CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Cavaliers’ season is over and questions begin after 114-105 loss Tuesday night to the Indiana Pacers at Rocket Arena.
Even Pacers coach Rick Carlisle extended his condolences after eliminating Cleveland in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, upending a 64-win regular season that earned the Cavs the top seed.
“They had a great year, and I’m sorry that their season had to end like this in a way,” he said. “I mean (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.”
Here is what Indiana and the national media said after Game 5:
‘For some reason, they wanted to start shooting jumpers’
Charles Barkley made this point at halftime on TNT, after the Cavaliers squandered a 19-point lead, and returned to it afterward:
“They used their size to their advantage,” he said. “For some reason, they wanted to start shooting jumpers.”
Dwight Howard added that he didn’t think the Cavaliers were focused for the series.
‘We belong’
Indiana’s five-game series win, documented by the Indianapolis Star’s Dustin Dopirak, noted that the Pacers became the first team to reach the conference finals while also returning to that stage for a second straight year.
“It feels good,” said guard Aaron Nesmith, cited by Dopirak. “It feels good to be back where I believe everyone in this room feels that we belong.”
Dopirak added, “It remains remarkable the Pacers have so quickly established they do belong at this stage. Just three years ago they committed to what they thought could be a lengthy rebuild with their trade that sent All-Star Domantas Sabonis to Sacramento and brought Haliburton to Indiana, changing the way they thought about how they’d build their roster. Even just two years ago this week, the Pacers were at the draft lottery narrowly missing out on the opportunity to draft Victor Wembanyama.”
Indianapolis Star columnist Gregg Doyel added, this time the Pacers can win at that next stage in the conference finals.
Indianapolis Star kept the receipts
Indianapolis Star’s Matthew Glenesk tracked predictions of the series and found 48 of 50 that took the Cavaliers. Of course, he bragged that the only two who picked Indiana included himself and colleague Kyle Neddenriep of the same publication.
Glenesk revisited those predictions on Tuesday night.
How the Pacers are opening the league’s eyes
Joe Vardon of The Athletic asked whether any of the league’s remaining teams can keep up with Indiana.
“I’m not sure,” he wrote. “I know the Cavs could not deal with the relentless defensive pressure AND all the sprinting the Pacers did on offense over the course of four quarters. Yes, Cleveland had injuries, but the tempo was too much.”
Colleague Shakeia Taylor added that the Pacers are making people believers in them.
“This team cares little about outside noise,” she wrote. “It’s creating something captivating in the NBA.”