The victory lifts the Cavaliers to the Eastern semi-finals against the top seed in the East-the Toronto Raptors.
Game one is in Toronto on Tuesday.
No promises on coverage as I will be away during the game.
Swashbucklings
1) LeBron James not only accumulated his stats against Indiana, he fought through the above problems that sent him to the locker room for a tenure.
James also had nine boards and seven assists and certainly would have had a triple-double had he not been forced to leave the game.
James has literally tossed this team on his back, the bigger question is how far can he carry them?
2) I may be thinking of a hopeful bias here, but I think yesterday might give the Cavaliers a hint of hope that LeBron James might return.
LeBron had every chance to pack it in yesterday (like he arguably did in Boston before he left for Miami) and yet he continued to push through the pain.
I'm not saying that I KNOW he's is staying, but he had a chance to spit out the bit and he didn't.
I just have a feeling he's going to stay.
3) Tristan Thompson has had a bad year and rarely saw the court in this series, but Tyronn Lue took a chance and not only started Thompson, but played him 35 minutes.
Thompson rewarded Lue with 15 points and 10 boards in an inspired performance.
Thompson is always going to be overpaid and he may be a player that's time has passed with the evolution of the game, but on occasion might pop out and give some value as an energy player.
4) Kevin Love's shooting woes continued to a degree with a 5 for 13 shooting afternoon.
However, Love was 4 of 8 from three-point range, so that is a positive to take away from this game.
The answer to Love's problems might be as simple as letting him be aggressive and try to shoot his way out of them- as risky as that could be.
5) Kyle Korver scored just three points, but his biggest play came late in the game when Korver passed up a reasonably open three to run a give and go with LeBron James for the basket that essentially broke the back of the Pacers.
Korver's never been known as an ace passer, but he has a high level of trust with James and saw that was an open option.
6) Glad this series is over. The uniforms are just too similar to see on television and it's easy to become confused.
7) SO... Onto Toronto and after a series that was tougher than expected against a Pacers team that isn't anything special, it is the top-seeded Raptors that await.
The stats show DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry as the keys, but keep an eye on Jonas Valanciunas in this season.
Valanciunas averaged around 13 points and 9 boards and down low is going to be a force against the Cavaliers lighter post players- Tristan Thompson, Larry Nance Jr, and Kevin Love.
Is it possible that we see some very limited action from Kendrick Perkins to pound on Valanciunas a bit in an attempt to slow him and help the Cavaliers quicker, but smaller defenders?
8) LeBron James is tired and it's asking him a lot to carry this team out of the East, let alone to a title.
If that has a slim chance of happening, Cleveland is going to have to end a series in fewer games at least once in order to save some mileage on the legs.
Toronto's the top seed, but again just a hunch- but this might be the chance for the Cavaliers to do that.
Call it an upset special- Cleveland in 6
No comments:
Post a Comment