Live Thread: Cavs vs. Pacers (#NoFoolin’)
2017-04-02
The month of March was no laughing matter for the Cavs. In fact, the 31 day stretch… populated with 17 games, including 12 on the road and five back-to-backs, must have seemed like one long set up for the worst kind of April Fools joke. But, it’s over now. The Cavs got back on the winning track to close out their forced march through March with a win over a significantly depleted Sixers squad. Now, they look to extend their fortune on the second game of a three game home stand with the Indiana Pacers in town. Normally, early April would be a prime time for fooling around with lineups and getting extra rest for starters, yet the wine & gold find themselves in the thick of not only jockeying for playoff position, but also still trying to get a rhythm going for all of their new pieces.
The Pacers, once firmly in position for the sixth seed in the EC, have fallen apart a bit of late. They’ve lost three in a row, and are just 3-7 in their last 10, dropping into a tie for the seventh/eighth spot with Chicago and Miami. They’re still powered by their star forward, Paul George, but he’s openly questioned the team’s sense of urgency as they stumble towards the end of the season. Indiana did, however, bring back their former resident prankster and ear whisperer, Lance Stephenson, on a three year deal.
Pacers finalizing deal with Lance Stephenson after waiving Rodney Stuckey. @ShamsCharania & @WojVerticalNBA report. https://t.co/INIqsUoMWW pic.twitter.com/d7Io6CnoJ1
— Ball Don’t Lie (@Balldontlie) March 29, 2017
Did the Pacers sign Lance with the expectation that they’d wind up meeting the Cavs in round one? Possibly… although it remains to be seen if the two teams will finish the season in the requisite seeds that would result in that matchup. The Cavs have won the last two meetings with the Pacers after dropping the first one this season. Cleveland should have everyone available with the exception of Kyle Korver (foot) and Richard Jefferson (knee tendonitis). The Pacers will likely be without Al Jefferson (ankle) and Glenn Robinson III (calf).
Cavs probable starters: Kyrie Irving, J.R. Smith, LeBron James, Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson. Pacers probable starters: Jeff Teague, Monta Ellis, Paul George, Thaddeus Young, Myles Turner.
Prediction: Cavs don’t fool around with the Pacers, and get April rolling with a 112-106 victory.
Catch all the action on Fox Sports Ohio starting at 6pm EST.
Nice hold, PG.
I guess bearhugs are not fouls…
https://twitter.com/twithersAP/status/848693130077626371
What the heck was that?
Huge stop, let’s find some magic
Wow I’m impressed! The Cavs got a stop!! Lol
Strong D! A little bit of time left to win it…
Will the FT’s cost the Cavs another game and subsequently the top seed?
65% from the line will not get it done…
Dang… Free throws
TT please hit those FT’s
Or at least 1….. I guess
Come on TT… sink these
And… nothing
Good stop!
This is the kind of game where you question Lue. Liggins should have had some mins vs Miles
Gotta deny CJ and PG…
14 pts in a row for #23
Biggest minute of the year
Great shot by LBJ!
How is the Cavs offense such a mess? I get they aren’t good defensively…
Irving just not moving the ball is at the top of my list followed by Shump doing nothing
The Cavs keep playing down to their opponent. They deserved this L too.
18 seconds to get LeBron the ball 28 feet from the hoop in double coverage and then a dribble drive pass to shump…
Christ Shumpert
This will be a bad loss…
Put Shump on the bench
Kevin needed to shoot that shot…
Where’s THAT been?
What is this offense?
Throw it really high to Lebron sets.
KLove: Mr 1st Quarter.
Hey Kyrie, Teague can shoot.
Teague can also play defense… at least tonight anyway…
Good save and great pass by JR for the LBJ dunk
FTs are a serious problem…
That foul was on the floor… not in the act
As soon as the Cavs go back to hold the ball for 20 seconds with no ball movement they get in trouble. Get some subs in and push the pace again.
14 pt lead down to 2 way too easy. We just struggle to put teams away. We will probably win this one but shouldn’t be this hard
I mean, the Pacers are fighting for their playoff lives, but I agree… Cavs wasted too many scoring opportunities, and then not doing a good enough job of keeping the ball out of CJ’s hands…
I don’t ever remember CJ Miles shooting this well when he was a Cav… like ever…
How about putting Liggins into the game on CJ, Ty??
Too obvious probably
3 missed 3’s in a row
I would trade KLove and Shump for PG13 easily.
No way, who would grab boards?
You can find a good rebounder on the market easily. But you will see what I’m talking about when the Cavs get to the ECF.
Apparently not so easily. Unless Sanders is the answer. Cavs don’t need a smooth shooting wing player. They need a muscular power forward.
How does Deron immediately play the pick a d roll with LeBron better than Kyrie? Man Irving sucks
LBJ actually looked like he focused on both of those free throws that time… made both…
That was almost a LeBron bot 3000 glitch out…
More DWill/LBJ pick and roll please…
Can the Cavs keep this past pace for at least 10 minutes?
The ball is moving ! This happened a lot as we know before when Delly subbed for Irving and it was so obvious. KI has has less tunnel vision this year, but still too much
Pushing the pace is key. JR showing life.
13-0 run by the Cavs from the last minute of the third…
Most aggressive board I’ve seen by Frye in a while… then a Deep Frye on the other end!
He looks like a man today. Less like a spaghetti noodle down low.
Good run to start the fourth!
Would love to see Lue put Liggins on CJ to start this quarter… probably won’t happen tho…
Great strip by Kyrie to end the quarter…
Deep three from Kyrie…
It’s getting difficult watching Irving pound the rock with just 3 made field goals. He may go for 15 in the 4 th, but how about setting up someone else
For as bad as he shot… he’s also solely responsible for the margin at the end of the quarter…
Kyrie trying to do too much.
That young is this quarter’s CJ.
Thad
LBJ saves another bad possession…
Kyrie just 3-14 from the field…
Good game for JR so far…
Cavs missing shots this quarter…
This is way early for Cavs to already be in the bonus…
Defense lagging and Pacers in bonus
Kev has been beaten by Thad Young on a couple of loose rebounds already…
Strong three by KLove
It crazy he has only gotten six shots. Irving rarely looks for him
Kyrie jacking up too many shots again and stopping ball movement
CDB!!
https://twitter.com/cavs/status/848679283186782208
Back to walking it up… Cavs are just more difficult to defend when they run and push the pace…
JR doing a better job of rotating on D tonight…
Great crowd tonight. LeBron really playing to them.
It’s my most favorite place to be!!! Glad you are having a Great time!!
Better defensive quarter there…
That’s good. I’d love to see them get to the level of good D like they were last year.
I don’t know if they’ll get quite that far… but they can get better…
It’s great we are ahead, still like to see better D. Gotta sharpen that more
LBJ taking the challenge guarding PG-13 that time…