start with an apology from the man who helped orchestrate their downfall.
“They had a great year, and I’m sorry that their season had to end like this in a way,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “I mean (Cavs coach) Kenny (Atkinson) did an amazing job. Their guys, they just kind of had the perfect season, and then we came along and we’re hot at the right time.”
Cleveland fans likely won’t be accepting Carlisle’s “I’m sorry” any time soon, on the heels of the decisive [114-105 Game 5 loss](https://www.cleveland.com/cavs/2025/05/cavs-dream-season-turns-into-nightmare-with-114-105-playoff-elimination-loss-to-indiana-pacers.html).
But he’s right.
Indy came into this series and controlled pace and physicality. They got hot at the right time. And it’s a tough pill to swallow, knowing that regular season success once again didn’t translate in Cleveland.
Those 64 wins. That top seed in the East. Atkinson winning coach of the year. Evan Mobley winning defensive player of the year. Donovan Mitchell having one of his best statistical seasons while taking on a new role.
None of it mattered in the most critical moments.
So how did Carlisle and the Pacers pull it off?
In this game, it was all about chipping away at the 19-point lead the Cavs built in the first half by being more aggressive at the point of attack [and inside](https://www.cleveland.com/cavs/2025/05/why-cavs-collapsed-against-pacers-in-game-5-ending-season-ashley-bastock.html) throughout the second half. It led to Indiana outscoring Cleveland 62-49 over the last two quarters.
“At halftime we just talked about the fact that we weren’t creating enough friction out there defensively,” Carlisle said. “We were taking bodies off of bodies. There was too much space, too many angles, and they were getting what they wanted. And so at the point of attack we started meeting them sooner and regaining some leverage that we needed and we survived it.”
And yes, there is the caveat that Cleveland was banged up with injuries this series. The Cavs played the first two games without Darius Garland who was working through his toe injury, and in Game 2 they were also without Mobley (ankle) and De’Andre Hunter (thumb) who were both injured in the series opener. Mitchell reaggravated an ankle injury and couldn’t play in the second half of a lop-sided Game 4. He returned and fought it out through a 35-point performance in Game 5.
But for both coaches, that’s not the reason the series went the way it did.
“Cleveland’s banged up,” Carlisle said “That’s well-documented, but to me, I heard this one time, when the year we won in Dallas, and there’s a lot of stuff about the other team losing the series and somebody made the comment, ‘The winning team writes the script.’ And I just have to give our guys credit, they earned this. I mean this is one of the best teams in the league. Injuries, dings or no dings.”
Atkinson would certainly agree with Carlisle in that regard.
Before Game 5, the Cavs coach said he thought it was an unfair narrative to blame only injuries for Cleveland’s 3-1 hole.
After the game, he struck a similar tone.
"Just want to congratulate the Pacers," he said. “They were the better team. They deserved it. They played great. So congratulations to Rick and that group during the conference finals. ... Definitely just the truth, we had some misfortune with a couple injuries, so that was unfortunate, but I still felt like we had enough.”
If there’s any solace for Cavs fans to take (and that’s understandably unlikely), it’s that they made their presence felt throughout the three home games, all Cleveland losses, in this series.
So much so that Carlisle, who coached in his 140th career postseason game, acknowledged it afterwards.
“This crowd is off the hook,” he said. “And at the beginning of the game they turned the decibels up. I’ve been in here enough times, I know when they’re turning that thing up a little bit. And this place was lit, so this was a tough environment, but our guys use the noise and the commotion to narrow their focus and that’s what you got to do in these big moments, in these big games.”
A moral victory for the fanbase, that is ultimately meaningless.