Eastern Conference R1: (4) Cleveland Cavaliers vs (5) Indiana Pacers Game Thread

[fsvr54]

Am I the only one picking an upset here? Pacers are young and hungry, and actually have good players. The cavs are a one man show, I don't believe in a team that has to rely on one player to play at an all time great level every game just to squeak out wins.

[Naero]

Am I the only one picking an upset here? Pacers are young and hungry, and actually have good players. The cavs are a one man show, I don't believe in a team that has to rely on one player to play at an all time great level every game just to squeak out wins.

Not completely true; the Cavaliers collectively have been an offensive juggernaut, so LeBron isn't alone on that end. LeBron may have no other stars in his supporting cast aside from Love (if you want to define "stars" liberally), but there's a glut of talented role-players: three-point snipers on the floor at all times and 7 players total averaging at least 10 PPG.

LeBron will still need to play great consistently due to the dependency most of the role-players have on him, but when's the last time he strung together subpar games

[34-24 Footwork]

[QUOTE=Naero]Not completely true; the Cavaliers collectively have been an offensive juggernaut, so LeBron isn't alone on that end. LeBron may have no other stars in his supporting cast aside from Love (if you want to define "stars" liberally), but there's a glut of talented role-players: three-point snipers on the floor at all times and 7 players total averaging at least 10 PPG.

LeBron will still need to play great consistently due to the dependency most of the role-players have on him, but when's the last time he strung together subpar games

[PickernRoller]

Only reason this series might be interesting...

[Gotterdammerung]

It's unlikely the Cavaliers will sweep the Pacers, no thanks to their substandard defense (109.5 defensive rating ) but there's nobody available to slow down the unstoppable James. He actually stepped it up down the stretch (29.9 ppg, 9.9 rebounds and 10.1 assists) after the massive trade.

Oladipo will keep the Pacers afloat with his excellent play, but he's slowed down after the All-Star break: from 24.4 ppg, 5.3 rebounds and 48.4 FG% and 38.1 3FG% to 20.3 ppg, 4.9 rebounds, 46.0 FG% and 34.2 3FG%.

Cleveland in six.

[Sakkreth]

Well Pacers were predicted to be like 12-13th team in the East. Cavs in 5 or maybe 6, but that's really good result for Indy. Cavs would sweep teams like Washington or Miami.

Pacers core is young as hell, good experience for them. It will be a team that you will see at least in the playoffs for a very long time.
Oladipo - 25
Turner - 22
Sabonis - 21

[JohnFreeman]

What a snooze fest

[Uncle Drew]

Thanks for the 5 starts. Appreciate it!

[dunksby]

Cavs in 6.

[dbugz]

The champion and the runner up have the easiest first round match ups this playoffs despite of them not being on top of their conference.

The stars are aligning once again.

[Im Still Ballin]

#Quest4Four

[Manny98]

Main event of the weekend lets go

[Ghost1]

[FONT="Century Gothic"]"A calvarly man sat atop his steed, is in his own right a walking bastion. Equipped with a lance and armor covering his body, he is fast, nearly invulnerable and able to land strikes from beyond the reach of his foes."[/FONT]

[Manny98]

King is in da Building https://twitter.com/clevelanddotcom/...48177456685059

[StrongLurk]

This series is much more even than people think. I think the Cavs would win 6 out of 10 times against the Pacers.

Could easily be a 7 game series.