INDIANAPOLIS– It was worst case scenario for the Cavaliers on Friday night as they fell to the Indiana Pacers in Game 3 of their opening round playoff series, 92-90.
With the loss, the Cavs are in a 2-1 series hole and still have one more game to go in Indiana at 8:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Let’s just dive right into this one. Here are three takeaways from the loss.
1. Tale of two halves
The Cavaliers led by 17 points at the halftime break, 57-40, behind 21-of-39 shooting from the field. They had balanced scoring, as four members of their starting five were on the board after the first quarter. In the second frame, they were led by Kevin Love who hit two 3s and had 10 total points.
Defensively, they did a good job of blitzing Victor Oladipo to turn him into a passer. Bojan Bogdanovic was in some early foul trouble, but still managed to find a little bit of a rhythm with 11 points. Other than that, the Cavs had solid rotations and seemed to be communicating.
In the third quarter, however, the Wine and Gold seemed totally lethargic. They were leaving the lane wide open, and couldn’t get shots to fall to build momentum back up. They scored just 12 points in the third quarter and managed just 33 for the second half.
Their lead disappeared as Oladipo hit two free throws with 8:38 to go to tie the game at 75. With 6:10 remaining, they went up for good as Bogdanovic nailed an and-one 3-pointer to put them up, 81-77.
While the Cavs got to within one on an off-balance Kevin Love 3-pointer with 7.6 seconds remaining, they were forced to foul Indiana’s Darren Collison. He made the first free throw but missed the second. With no timeouts remaining, the Cavs didn’t have enough time to set up, and JR Smith had to take a deep, contested 3-pointer.
2. No answer for Bogie
Bogdanovic had a game-high 30 points, 15 of which came in the fourth quarter.
In that final frame, he knocked down four 3-pointers, including the above-described critical four-point play. As the Cavs went cold, Bogdanovic got hotter and thrived on their lax defense.
Given their defensive strategy of blitzing Oladipo, the Cavs seem content with letting anyone else beat them. On Friday night, Bogdanovic managed to do just that.
3. Not enough help down the stretch
The Cavaliers scored just 33 points in the second half, 15 of which came from LeBron James.
By the time the Pacers had fought their way back into the game, the Cavs were living and dying by the 3-ball. From 2:50-1:16 in the fourth quarter, the Cavs missed four straight from beyond the arc. James, for what it’s worth, connected on three over the final four and a half minutes to give the Cavs a chance at the very end.
He ended the night with 28 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. But still, the diversity Cleveland had in scoring in the first half was nowhere to be found down the stretch.
It wouldn’t be dramatic to say that Game 4 on Sunday is a must-win for the Cavs, who have been punched in the mouth early during the 2018 playoffs. They will only have one day to regroup and once again, try and bounce back by evening the series.
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