Playoff Recap: Cavs 98, Pacers 95 (or, ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!)

When I was a kid, I’d ask my dad questions about what it was like to watch the great Jim Brown play football. Since things like the internet and Youtube didn’t exist, he’d do his best to explain before falling back on a simple yet profound two word description… greatness personified.

Those exact two words echoed through my brain as LeBron James added yet another incredible volume to his seemingly endless library of highlights and records, ending Game 5 against the Indiana Pacers with a resounding flourish. The comparisons began to flow almost instantaneously amongst pundits and admirers far and wide… from his own buzzer-beating dagger to end Game 2 of the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals against the Orlando Magic… to Michael Jordan’s heartbreaker in Game 5 of the 1989 Eastern Conference first round against the Cavaliers.

That’s because shots like these are remarkable. They are special. They are instantly historic in their own right.

Series like this one between the Cavs and Pacers are not always pretty to watch. They are low scoring, gritty and scrappy affairs, featuring long stretches of missed shots, turnovers and painful possessions. Yet, moments like the ones LeBron James delivered in the waning seconds of this particular contest generate a thrilling sense of wonder at being a witness to history playing out in real time. They will provide you with a story to share with generations to come when they ask you about what it was like to watch the great LeBron James play. And, if you don’t have whatever data chip or hologram of the footage that exists in that future timeframe handy… you too can simply respond with two words… greatness personified.

I feel fortunate to be able to wax semi-poetic about how this game turned out… because, for a while, it was yet another reminder of just how poorly the Cavs seem to treat leads these days. Aside from the first game where they were essentially blown out wire-to-wire, the wearers of the wine & gold (and sometimes black) have an innate knack for giving up big leads. Tonight’s wasn’t quite as large as say Game 3’s… but it was still as much as 12 points with two minutes left in the third quarter. But, the Pacers to their credit, never stop fighting, scratching and clawing their way back into games… and this one was no exception.

The Game

Despite having no George Hill for a second straight game (due to back soreness), the Cavs had a fairly decent start to the game defensively, forcing a Bojan Bogdanovic turnover and a missed Myles Turner jump shot. But, their lack of size inside led to a Thad Young offensive board and a Victor Oladipo layup. An early triple from Kyle Korver foreshadowed good things to come, but the Cavs went ice cold from the perimeter… especially JR Smith. Cleveland kept things relatively close by getting to the line, but the Pacers built a 10 point lead behind the inside work of Turner and Domantas Sabonis. That’s when LeBron started driving. James authored his own 8-0 run with four consecutive runs to the rim, sandwiched around a Rodney Hood block on Darren Collison and a pair of 24 second violations forced by the Cavs’ defense. Indy’s lead was cut to 25-23 at the end of one.

Ty Lue was able to milk more than four minutes of rest for LeBron out of the start of the second quarter, and did so with a lineup of Jordan Clarkson, Rodney Hood, Kevin Love, Jeff Green and Larry Nance Jr. This group held their own, and even notched a brief lead following Love’s only three of the game.

A certain something is in the air!#CavsPacers | #WhateverItTakes

STREAM: https://t.co/03XzF6ICnB pic.twitter.com/Xr67BpxC37

— Bally Sports Cincinnati (@BallySportsCIN) April 25, 2018

LeBron returned at about the 7:45 mark, but so did Oladipo for the Pacers. While Dipo had a rough shooting night (2-15, 1-7 from downtown), he did drain his lone three in the next stretch. And, even though he was hounded by JR Smith, he managed to get the ball to his big men in the pick and roll. The Pacers did most of their damage in the quarter (and really in the game) with their bigs, as Sabonis and Young abused the Cavs inside for easy buckets. Fortunately, LeBron kept driving for another six points to keep Indy within striking distance, 56-49 at the half.

Typically, the less said about the third quarters of Cavs games, the better… Except, this third quarter was different. In uncharacteristic fashion, the Cavaliers came out focused, engaged, aggressive and ready to take the fight to the Pacers. They hustled and swarmed on defense, forcing seven Indy turnovers in the period, and made smart passes that led to good shots on the other end. For the first seven minutes of the quarter, the Pacers mustered only four points on a Turner and one, and a Collison free throw. Meanwhile, the Cavs exploded for 21 points of their own to take a double digit lead.

Kevin ➡️ Kyle ➡️ LeBron ➡️ Jose ➡️ The Bottom!#CavsPacers | #WhateverItTakes

STREAM: https://t.co/03XzF6ICnB pic.twitter.com/f8BjaUDeTZ

— Bally Sports Cincinnati (@BallySportsCIN) April 26, 2018

They knocked down four triples in the frame (two each by Jose Calderon and Korver), all off of dimes from LeBron, and looked like they might just finally step on Indy’s neck. But, playing the entire quarter seemed to catch up to LBJ, as a missed jumper on one end led to a Lance Stephenson three at the buzzer. Cavs still led 81-73.

The Cavs instituted their prevent defense routine essentially from the start of the fourth quarter. LeBron stayed on the court (even though he looked clearly gassed) until Lue subbed Love in for him at the 9:30 mark. The rest only lasted two minutes, however, as the Pacers cut the lead down to four. An LBJ assisted Korver triple put the Cavs back in front by seven with 7:19 remaining… though, that would be their last field goal until LeBron’s dramatic final shot. Yes, that’s right… the Cavs went more than seven minutes without hitting a shot (0-7). Bron did manage to hit four more free throws to stay with the Pacers, and Indy also cooperated by missing some wide open looks and throwing the ball away several times on crucial possessions. But, after a couple of Young drives, Sabonis knotted the game at 95 on a mid-ranger with 33 seconds left.

The final 33 seconds of this game were borderline madness that should result in a fairly dubious two minute report for the officiating crew. First, there was a questionable turnover on the baseline by LeBron that gave the ball back to the Pacers with 26 seconds remaining. On replay, it was fairly obvious that Thad Young poked the ball away and it hit the line before James touched it again. Yet, there was no official review. Then, Indy ran down the clock before Oladipo streaked down the left side of the lane for what looked to be a certain go-ahead layup with three seconds left. Instead, LeBron chased him down, deleting the ball off the backboard (Iggy style)… only, on replay it sure looked like the ball nicked the glass just before James blocked it. However, the refs missed this in real time… no whistle was blown, and consequently, the play was not officially reviewable (much to Oladipo and the Pacers’ chagrin).

Thankfully, on this night, Ty Lue had not wasted all of his timeouts. So, with just three ticks on the clock, the Cavs were able to regroup and design a play (yeah, we know… get the ball to LeBron and get the hell out of the way). Green inbounded to LBJ… somehow, the Pacers allowed him to take two dribbles without using their remaining foul to give… and lightning struck as The King once again defended his throne as the best current player on the planet… while putting his team on the brink of the next round.

From inside The Q….#ThisIsYourTime#WhateverItTakes pic.twitter.com/pCZC7o64gg

— NBA (@NBA) April 26, 2018

The Evil

Outside of LeBron James and Kyle Korver, no other Cavalier made more than two buckets. In case you’re wondering… that’s not a lot of help. The only other Cav in double digits was Kevin Love… but mostly because he got to the line six times (he was a woeful 2-11 from the field). The starting back court combined for a grand total of six points as JR Smith’s pipes were frozen (0-8, 0-6 from beyond the arc). The bench was also boat-raced by a tally of 44-18.

The Cavs once again shot miserably for most of the game (41%)… with the one weird bright spot coming in the third quarter where they were 4-5 from deep (thanks to Korver and Calderon). They also had just 16 assists against 14 turnovers.

Though they edged the Pacers on the boards (37-34), 26 of them came from the same three guys who scored 80% of their points (LBJ, Love and Korver). Just another glaring example of how little help the supporting cast has been.

Despite the rare good third quarter, the Cavs clearly ran out of gas down the stretch, allowing the Pacers to erase a double digit lead yet again. They went ice cold over the final seven minutes as they jacked up contested shots from the perimeter as the clock ran out. And, though he did a nice job of stealing minutes for LeBron in the first half, Ty Lue wasn’t able to replicate that in the second half.

I know it’s maybe sort of a necessary evil for the Cavs to run their “prevent offense” in the fourth quarter, starting it with 12 minutes to go is a bit much.

Still no run for Cedi or ZZ, and even the positives Tristan Thompson brought to the floor in Game 4 in limited minutes seemed to be forgotten by Coach Lue.

While the officiating crew did a decent job for most of the game, the last thirty seconds or so got away from them a bit. Also, on two separate occasions, they stopped a Cavalier fast break by calling 24 second violations… one of which caused a violent reaction from LeBron.

The Genius

I’ve officially run out of superlatives for LeBron James. Just to reiterate… in his 15th season, at age 33, he put essentially an entirely new and untested team on his back for 42 minutes, scoring 44 points on 24 shots, with 10 rebounds, eight assists, one game saving uncalled goaltend block… and, was an insanely perfect 15-15 from the free throw line (leading the team to an incredible 25-26 from the stripe!). Oh yeah, he also added to his ever-growing legend with that historic game winning three (the only one he made out of four all game). The King also passed The Logo (Jerry West) for most playoff games with at least 40 points (21), and resides only behind his Airness now.

Kyle Korver, who might just be the Cavs’ second best player right now, passed Michael Finley and Scottie Pippen for 16th place on playoff threes with this one in the first quarter…

Picking up where he left off. #WhateverItTakes https://t.co/LxErAEH9w2

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) April 25, 2018

Aside from LeBron’s heroics, La Flamma Blanca probably saved this game for the Cavs with his timely shooting (6-11, 5-9 from deep) for 19 much needed points. Kyle also pulled down six boards, had a steal and was solid defensively.

For all of their combined horrible shooting (2-19, 1-9 from downtown), Kevin Love and JR Smith actually both played some inspired defense for stretches of this game. JR in particular did a terrific job defending Oladipo… although Victor did miss a couple of wide open looks… and he had another couple of steals. JR also didn’t miss with the water on LeBron’s head after the game…

JR Smith, the rascal that he is, organizes a water bombardment on LeBron following his postgame interview after one of James’ all-time playoff performances pic.twitter.com/bwGRN1KhUB

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) April 26, 2018

Twenty minutes is probably more than Ty Lue would like to have to play Jose Calderon, but the Spaniard filled in admirably for the injured George Hill. Of note, Jose seemed really fired up to start the second half, and was a big part of how well the Cavs came out of halftime on both sides of the ball.

The best stretch for the bench bunch came at the start of the second quarter. The new guys were decent in their limited time together on the floor, but they had some trouble after that generating much offense. The one exception was when Jordan Clarkson logged the lone assist by any Cavs point guard in the fourth quarter with a dime to Larry Nance for an open jumper.

Even though Cedi didn’t play… LeBron still credited him for being his main man for sideline celebration… “I found my guy Cedi. That’s my rook, he’a always on time and on target.”

#PlayoffLeBron pic.twitter.com/h9mF27nGNv

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 26, 2018

Parting Shot

The greatness of LeBron can’t be overstated in this series, or really in almost every playoff series in which he’s played… but what he did tonight is special. It should and will be remembered long after he hangs up his LeBron 20s. On some level I feel bad for Pacer fans… mainly because I know how it felt all those times my heart got ripped out as a Cavs fan by Michael Jordan’s greatness personified. He has single-handedly put the Cavs on the brink of the next round… something we sort of expected, but probably not to this degree (i.e. doing a reasonable facsimile of 2007 LeBron’s herculean task thus far). I don’t know if the Cavs will win this series. I don’t know if help will truly arrive. I don’t know how far they’ll go. I don’t know if they have the ability to escape the East, let alone challenge the West. But, what I do know… what I do appreciate more than ever… what I’ll miss when his time in the wine & gold has passed… is the greatness personified of one LeBron Raymone James.

Long live the King. Long may he reign. Long may he entertain.