Pacers Strike First: Stunning Cleveland on Their Home Floor
The NBA Playoffs don’t always go by the script, and the Indiana Pacers just proved that in electrifying fashion. Fresh off a regular season where the Cavaliers built a fortress at home, Indiana rolled into Cleveland and left the crowd silenced with a confidence-boosting 121-112 win in Game 1. The star of the night? Tyrese Haliburton. He put on a clinic, dishing out 13 assists and dropping 22 points—all while barely coughing up the ball. The Pacers used a wild 15-4 run late in the fourth quarter to pull away, flipping pre-game predictions right on their heads.
A lot of eyes were on Haliburton, but Andrew Nembhard made sure to grab some spotlight. The young guard scorched Cleveland with 23 points, draining five of his seven three-point shots—good for 70% on the night. It wasn’t just Nembhard, though. Indiana’s three-point shooting was on a different planet compared to the Cavs. The Pacers hit 52.8% from behind the arc, turning almost every good look into points. Meanwhile, Cleveland clanked shots all night, hitting just 23.7% from deep.
Donovan Mitchell’s Lonely Fight—and Where the Cavaliers Go Next
On the Cleveland side, Donovan Mitchell was the one bright spot offensively. He scored 33 points, attacking the rim relentlessly, but when it came to three-point shots, it felt like there was a lid on the basket. Mitchell went just 1-for-11 from three-point range, a stat no one saw coming from an All-Star of his caliber. Cleveland fans started to wonder: where was the supporting cast? And more importantly, could the Cavaliers’ lack of outside shooting and size become their undoing?
Make no mistake, Cleveland’s home record (34-7) has many believing Game 1 was just a bump in the road. Analysts love to point out how teams that dominate at home in the regular season tend to bounce back quickly. Sportsbooks are still showing plenty of faith in the Cavs, with odds leaning towards Cleveland winning the series in just five games. The -1.5 series spread is getting attention, as if Game 1 was a fluke.
Game 2 now shapes up as a pressure cooker. Cleveland needs to find answers behind the arc, tighten up their perimeter defense, and take control down low. If Haliburton and Nembhard can keep hitting shots and moving the ball without mistakes, the Pacers suddenly look like more than just a tough out—they look dangerous. But with Mitchell in attack mode and the crowd at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse ready to explode, it’s hard to rule out a swift response from the home team. Game 2, scheduled for May 7, just got a lot more interesting.
0 Comments