Game 2 Grades: Cavaliers survive Pacers, 100-97
After a LeBron James onslaught to open the game, the Pacers outscored Cleveland 79-67 the rest of the way. It wasn’t enough.
There was something I discovered about halfway into LeBron’s domination of the first quarter (he scored 20 of Cleveland’s 33, and all of Cleveland’s first 16) and that important incontrovertible truth was this: fried biscuits and apple butter are really, really, really good.
156. 97. 100. Final. 100
Now, what does that have to do with basketball? Um, nothing. Except when one team is so viscerally obliterating the team that you cover/love, you gotta lean on something.
On Wednesday night, I leaned on fried biscuits and apple butter. It’s a stall tactic, I’ll admit, because if you’ve watched this Pacer team for more than a couple games, you’ll know that they are never out. They weren’t out when they trailed Cleveland 22-4 with 6 minutes left in the first, even though things looked bleak.
They weren’t out in Game 2.
The Pacers lost by three. They took the heaviest punch from the league’s heaviest weight (LeBron James) and they lost by three, on the road, in a game that Cleveland had to win. That bodes well for Indiana going forward. They lost, but that is a pleasant sign.
Victor Oladipo missed the vast majority of the entire first half and Indiana lost by only three. LeBron played like a demigod and the Pacers lost by only three. What else can Cleveland do to shake the unflappable Pacers? I don’t know. If this was Cleveland’s best effort, two facts remain. One, even with the game two loss, the Pacers have stolen the homecourt advantage; and two: fried biscuits and apple butter are really, really good.
The Good: The final three quarters. Indiana has no quit. Game one was the inverse of game two, the Pacers lurched out to a huge lead, Cleveland made two charges and got blown out. The difference in game two was that Indy didn’t get blown out. Indy kept battling, Victor Oladipo even had an open three to tie the game with 27.5 seconds left, which he missed. But just to be in a position to attempt that shot speaks well to the character of this team.
The Bad: Turnovers. Indy had 17, the Pacers averaged a shade over 13. That’s four more than the Pacers usually have. Unacceptable in a game of this magnitude.
MVP: Oladipo. It wasn’t a tour de force like Game 1 was. But the game shifts whenever Oladipo is on the floor, his impact literally cancels out LeBron’s, which sounded like a fantasy before this series, but has been proven true. Whenever Vic is on the floor, Indy looks like the better team, unless LeBron has an ultra-human performance.
LVP: Lance was pretty terrible in game 2, but had some decent minutes late. I’ve about had it with LeBron’s habitual flopping, I don’t know if that qualifies for this section, but I don’t care. The first three-quarters of Lance, and whenever LeBron either (A) transforms into tissue paper in the wind when he’s bumped or (B) outright shoves Lance and gets away with it, there’s your LVP.
X-Factor: Something got into Myles Turner. 18 and 5 isn’t something you want to magnetize to the refrigerator, but Turner’s showed up this series, and the Pacers are going to be much, much better because of it.
Indiana Pacers. DARREN COLLISON. A -. Another quiet 16 from DC. He regained the shooting touch that he lost in game 1, going 2-of-4 from three, including the giganormous three to slice the Cavs lead to 3 with less than a minute left in the game.. PG
Victor only gets marked down because he got himself in foul trouble in the first half, which was bad. But, Vic’s been awesome this series. He tilts the balance of power, towards Indiana, whenever he’s on the floor.. SG. Indiana Pacers. VICTOR OLADIPO. A -
B -. Bogey had an alright game. He had two really dumb turnovers, I mean, c’mon Man. But he played passible defense on LeBron in the second half while scoring 8 points. Bogdanovic can do better.. SF. Indiana Pacers. BOJAN BOGDANOVIC
PF. Indiana Pacers. THADDEUS YOUNG. B. Typical glue-guy performance by Mr. Elmers. 8 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, arms flailing mostly in a productive fashion. He played well.
C. Indiana Pacers. MYLES TURNER. B. I mean this seriously, Myles saved that game. He scored 9 of Indiana’s first 12, and that was all in the disastrous first quarter. The game would’ve been much worse if Myles didn’t step up.
C. This series has been more about glimpses of what Sabonis will be, rather than what he is. What I mean is he has shown the aptitude to expand his game (corner three, driving to his left, a hook-shot), but he can’t do it just yet. That said a 6 and 5 isn’t nothing, it’s just below what he’s capable of.. C. Indiana Pacers. DOMANTAS SABONIS
SG. Indiana Pacers. LANCE STEPHENSON. C -. Lance put up better numbers than the game felt like. His four turnovers and two clanked threes weighed heavier than his 10 points and 4 rebounds, his second half performance was far superior than his first half.
C +. CoJo played fine (more minutes and any other bench player) but his impact wasn’t overwhelming. Dished for 2 assists, missed two three-pointers. A meh game, for Joseph, if there ever was one.. PG. Indiana Pacers. CORY JOSEPH
A +. I’m kidding, he didn’t play.. PF. Indiana Pacers. TJ LEAF
Played exactly one minute. Which was one more minute than T.J. Leaf.. SG. Indiana Pacers. GLENN ROBINSON III. C
F. Indiana Pacers. TREVOR BOOKER. C. 9 minutes, 3 boards, 4 fouls, 3 points. Not his best, not his worse, but not spectacular either.
This will be fun: it’s on to Indianapolis. I think it will be fair to say that the Fieldhouse will be rocking at 7 p.m. on Friday evening. Game 4 is Sunday and Game 5, which is now necessary, is next Wednesday the 25th.