The Indiana Pacers should be worried but not discouraged

The Indiana Pacers gave up home-court advantage in their first-round series by losing Game 4. They should be worried, but not discouraged, going forward.

Yes, the Indiana Pacers desperately needed to win Game 4. It would have made them go up 3-1 on the Cleveland Cavaliers. Yes, it felt like they gave away control in the series with that loss. Yes, to everything negative you are thinking right now about the Pacers’ chance to win this series. But if we step back, take a few deep breaths, and collect our thoughts, the Pacers are still very much alive in this now best-of-three series with the Cavs

There are a lot of things for the Pacers to be encouraged about going into Wednesday’s game. For starters, the Pacers have won in Cleveland before. In fact, they have won multiple times in Cleveland this year. Furthermore, the Pacers have put themselves in contention to win in all 4 games of this series so far. The two games they did lose were both by four points or less and anyone who has watched this team all season knows the Pacers have yet to play up to their maximum ability.

The Pacers give 100% effort in every game. There is no denying this. Unfortunately, that does not always translate into a perfect outcome. One could argue the Pacers were closest to their potential in Game 1 of this series but they have had a difficult time repeating that performance. Lucky for us, that game just so happened to be in Cleveland.

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Despite having the best player in the world on their team in LeBron James, the Cavs have exhibited flaws and weaknesses all season long. It’s now up to the Pacers to figure out a way to exploit them. They have proven they are capable of doing this before, but can they do it again remains the question.

Indiana let Game 4 slip away in large part to Victor Oladipo having an off night offensively, shooting 5/20 from the field. In spite of Oladipo’s poor offensive performance’s in Games 3 and 4, he deserves credit for everything else he does well on a game-to-game basis. He is an excellent team leader and one of the best defenders in the league. Without Oladipo’s relentless defense the Pacers would not have come close to competing with the Cavs in game 4, or any other game in this series for that matter. That much has been proven with a 0-7 Pacers regular season record sans Oladipo in the lineup. That said, had he shot the ball better in game 4, it’s easy to see the Pacers up 3-1 instead of being tied with the Cavs at 2-2. Reality is a b****.

Instead of playing with a lead, the squad is once again playing with monopoly money in a best-of-3 series. They are guaranteed one more game “At Home Again in Indiana” and if they can protect their home court then they are giving themselves two opportunities to win on the road in Cleveland. If Lloyd Christmas still believes he’s “gotta chance”, then I believe the Pacers do too.

Winning a game in Cleveland is no small task, especially against playoff LeBron, but the Pacers did it once already. Cleveland still has Lebron James and he still has given us no reason to doubt his ability to carry his team to a win.

LeBron is by far the best player on the court in this series. He has more experience in playoff situations like this than any other player in this series. Fortunately, LeBron’s super-human skills and experience are one of the few things the Cavs have going for them. Unfortunately, that very well could be enough to advance to the second round.

As much as Indiana relies on Oladipo to win, they don’t rely on him like the Cavs rely on LeBron. The Pacers can win despite an elite performance from Oladipo, as was proven in Game 3, now commonly known as “The Bogey Game”.

Domantas Sabonis showed signs of life in Game 4 with a team-high 19 points. Thad Young has been the “Swiss Army Knife” he has been for the Pacers all season. Myles Turner has been consistent as long as he can remain on the floor and stay out of foul trouble, but that’s a big “if”.

Myles Turner is one of the few major advantages the Cers’ have over the Cavs, as they play small-ball with Kevin Love as their starting Center. LeBron knows this. He purposely seeks out a match-up with Myles on back to back plays knowing full well he is either going to get a bucket or draw a foul. LeBron gets the benefit of the doubt with the refs, and Myles is not yet seasoned enough to avoid the suaveness of a player like LeBron. It is hard for the Pacers to stop.

If the squad can avoid digging themselves into an early 15+ point deficit like they did in Games 3 and 4, then they could find themselves with another opportunity to win it in the 4th quarter of Game 5. A chance to win it in the fourth quarter is really all you can hope for. Especially when you are facing a guy like LeBron James, who has been to seven straight finals.

It will not be easy to win a game in Cleveland. The final result will not be solely up to one player. It will have to be a collective effort like it has been all year for the Pacers. They have advantages at their disposal, now they just need to execute them. This group has done it before. They can do it again.

Next: Pacers can’t let history repeat itself against LeBron James

The organization still has a chance to pull off the first-round “upset.” It starts with winning a game in Cleveland. It starts with the Pacers being greater than the sum of its parts. We have seen this movie play out before, with LeBron as the leading role. But Indiana is giving trying to give the writers an alternate ending option to this film. We will have to see if they can do it.