The Cleveland Cavaliers bounced off two disappointing games to beat the Indiana Pacers.
After losing their first two games at home, the Cleveland Cavaliers took part in and streamed Game 3 of the two-round series, hoping to issue a statement at Gainbridge Field House. The Cavaliers defeated the Indiana Pacers 126-104.
The Cavs enjoyed the return of Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and De’andre Hunter who missed Game 2, but it was superstar Donovan Mitchell who placed them on their backs.
Mitchell finished with 43 elite points, nine rebounds and five assists, averaging 41.3 points in the series.
Mitchell hasn’t carried teams to the NBA Finals including Kawi Leonard, LeBron James, Jimmy Butler and Michael Jordan, but he played very well this postseason.
In five games, he scored at least 30 points, not in two games. The Cavs have thoroughly slammed the Miami Heat.
Mitchell currently has a career game of 40 points than legends such as Larry Bird, Tim Duncan, Nicola Jokic and Oscar Robertson. All I lack is the Championship ring.
The Cavaliers need to win another Indiana game and make up for a slow start in the first two games by raising the series, but Mitchell was great.
This season, the Cavs have enjoyed the All-NBA season from Mitchell and kicked it into new gear in the postseason. But he’s not the only one to thank their number one finish as Cleveland has built an incredibly deep roster around him.
Roll players like Ty Jerome, De’andre Hunter, Max Strus, Sam Merrill, Isaac Okoro and fellow All-Star Darius Garland had a solid shooting season this year, but were mostly slowed down in the postseason.
| player | Regular season 3pt% | Eastern Conference Semi-finals 3pt% |
| You are Jerome | 43.9% | 8.3% |
| Max Strath | 38.6% | 39.2% |
| de ‘other hunters | 42.6% | 33.3% |
| Sam Merrill | 37.2% | 36.8% |
| Isaac i | 37.1% | 0.0% |
| Darius Garland | 40.1% | 28.6% |
The pacers can clog the lanes as the best shooters in Cavs can barely hit open looks. Mitchell shot 36.8% from the regular season deep, but only shot 3-32.4% in the playoffs.
At the end of the game, Rick Carlisle chose to include enforcer James Johnson, and was predicted by colour commentator Cory Alexander that Johnson might play a bigger role in the next game to shut down the lane and provide physicality.
Between Johnson, Miles Turner and Thomas Bryant, the Pacers were able to be sized enough to force the cab to shoot deeper and slow Mitchell’s attack.