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Pacers face Cavs in Game 2 on Monday
By: Sam Chase - StatFox
Published: 4/17/2017  at  9:33:00 AM
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INDIANA PACERS (42-41)

at CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (52-31)

Tip-off: Monday, 7:00 p.m. ET
Line: Cleveland -7.5, Total: 210

The Cavaliers will be hoping to take a 2-0 lead over the Pacers when the teams meet in Cleveland for Game 2 on Monday.

After leading by as many as 10 in the fourth quarter in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinals series against the Indiana Pacers, the Cleveland Cavaliers were only clinging to a one-point lead as the Pacers looked to win on the game’s final possession. Fortunately for Cleveland, C.J. Miles’ jumper came up short as time expired, and the Cavs came away with a 109-108 victory on their home floor (IND +9) to take a 1-0 series lead. While the Pacers’ near-comeback didn’t come by particularly large margins, it was nonetheless a concerning development for a Cavaliers team that fell victim to several late game comebacks in losses at the end of the regular season. For Indiana, a near-win on the road against the reigning NBA champs will likely serve as a confidence boost as they go forward in this series. The Pacers also happen to be 34-20 ATS off of one or more consecutive road losses over the past three seasons, so they have showed an ability to bounce back over the past few years.

SF Paul George (23.7 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 3.3 APG, 1.6 SPG) stepped up in Game 1 for Indiana, leading the team with 29 points on 9-of-19 shooting (6-for-8 3PT), five rebounds and seven assists in 41 minutes. Making the offensive feat more impressive was the fact that he was often charged with checking LeBron James on defense. While he did hit a three in the game’s final minute to cut the lead to what would be its final one-point margin, he was otherwise quiet with only four total points on four shots in the fourth quarter. Part of that was a result of increased defensive pressure, such as the double team from James that forced him to pass the ball on the game’s final possession. Somewhat astoundingly, the team’s second-leading scorer in the game was SG Lance Stephenson (7.2 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 4.2 APG in six regular-season games with IND), who chipped in 16 on 8-of-13 shooting in 27 minutes off the bench. Some of the best basketball of his career has come against LeBron in the playoffs, so perhaps the contribution was not so surprising. PG Jeff Teague (15.3 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 7.8 APG, 1.2 SPG) found himself switched onto the much bigger James a few too many times on the defensive end of the floor, which is something the team will have to work to prevent. He finished with 15 points but only four assists. SG Monta Ellis (8.5 PPG, 3.2 APG, 1.1 SPG) and C Myles Turner (14.5 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 2.1 BPG) each had 11 points; PF Thaddeus Young (11.0 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 1.5 SPG) had nine rebounds.

Despite leading the NBA this regular season in playing 37.8 MPG, James (26.4 PPG, 8.6 RPG, 8.7 APG, 1.2 SPG) looked plenty fresh in Game 1, posting game highs with 32 points and 13 assists, while also chipping in six boards and three steals. It was his 200th career playoff game, and he improved to an incredible 45-7 in games played in the first round. He had 14 points at halftime, which actually made him the team’s third-leading scorer at that point in time: PG Kyrie Irving (25.2 PPG, 5.8 APG, 1.2 SPG) and PF Kevin Love (19.0 PPG, 11.1 RPG) each had 15. Irving finished with 23 on a game-high 27 shots—James took 20—and Love finished with 17 on 5-of-9 shooting. Irving was only 1-for-9 from three-point land. Oddly, SG Kyle Korver (10.7 PPG) didn’t attempt a single three in 15 minutes on the court, but fellow sharp-shooting bench player PF Channing Frye (9.1 PPG, 3.9 RPG) was 3-of-4 from deep en route to 11 points. They weren’t the only veteran contributors off the bench, as PG Deron Williams (7.5 PPG) and SF Richard Jefferson (5.7 PPG) had chipped in five points each. C Tristan Thompson (8.1 PPG, 9.2 RPG, 1.1 BPG) had a game-high 13 rebounds to go with his eight points, and he’ll be a player to watch throughout this series. Things got chippy between him and Myles Turner, an arrangement that favored the bulkier Thompson. Turner may try to stretch the floor more going forward to take advantage of his superior skill.


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