Playoff Live Thread: Cavs vs. Pacers, Game 5 (#KeepIt100)
2018-04-25
If the Cavaliers want to do Whatever It Takes to win Game 5, to take a commanding lead in this see-saw series with the Indiana Pacers… they really only need to focus on one thing… scoring in the triple digits. As we’ve seen thus far, if all the Cavs had done in the first four games was Keep It 100… the series could already have been over (or at worst featured an overtime game). That’s right, the team that gave up an average of 109.9 points per game during the rocky road of the regular season, has been downright stingy in allowing an average of 96.7 to the Pacers thus far. They only gave up a hundo in Game 4, but it was exactly the century mark and no more.
Unfortunately, the same high-octane offense the Cavs ran in the first 82 games (good for 110.9 ppg), has also gotten tremendously bogged down by the Indy defense and it’s own weirdly plodding pace of play, averaging just 93.5 points per contest. Both victories have 100 in common… even though it’s only been just that or barely more than that. Still, this benchmark is key for the wine & gold. Very simply, if they continue to play defense at the level they’ve achieved in the first quartet of games… they just need to Keep It 100.
To do this, however, they need to keep their energy level, focus and determination also at 100%. That shouldn’t need to mean LeBron James playing all 48 minutes (or 46, or 44 or even 42). It should mean that the Cavs are getting contributions from other guys, as they did on Sunday. George Hill has been ruled 100% out again for this game, so 100 year old Jose Calderon (sorry, jk Jose!) will have to bear the starting PG burden once again. The Cavs should also expect Lance Stephenson to keep his antics at 100… so, perhaps a well-timed Angry Smurf elbow should be in his future (just sayin’).
Per usual, I won’t make an exact prediction… other than to say that I expect the Cavs to Keep It 100, which should be enough to edge the Pacers.
Catch all the action starting at 7pm EST on TNT… and as always chime in here!
Great escape: From the time Nance made a jumper with 8:54 left until the last shot, the Cavs had only one basket — a Korver 3 — and four free throws by James. Seven points in almost nine minutes.
They are infuriatingly poorly coached. Lebron dribbles for 22 seconds and chucks…instead of maybe running something, ANYTHING, that gets us an open-dish look with 7 seconds to go, and if not, give it to lebron for the same damn shot at 2 seconds.
Looks like Billy Donovan figure out that Abrines should absolutely be on the court to space the floor and Grant is a better player than washed up Brewer or an ineffective Melo especially on defense.
Total turnaround by OKC
Great win
Incredible. Ridiculous game by Westbrook. Maddening player, he’ll put up a game like that, but also horrible games like his last couple.
Good god, Westbrook has taken 39 shots. They are going to win and survive, which I guess is alł that matters, but still…..39 shots. Wonder if the thunder can pull off the comeback. Rooting for them to go as far as possible so they have a better chance of keeping pg.
That’s as Kobe as I’ve ever heard of
He started the game awful from the field…. like 5-15 or something really bad. He got really hot, and let’s be honest, what has Melo done?
Good point on Melo. Like I said they won and came back big so it worked.
BTW, I don’t disagree in general with your point…. just saying to tonight it was necessary.
He has a player option for 29 mill next year. I am going to guess…..he’s opting into that.
Well depending on if the thunder come back and win this series and how deep they go, that could be awful for them if PG leaves. Yuck, so much for a big three. Big two and the bloated contract of a guy who is nearing the end of his effectiveness and in an era with a style of play that has passed him by.
Melo has made 25 million dollars this year. That’s something. Why do you hate money??? /s
LMAO
Is this his final year?
Nope. Player option for like 28 million next year. I don’t think he is turning that down.
WOW… PG13 and Westbrook absolutely willed OKC to a win tonight. And they did a good job on Mitchell and Rubio.
Quinn Snyder went full angry serial killer after that Thunder three…
Good Lord…Rubio has the eyes of a lady supermodel. Wtf
So…OKC at one point had Obama, Durant, westbrook, and Harden. And could have Adam’s. That’s probably the best starting 5 in the game. They did the same thing Golden State did in the draft…but botched it up with trades…and were unfortunate none of those players had to take a smaller contract due to injury history
Of course, Ibaka and Obama are often interchangeable on court
The owner is cheap. That’s the first domino.
Bingo.
I also don’t think they realized what they had in Harden at the time. Not sure if Harden is as effective with Durant and Westbrook. All three were/are such ball dominant guys and Harden and Westbrook are by necessity. Neither is anywhere near as good without the ball.
Harden made that team go. It let Westbrook move off the ball and attack and not have to be a playmaker. And I think Durant isn’t as good a playmaker as either them… his forte is shooting.
Curry and Durant weren’t always good off ball. But when you have talent like that you figure it out if you can. Although none of those 5 guys is draymond green. The combo of green and curry is devastating with shooters like Durant and Thompson
I agree they didn’t know value what they had in Harden, but they should’ve known because Harden was their PG in the 4th and was a clutch playmaker.
Hmm I didn’t watch them much back then. I was always under the impression that Westbrook still ran point most of the time and that Harden mostly ran with the second unit and made that work. He only started 2 games his final year, but I confess not to know enough about that team to know about their fourth qtr lineups. If that was the case that seems a little short sighted by the owner.
He was their 6th man for sure. They would let him run point during closing time. Their closing lineup was Harden at the point, because he would actually pass the ball, and Westbrook at SG, Durant at SF, and Ibaka at PF, and I think Collison at C…. I think Collison sat out when they went smaller.
I see. Westbrook only averaged 5.5 assists that final year and took nearly as many shots as Durant so I guess he was chucking even back then. Ironically, I think he could be up there with Harden in terms of impact if he just passed all the time and drove constantly while picking and choosing his spots to midrange and shoot threes far more selectively. Maybe they need him to be a volume shooter. Dunno.
Yup…. always been a chucker. Yeah, Harden just has a natural feel for playmaking that Westbrook doesn’t…. it seems like Westbrook forces things too much. Yup… you’re exactly right, at this point, they do need him to be a chucker, because it’s only him and PG13 scoring now. RIP Melo.
The other thing that I have mentioned before here is that the Thunder may not have had a choice. One of the Thunder beat guys, may have been Royce, I think it was someone else, was on I think Lowe’s pod years ago, and he said that Durant and Harden got along personally, but they couldn’t co-exist on the court. He hinted that it was either Durant or Harden, and I’d say the Thunder made the right choice. I don’t know 100% that story is true, but if it is, it makes people like Simmons with his ‘worst trade EVAR!!’… Read more »
Man this makes me hate Durant even more…. I used to love him and he went full heel.
Bet PG is good and sick of Ingles…
Man…Ingles is such a stud. How did they end up with him?
I believe he started with the Clippers, but they cut him.
Yeah, think the Jazz just signed him. He’d look proper on the Cavs right now…pretty sure he could hit a wide open three…
He’d never play
From 71-46 up to 78-80 down.
34 to 7 run.
Cavs of the west lol
Wow OKC took the lead. Also I can’t think of anything worse than watching Reggie Miller broadcast a James Harden game.
Reggie Miller announcing period is awful. That dude was one of my favorite players too, but jeez he sucks at commentating.
Utah-OKC going to OT? Thought Playoff P said no OT tonight?
Kenny Smith pointed out that if ball is below the rim then you can still block it after it hits the backboard. But looking at the rule it says that if the ball is going up off the board it’s a GT. Nice break for the Cavs.
For sure. Being down means more pressure for the last shot. Not saying LBJ still wouldn’t have made it, but there would have been more pressure.
So it for sure hit the board before the block?
It’s pretty tough to say it didnt. but they shouldn’t have had possession to begin with
Yea a couple replays showed that the shot hit the board before the block.
Well bummer for them, though Scotch is right. Also they had their opportunities. Those two unforced turnovers involving Sabonis were killer for them down the stretch. They had the momentum and it seemed like they were really making it tough on the cavs d and then they cough it up twice on awful passes. Both of those passes could have led to buckets too.
Have enjoyed watching the Wolves this year, they were no joke. Shame to see them about to go out, but it was always going to be hard against Harden’s crew.
Jazz were up 71-46.
Now 74-64.
OKC within 13 from 25. Still 3rd quarter.
Utah up 25 on OKC.
PG13 to LA? Or elsewhere?
LA and nowhere else, unless he’s part of some conspiring superstar cabal to join up somewhere. Which is possible.
Bingo…. totally happening.
Back to Indy
Anyone still think Bron is slowing down in the second half? Please. GOAT.
We went 7 minutes without a FG in the 4th.
He was definitely exhausted towards the end. Somehow found some crazy reserves of energy for those last two plays.
Wow…Thunder are done. What a disappointment.
And they go on a run as soon as I said that…
Don’t know about you all, but I’m getting a little tired of Sabonis looking like prime Lew Alcindor…
LeBron on the celebration: “I found my guy Cedi. That’s my rook, he’a always on time and on target.”
https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/989322983356411905
If this doesn’t get Lue fired I dont know if anything can
Ok to be fair to Lue, I didn’t get the whole quote, but I don’t think there was a message in it. LeBron was talking about how he had a buzzer-beater in the regular season and then too Cedi was the first guy to greet him. That might have been the game right before the trading deadline where IT was next to them looking about 3 feet tall.
Yeah I remember that game and iT trying to get in on the celebration. I didnt really think there was a message in it…I just think Cedi needs minutes and it isnt like lebron doesn’t trust Cedi. There is empirical data that says cedi is good for the team…now we find out lebron isnt the reason he isnt playing despite his general preference for vets? It’s just obnoxious is all
Yeah, I’m with you. Sometimes I wonder if Lue even knows the Cavs have an analytics department that looks at lineups and stuff.
BEST LEBRON QUOTE EVER!!!
In the words of Dumbledore, “Again Harry (Lebron) I must ask too much of you…”. Long live the king!
Kevin Love last 4 games from the field: 16/50 (32%). He has proven for three years now he is a role player in these playoffs. Bummer to see Hood disappear as well. Cavs are not legit contenders but fun to watch Lebron!
It would be fantastic if some guys besides Korver could hit some wide open threes. Wtf.
JR had insanely good looks. Calderon finally got going tho after a rough first couple of games… and he stepped it up on defense tonight big time.
Bring back Boobie Gibson!
I’d be more confident in Mo Williams making a wide open three than Love right now. I don’t mean Mo when he was in the NBA, I mean right now, tonight.
I dont really understand how the play where Thad young knocking the ball out of bounds isnt just automatically reviewed and told to the refs. I dont get the point of having replay but needing the refs to signal for it. The refs should never be involved in replay at all. It slows down the game. Just have the replay center deal with stuff
Windy just tweeted that it was reviewable, but wasn’t reviewed. So Pacer fans can have that gift.
I mean it worked out but it easily could have gone to overtime and they were way fresher
1) There should be a challenge the coach can initiate under 2 minutes.
2) Replay center should initiate OR they can on the floor.
They also need to change the 24 second to to mirror soccer. Play the advantage.
Jazz stomping the Thunder again
Thunder gonna love paying Melo 29 million next season…
So happy for them… so pissed TNT not showing that game.
James Harden is insufferable
He plays basketball like a Pez dispenser…
Crowder has 17 at half for Utah. Up double digits.
Had to watch most of the 4th in a car on my phone. Great Lebron finish, huge win, but god, this team can be absolutely exhausting.
Derrick Rose hitting threes…?
Glad to hear the Fred and AC call… so good
https://twitter.com/cavs/status/989320114200702977
No podcast tonight?
Nate is roaming around DC with 5th graders… so no. I’ll try to write something cool tho…
8th
still illegal fya
https://twitter.com/CavsNationKen/status/989325219159519233
Now that is an interesting stat. Who are the other five?
Neil Johnston, Karl Malone, Paul Pierce, Dirk Nowitzki, and James Harden.
(Johnston played for the Philadelphia Warriors in the 1950s.)
Dipo was pretty awful… looked like he reverted to his OKC chucker self…
he looks tired from all the trapping and having to dribble everywhere just to get free….also Cavs doing switching on offense to have him chase Korver a lot too…he’s solid dude but no star just yet
One thing about dipo is that despite improving he is still not a great ball handler or super comfortable for a primary option guard against pressure. He added some wiggle but he is still a top his best at straight line drives where he gets a head of steam like in games 1 and 2. Pressure him and you may be able to get him out of his comfort zone. Combined with him not being a great passer and you have the results of the last three games. No matter what people say about Lue you absolutely have to credit… Read more »
Yup–it’s his lineups that still bring the critics. The fact they are defending a reasonably balanced team with Calderon, Korver, Love and Smith… I believe they are overachieving on that end…
Did Andrew Miller get injured tonight in the Indians game?
Left with hamstring tightness.
Man. Watching wizards postgame show. I forget how good we have it in the NEO
How so?
https://twitter.com/NBA/status/989324088287088641
https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/nba/pacers/2018/04/25/pacers-cavs-game-5-nba-playoffs-2018-fans-devastated-lebron-james-winning-3/552638002/
Yeah it sucks for them. I wouldn’t be down though. They have been in every game and blew us out in the first game. They could have won tonight if Dipo gets the goal-tend and LBJ misses. They could easily win I need Indy and then anything could happen in game 7.
In Indy…damn autocorrect
Looking back at that block… it kinda looks like it hit the backboard… still may not have mattered…
I think it was a goaltend. LBJ hit a three so I guess the outcome is till the same.
Might have changed Indy’s strategy though…
True.
Evened out with the out-of-bounds call on LeBron that the refs blew the prior possession.
And somewhat true. I can’t equate 2 points to a turnover where the cavsthe where not guaranteed to score even if they keep possession.
Were not
I know I’m beating a dead horse but Lue needs to go to Zizic/Cedi if KLOVE and JR are gonna crap the bed again…. that should’ve happened tonight. How can you give 70 minutes to them with what they did tonight?????
We need someone to bang pots and pans outside Lue’s house so he doesn’t get any sleep. Larry Drew needs to take over.
Agreed–doesn’t the Pacers’ style beg for a banger like Zz and a savvy defender/slasher like Cedi? I feel like the starting five don’t offensive rebound at all… I would almost welcome TT back in the fold…
KLOVE got some o-rebounds but ZZ can definitely bang for 5-10 minutes and Cedi’s a better shooter than Green and not a dummy like JR can be.
How do we get this information to Lue? Wait… he’s got a secret plan…
LOL yup
Seriously how did he have the energy to get that last block on Oladipo after carrying the team the entire game?
It would be amazing to see this team run a real offense like the Jazz or Celtics…it would make Lebron’s life so much easier…
Not sure LeBron wants to be in an offense like that.
Yeah, that was part of the problem with Blatt and LeBron.
Definitely–LeBron was beaten by ball movement in ’13, but would never admit it…
And by the Mavs. And the Celtics.
He likes to be the center all the time. Hexwants more help. But the help is easier to get if you allow an offense where you are not the center.
I know…I think you’re right but it would help him so much….
it doesn’t have to be complex, just guys constantly moving and cutting will help
Has Lebron ever been in such an offense. I think he just refuses it.
Agreed–that is on him. The only way to help LeBron at this stage is to find another Kyrie–another iso playmaker who doesn’t mind waiting…
Thing is, there was no one better than Kyrie at iso-play
I’m happy we won but I’m not feeling optimistic about the rest of the playoffs. Love either isn’t good enough or isn’t being used right. Ty Lue doesn’t have a clue.
funny how everyone is bringing up 2009 with that shot….only difference was inbounds came on opposite baseline but still crazy to reminisce about
Hopefully, the series doesn’t end up the way that one did.
Cavs will have to come out with boatloads of energy Friday no matter what…Lue needs to pull out all the stops….end this Friday…..thats the mindset for everything…rebounding, defending, scoring
Hopefully they’ll have Hill back…
even if its 10 minutes….just get him back to extend guard rotation
They do miss Hill… no doubt he was their best pickup when considering the playoffs, a traditional three-and-D threat…
https://twitter.com/CLEsportsline/status/989321960277540865
Half expected JR to miss with the water also…
https://twitter.com/mcten/status/989321184234885125
LMAO….. actually I don’t hate this contribution from JR.
Hello everyone this is Dwayne Wade. LOL. Did J.R. Smith really think he was going to start over me? I never compared myself to Jordan, Kobe, or even Pippen, but come on people 0 points in 33 minutes? WOW, BUT A WIN IS A WIN!
Hey! Another Lue replacement is available!
https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/989321420776894465
Is he available on Friday?
Yo fly him over tonight
Would love coach Bud. Phoenix or NY are gonna be after him.
26-27 from the line for the Cavs… that’s incredible
Incredible.
Wow, just wow. Watching the replay angle from the baseline, play was EERILY similar to MJ shot over Ehlo. Can we stop having the debate? LEBRON IS THE GREATEST BASKETBALL PLAYER OF ALL TIME.
Please.
MJ shot was a double clutch and a lot closer.
Great performance from Bron. But it certainly doesn’t jump him ahead of Kareem, Russell, and MJ.
Or Wilt/ Magic/Duncan. In my view. Though it is getting close.
Please.
So LeBron is the 7th best basketball player of all time??
How old are you? How may Kareem, Russell, Wilt games did you witness? We are WITNESSING LeBron right now. Not a book of stats. I trust what I have seen the last 15 years.