A Mother's Day mauling: Pacers blow out Cavaliers in Game 4, push Cavs to brink
INDIANAPOLIS -- Pascal Siakam scored 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting to lead the No. 4 seed Pacers to a 129-109 blowout win over the No. 1 seed Cavs in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals to take a 3-1 lead in the series with just one more win needed to move on. The Pacers led 80-39 at the break and most of the second half in garbage time.
Game 5 is 7 p.m., Tuesday at Rocket Arena in Cleveland.
Forward Obi Toppin scored 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting and center Myles Turner scored 20 making all four of his 3-pointers. Point guard T.J. McConnell scored 13 points and dished out eight assists off the bench. Guard Ben Sheppard had 14 points. Forward Aaron Nesmith had 12 points and All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton had 11 points and five assists. Guard Darius Garland scored 21 points to lead the Cavs.
Here are three observations.
The Pacers never quite figured out the Cavs' 3-2 zone in Game 3 with the length Cleveland put on the perimeter making it impossible for them to get the ball in the middle. But the Pacers made it clear from the beginning Sunday they had it solved, and they spent the entire first half ripping it apart.
With big men Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley so often operating at the top of the 3-2, the Pacers saw opportunities for mismatches in the back line and they exploited those with post-ups which in turn forced collapses that made for easy 3-pointers. That made for an offensive first half that ranks among the most dominant in Pacers history.
The Pacers led 80-39 at the break with a running floater by Aaron Nesmith at the buzzer providing a fitting end to the half. At the break, they were 30-of-50 from the floor, 12-of-18 from 3 and 8-of-10 for the line for a gaudy 1.50 points per possession. They scored 38 points in the first quarter and were somehow even better in the second period, posting 42 points on 16-of-24 shooting including 6-of-8 from 3-point range for an incredible 1.70 points per possession.
The Pacers were on the wrong side of points-in-the-paint, rebounding and turnovers conversation in the first three games despite entering Sunday night with a 2-1 lead in the series. In Sunday's first half they flipped that dramatically. At the end of the first half they were up 30-6 on points in the paint, 22-15 on the glass, and 10-2 on second-chance points. They committed just four turnovers to the Cavs' 14 and scored 23 points off turnovers to the Cavs' five. They posted 25 assists at the break to the Cavs' three.
The Pacers approach to the 3-2 zone worked so well because the Pacers' big men were so effective with forwards Pascal Siakam and Obi Toppin and center Myles Turner picking on back-line mismatches and posting them up and also ripping 3-pointers. They got rolling early which in turn opened things up for the rest of the roster.
Siakam and Toppin had been relatively quiet this series. Siakam averaged 15.7 points per game in the first three games — down from his season-average of 20.2 per game — and Toppin was averaging just 6.3 points per game on 36.8% shooting. They both got rolling out of the gate with a combined 11 first-quarter points. At the break, Toppin had 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting with a remarkable, Dr.J.-esque reverse layup among his buckets. Siakam had 12 on a nearly-perfect 5-of-6 from the floor and 2-of-2 from 3.
Meanwhile Turner turned it up in the second quarter, scoring 13 points in the period on 5-of-6 shooting including 3-of-3 from the 3-point line. At the break he had 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting including 4-of-4 from 3.
The Pacers didn't need as much from them in the second half, but Toppin finished with 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting. Siakam had 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting and Turner finished with 20 shooting 7-of-13 from the floor and 4 of 4 from 3.
While the Pacers were destroying the Cavs' zone, they also played their best defense this series and finally managed to slow down Donovan Mitchell.
The Cavs got to the line 14 times in the first quarter and made 12 free throws which was the only thing that saved them from an abysmal showing in the period. They scored 23 points, but but were 4-of-15 from the floor. In the second quarter they managed just 16 points on 4-of-17 shooting. At the break, they were 8-of-32 from the floor, 5-of-19 from 3 with three assists against 14 turnovers for 0.77 points per possession. The second half was much better but the game was never in doubt after halftime.
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