Eastern Conference Semi-Finals Game 4: Cavs @ Pacers
2025-05-11Good evening CtB!
The Cavs finish their two game set in Indianapolis tonight with hopes of building off of Game 3 and tying the series 2-2. Last game the good guys showed why they call it the Core 4. The return of Darius Garland and Evan Mobley completely changed the tide of the series, and now it appears it’s game on. Tonight should be an electric atmosphere. The pressure is on both teams, which one handles it best? Which one loses their cool? The Cavs rose to the challenge Game 3, can they do it again?
Tip off is scheduled for 8:00PM Eastern time and will be broadcasted live on the TNT family of networks, Go Cavs!
Hire Nico!
Tanking <<<<<<
WTF!?!? Lucky bastards
Philly got a top 3 pick too!
Spurs with a #2 pick.🤯
Wizards, Jazz, and Hornets will have to try again next year.
SPIDA —- GAME TIME DECISION TOMORROW—- THROWING A CURVE AT VEGAS —— DOES HE PLAY TOMORROW????
Probably wants to see if this team of soft corpses can figure it out without him.
on ytube.. Making Sense of a Shocking Cavaliers/Pacers Series | The Bill Simmons Podcast.. relatively fair commentary with russilo
Just to throw this out there, I’m happy with this team overall. I don’t want to be rooting for a bunch of thugs and floppers. They can play better, especially when healthy. They can win game 5. I didn’t see the game so I’m not sure how to comment on it. I see a LOT of turnovers from the starters. Tough to win when you have twice as many turnovers as assists. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a stat-line with every starter having at least 2 TOs. With continued improvement from Mobley, DG, Jaylen Tyson, and maybe CPJ… Read more »
You’re a lucky man,not to have seen that game.
same, although “can win game 5” should be “should win game 5, can win game 6”.
GOOD POSITIVE POST BY “ UNCLE DAN “ “ BELIEVELAND “ ——- OK I AM TURNING ALL MY ENERGY TO SOME POSITIVE VIBES ——- WE ARE BEHIND YOU CAVS IN BELIEVELAND —— FEEL THE POWER/ ENERGY FROM YOUR LOYAL DIE HARDED FANS AND GO “ KICK SOME PACERS ASS 🫏
AGREED ARCH —-UNFORTUNATELY WAS THINKING THE SAME—— LIKE BUCKAROO POSTED —- RIGHT NOW I TAKE “ PIT BULL ATTITUDE “ OVER STAR TALENT———- SORRY ABOUT “ PUTTING THE FORK” IN THE CAVS SO SOON——THERE ARE STILL GAMES TO PLAY!!!! —— HOPE THEY ( PLAYERS) DONT HAVE THE SAME ATTITUDE WE HAVE—- OR MAYBE IF. THEY READ OUR POSTS —- GET PISSED AND LIGHT A FIRE 🔥——SOMEONE HAS TO ———— DO THEY WIN TOMORROW NIGHT AT HOME OR THROW THE TOWEL IN ?? ———-GO CAVS !!!!!
I won’t hold my breath.
I think the front office/coaching staff need to figure out how to make this team a more physical team, and that might require personnel changes.
All KA has to do is play cpj tyson and javonte but he’s too much of a coward. Just saw OKC win a game shooting 30% by winning the boards. Too bad KA loves the smell of his own farts too much
CLF bro.. as NOMAD bro repeats.. “preach CLF.. preach”.. hold those bastards accountable for the misery they create
You are are ridiculous flame thrower. That comment is crap.
Yes. The coach is a coward. The reigning coach of the year. If only he’d have played an untested rookie, a career 10th/11th man, and the 3rd string PG, we’d have won that game the normal guys lost by 30.
yeah, a lot of “anybody else would be better than this player I’m mad at” vibes that are never justified.
those guys may contribute next year, though
Yes clutch those pearls and cry like the crybaby coach…. let those emotions out…
Agree with this. Tyson, Green and a space eater big like Drummond or Jonas would work.
Showing up for Game 1s with a full roster seems to work, too.
this is true
Next year Detroit, Philly, and Orlando will be better. Cavs haven’t proven that they can beat Boston, NY, or Pacers in a playoff setting. Lights still too bright!
arch bro.. they have big-time “shrinkage” problems.. a team of george costanzas
Serenity Now!
We said that last year and Philly and Orlando were worse, the Knicks were the same, and the Bucks and Heat are disasters.
No one knows anything
Point is they put themselves in a great position and squandered it.
Putting themselves in that position by improving massively isn’t nothing.
Fully healthy we are still top 2 or 3 in the East and let’s see what happens.
There’s only like three available guys who are playoff proven-ish, don’t suck, and bring physicality
Playing injured is part of the playoffs. Need to put your big boy pants on.
Did Giannis play last year or the year prior? He has big boy pants
I don’t follow the Bucks.
Lmaooooo
favorite warren buffet quote.. “you don’t know who’s swimming naked until the tide goes out”.. although, if you put grab a snorkel and mask and go exploring, you might see some underwater bush..
best jackson browne theme song for cavs fans = ?
fountain of sorrow ?
before the deluge ?
the pretender ?
running on empty ?
here come those tears again ?
This one stings.
Was thinking the same thing.
I think the Cavs ended that Hawks team. Maybe Indy will end us, although we’re a bit younger.
Well great regular season. Another bust of a playoffs. Put a fork in them they’re cooked! This was a great opportunity to actually get to the finals. Don’t see them getting as great of positioning next year. So likely rinse repeat (in playoffs) until the FO decides they don’t want to be a second apron team for a paper tiger. Same old shit with Cleveland teams.
so enlighten us as to what the FO can do.
FO’s are queuing up to hire someone that can show them how to win all the time.
I look at the Knicks. They got clocked by the Heat, second round loss.
2023, made a great upgrade in OG, second round loss.
2024, won the offseason with KAT and bridges, and are expected to have a second round loss.
Raoul, probably need an overhaul of some sort, but I wouldn’t know where to begin. To be clear I’m not really blaming the FO, I’m putting this on the players for being soft. How many years have we watch DG excel in the regular season then flame out in the playoffs? Brunson is a little guy and he’s putting in some work while injured. I get that injuries aren’t created equal. But still. Mobley and JA getting out rebounded by Strus is pitiful.
not first collapse (girly-man surrender) by JA (“the $20 mill bargain”).. oftentimes, what one hates is actually what one loves and wants.. like draymond green.. i think every cavs fan had real hatred of green during finals years.. BUT.. we all would have screamed in joy to acquire him.. he is a difference maker.. an agent of chaos and intimidation, which, perhaps sadly, is an essential part of competitive sports.. cavs have ZERO intimidation quotient.. they are soft, weak and feminine (excepting mitchell), very likeable no doubt, but ultimately doomed to failure on the big stage.. i mentioned during the… Read more »
If you really want physicality, offer JA and DG for Sabonis and some productive filler. He can’t guard you or me or shoot but he’s a great offensive hub and rebounder and very physical.
JA and DG plus fillers for Giannis and Sabonis. Make it happen! Okoro would look real nice in a Kings jersey.
Lmaooooo sure fuck it look forward to calling them soft when they don’t play 82 or miss a playoff game
Don’t care about missing regular season games.
I think it’s pretty clear we’ll find out DG and Mobley are more injured than they are letting on and that those injuries were just enough to allow Indy to dictate terms of engagement and have a fast start to the series. Guys get hurt and come back worse or out of rhythm. We look rough and “young team” patience has run out (although you expect DG and Mobley to physically mature a bit more which should help with injuries). Wait till next year sucks. Physicality seems like the last piece we have to solve for. It’s also a lot… Read more »
STILL 👍 ON DRE TRADE ——- EVERYONE HERE AT CTB KNOWS I “ SCREAMED “ FOR A LEGIT BACK UP BIG EVEN IN PRE SEASON!!!!
TEAM s / PLAYERS/ COACHES PROBABLY KNEW—-EVEN WHEN CAVS WERE HAVING THOSE WINNING STREAKS/ HELL OF A “ REGULAR “ SEASON——THAT WAIT UNTIL PLAYOFFS—- REAL SEASON STARTS—— THE CAVS WERE GOING TO GET EXPOSED ——-GOOD THING WE DIDNT HAVE THE PISTONS IN THE 1st ROUND——- WOULD HAVE BEEN EMBARRASSING IN MANY DIFFERENT WAYS/ REASONS………….. “ MORE BEER 🍺 PLEASE “
ALL TOO FAMILIAR “ IN THE LAND “
THEME / MOTTO——— “ WAIT UNTIL NEXT YEAR “ —— HAD NERVOUS FEELING ABOUT PLAYING THE PACERS ( EVEN BEFORE THE SERIES STARTED/ INJURIES ) THEY HAD BEST POST ALL STAR RECORD/ CAN THROW A LEGIT 10 PLAYER LINE UP AT YOU/ ARE WELL COACHED —— THEY VERY WELL COULD BE PLAYING FOR THE NBA CHAMPIONSHIP
This one sucked: loads of bad luck in a week. Don’t yet have the maturity to be a championship team. The weird part is that the team handles bad breaks well, always has, going back to losing DG and Mobley last year.
What they can’t handle is success or being the favorite. Made a statement against the Heat but believed their own hype a little too much and got smacked juuust enough for the Pacers to get out of the blocks. Same thing with Orlando last year going up 2-0.
ain’t buying this theory. injuries are by far the key aspect. the officials letting thug teams beat up skilled teams didn’t help.
Yeah we had no margin for error – I have injuries at 75% but we’ve had some rough blowouts when we feel comfortably ahead – this one, and G3-4 in Orlando.
rough blowouts when comfortably ahead are a fact of life in all sports. it would be very hard to quantify if the Cavs have had more than their share or not
That’s fair enough, and even the LeBron teams weren’t averse to a little mucking around (wasn’t the ECF 4-2 in 2016).
One game is one game though
Donovan will have an MRI on the left ankle tomorrow and KA has “no idea” at this time about his availability in Game 5. But Donovan says he’ll be good; hope so!
I think we were all in on the LaVert+Niang for Hunter trade at the time. I was.
Tonight it is not looking so good. Not least because Niang is the one guy that could rough it up with the Pacers.
I was all-in on Hunter for sure. But most people were also clamoring to add a big as well, at that moment (and going back to last offseason). However limited the possibilities, this series has laid bare how much it was a need.
sure, maybe Wilt will come back to life and play for the minimum.
realistically, where are you going to find a decent big who will play for nothing? and if you find one, what team is going to trade him for TT?
As I say, “possibilities limited.” But one thing that bothers me is they didn’t make a lot of effort to see the young bigs they have. In a 64-win regular season, you had a lot more breathing room than usual to try to force feed Jaylen (not a “big” but a “big wing”) into the rotation this year rather than just assuming he couldn’t handle playoff minutes until next year. With NyQuil, if there was a even a 20% chance he could be helpful enough to throw him in there for 10 minutes a night this series, why not take… Read more »
Seems like if they could have acquired Hunter and offloaded Okoro in Niang’s place – ie, Okoro + Levert rather than Niang + Levert – they’d have been better off. But I don’t know the cap/salary rules well enough to know if that was technically an option, nor if that would have been attractive to the Hawks.
so, is mitchell exhausted, defeated, or disgusted ? or any combination ? if the cavs were a building.. the structural engineers would be called in to determine if salvageable or needing demolition..
Three-point shooting in this second-round series so far:
Two-point shooting in this series so far:
Merrill and Wade have each only taken 1 two-point shot this series.
Wait a minute – any news on Donovan? I heard he missed the second half after suffering a “non-contact left ankle injury” during warmups coming out of halftime. Which calf was he suffering from a calf strain the prior games (and late in the regular season also). Please don’t say the left . . . 😬
It’s fucking hilarious KA saw how well Javonte, Jaylon, and CPJ all performed against Indiana at the end of the year and he’s like “nah, i’ll try playing the most unathletic, softest players on the roster so they can get bodybagged”
GET A FUCKING CLUE BOZO
Driving up for game 5. Hopefully pride will be found.
Keep an eye out for it on your drive.
Good luck, Patrick. We’re all counting on you.
I have not lost belief that the Cavs can still win Game 5, win another road game, and then Game 7. But it’s going to take a serious mid series self evaluation as to why they keep (3 out of 4 times) getting overwhelmed by the Pacers’ intensity and physicality . . . and what to do about it.
Coming back from 3-1 down? Is such a thing possible 🧐?
Indeed. But they can’t let another game spiral out of control the way that run at the end of Game 2 played out, and then this.
Pacers have clearly been the better team so far through 4 games. Not much ive seen to make me think Cavs can turn it around
Yeah they don’t deserve to progress without showing some dominance.
Three of the four have been close. No excuse for the performance in this one, though.
Or, actually the Cavs won going away on Friday (seems so long ago).
The final score of Game 2 was close, but blowing a 7-pt lead in the final 50 seconds to lose a playoff game in regulation was almost without precedent in league history (there was the famous Reggie Miller 8 pts in 9 seconds at Madison Square Garden, and maybe just one other game before Cavs – Pacers Game 2). So that is as disappointing as tonight’s blowout.
don’t forget the refs gave the Pacers 5 points in the last 30 seconds.
Game 1 was not close… Cavs have played well for 1 and a half games.
Blow it up!
Maybe we can let up on the LeBron/Donovan comparisons for just a bit.
Where did everybody go, esp Evan and JA??
Right back into their “lights are too bright” shells.
A bit of physicality and bright lights.
JA with only 1 attempt and Rvan with 3 in the first half, while we are jacking up 3’s and missing.. I’m sorry, give me a dunk or layup, easy 2 than shooting 3’s and missing.. we needed points and didn’t get anything.
If Jaylen and CPJ don’t play in the second half then I have no idea what is going on in KA’s head. Not that this will change the outcome of the game. But Ty has been a mess the whole series, and it’s turned the bench from a season long advantage over the league, into a weakness. Find some other pieces that might help. What do you have to lose, tonight?
yup, zero adjustments from KA… complete lack of imagination.
Tower City complete no shows.
Man that’s bad.
Pacers might have leaped from the Knicks to the most annoying time I dislike.
Loosing game 1 and 2 really biting us in the ass.. Sometimes basketball is a game of making and missing shots.. but when you are barely hitting, giving up mostly unforced turnovers – We have 15 turnovers, gifting Indy 23 points All starters and Jerome has 2 turnovers each. – Cavs 3 assists on 8 FG and Indy 23 on 30. They have 12 made 3. Only reason this isn’t a 50 piece at the half is that we’ve gotten to line and are 18/20. Just a real shame.. At this point.. unless this game is reversed in the 2nd… Read more »
yeah this was ugly. Two of the hardest losses in Cavs playoff history in 5 days.
Just makes game 2 hurt all the more, bc most teams eat a blowout or 2 in a competitive series.
Outrebounded by the 28th ranked rebounding team in the NBA… literally can’t get any softer or weaker than that. Getting danced on by a bunch of ballerinas.
Every word, man.
Charmin soft. Lights too bright.
No longer regretting “missing” this game due a big family event. 39-80?!!! Shooting 25% from the field versus 60%; 15-22 on the boards; and 14 to 4 in TOs! Between game tactical adjustments alone can’t satisfactorily explain that, nor can shooting variance (at least, not the epidemic of turnovers)
I’m really looking forward to the comments by the TNT guys.
Have my TV on mute.. probably the rest of the game.
Well, a few minutes ago when we were behind by only 25, you go into the locker room and say let’s get it to 10 by the fourth. What do you say now?
Welp. That was awful
Whelp. That was probably the most embarrassing first half in Cavs history.
Pacers literally hitting everything they throw up at this point.
RIP 🥺
17-0 run in last 3 minutes.
finesse (aka charmin-soft) has never been known to be important in trench warfare.. probably a good idea to bring in a few gangstas (maybe the cavs culture thing has been shown to be a chimera).. looking like the 2-for-1 hunter trade is coming back to bite the cavs in their exposed rear ends.. 39-77 (down almost 40 at the half) is not exactly the stalingrad stand that was required.. the panzer and tiger tanks are rolling.. the shermans are in full retreat.. sad.. at least they won 1 game..
Cavs can’t buy a bucket and Pacers can’t miss,. What a horrendous game 4..
Run it up.get it to 50
Failing to compete is competing to fail.
Wow this makes me not want to watch the regular season at all. Looks like two entirely different sports. Our entire bench getting exposed as too one dimensional too unathletic and just nit good enough.
Well,I thought when they got it under 40 there was no stopping them,,,,,,,,
Alright coach, just give the halftime talk now: either we start playing or f’it, we’ll sit the starters and rest up for the next one. What the hell.
Making Toppin look like MJ. This so far is a historically poor performance by the Cavaliers.
Brilliant
I get why refs are trying to keep a handle on the game, but they are now killing the game.
Cavs playing like cowards.
Weak
Oy vey
TJ lame floater – Spida says no.
WTF is happening?
Not much
Yuck. Disasterclass incoming
Well, on the plus side, there’s 2.5 quarters left to get this turned around.
This game is over. This season is over. Out coached and terrible effort/physicality. Time to move Garland and other serious changes need to occur. Regular season champs mean nothing.
About as bad of a first as you could ask for. Hopefully they have nowhere but up to go…
Strus is locked in!
Jermome continues his awful series. So disappointing.
Nothing going right
LETS FUCKING GOOO FIRST FIGHT THEY SHOWED ALL NIGHT
Good. Fuck these chumps.
I’ll say this for Mathurin though – he sure does have a punchable face.
Hunter – not smart
This team desperately needs an enforcer. Hell put TT out there and let him get T’ed up. They’re just getting pushed around.
An elbow needs to find its way in to Mathurin’s face.
Will have to happen in game 5! Bye bye Mathurin.
Ball better start dropping soon…
Garland has his head in the game. Hope his foot holds up.
NEED THIS “W “ —— MAKE IT A 3 GAME SERIES—-AM NERVOUS—- NEED TY TO “ BUST “ OUT OF HIS SLUMP —-DRE GET MORE INVOLVED OFFENSIVELY— STAY HEALTHY/ HUNGRY—— KEEP YOUR COOL—— A 3 PT “ CAVALANCH “ WOULD BE A WELCOME SIGHT 👍💪🏀
I agree. Go Cavs.
8pm or 8:10pm can’t come fast enough, let’s go Cavs!