Post-Game Grades: Pacers fall, Cleveland knots up series

In a crucial Game 4, the Pacers fall to the Cavaliers — tying the series up at two games apiece.

After going up in the series 2-1, the Indiana Pacers had a great chance to gain a 3-1 lead heading back to Cleveland. After a 17-point comeback in Game 3, the Pacers seemed to have the momentum.

It was a back-and-forth affair in the final quarter after Indiana stormed back from being down 16 points in the second quarter. Eventually, Indiana took a slight lead. It was close for the entire fourth quarter, but Cleveland was able to execute down the stretch—aka Kyle Korver got hot—and took Game 4, 104-100.

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The Good: The Pacers once again stormed back from a large deficit, showing off their resilience. After overcoming a 17-point hole last game, though, there were due for a disappointment.

The Bad: Victor Oladipo, Darren Collison and Bojan Bogdanovic shot a combined 14-of-47—which equals 29.7 percent.

Oladipo’s struggles handling the blitzing and trapping of the Cavaliers haven’t improved as the series has progressed. Too many weak passes that gave the Cavaliers time to recover. He couldn’t split them, either. For what it is worth, he only turned the ball over three times.

MVP: Thaddeus Young. Despite the missed bunnies early on, Young was huge in the comeback on both ends of the floor.

If you need one sequence to show his impact, check out when he not only rejected Kevin Love’s shot, but then proceeded to rip the rebound away. That’s a man’s rebound.

Young often impact the game in less tangible ways, but 12 points and 16 rebounds were very tangible.

LVP: Cory Joseph. His defense was great as usual, but he scored zero points. Having some scoring relief for a struggling Collison and Oladipo would’ve been nice.

X-Factor: Domantas Sabonis. He struggled early on, but he had a stretch in the third quarter where he was unstoppable. He was one of the keys in the comeback as he set screens and got to the basket. After mostly making mistakes in the first three games, Domas showed what he brings to the Pacers as the backup center.

We’ve talked about his physicality and basketball IQ all season — despite regressions — and finally, it was on display in the playoffs.

For most of the series Myles Turner was clearly the better center, but Sabonis reminded us that Indiana has two young centers worthy of minutes.

Next: Pacers can't let history repeat itself

The Pacers will now head back to Cleveland for Game 5 on Wednesday and will air on TNT and Fox Sports Indiana at 7 p.m.