The Indiana Pacers came out hot and threw some haymakers in the 2nd quarter, but LeBron James was too much to handle in a critical Game 5 loss.
It’s easy to forget how casually great LeBron James is. He reminded everyone this game, getting to the rim any time he wanted no matter who was defending him. The Pacers carried a 7 point lead into halftime, but were absolutely crushed to the tune of 32-17 in a decisive 3rd quarter.
After 3 straight games of trailing at the half, the Pacers came out strong against Cleveland and had a 10 point lead in the first and a 9 point lead in the second. That hot start didn’t translate beyond that, as the Cavs took over behind LeBron James’ apparently unending brilliance. James had 35 through 3 quarters and willed the Cavs to victory.
Despite Victor Oladipo’s massive struggles, the squad improbably battled back behind Domas Sabonis and tied the game at 95 with under a minute to go. Unfortunately, 3 seconds was apparently too much time to give LeBron James, and the Pacers didn’t use their foul to give before LeBron yet again ripped the heart of out fans everywhere with a game-winning 3 as time expired.
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The Good: The guys fought back. LeBron kept throwing punches, they kept getting back up. Unfortunately, LeBron threw the final punch.
The Bad: Victor Oladipo. Yikes, Vic. If he’s not legitimately awful, Indiana wins this game. He was awful.
MVP: Domas Sabonis. Kept the team in the game through Myles Turner’s foul trouble and hurricane LeBron. Pacers might’ve lost by 20 without Sabonis getting buckets.
LVP: Darren Collison. He did nothing helpful at any point in the game. The almost 50/40/90 point guard was absolutely useless on offense.
X-Factor: Cory Joseph. 6 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, and played his ass off on defense.
Next: Myles Turner is putting it all together
Indiana faces elimination at the hands of the fightin’ LeBrons on Friday, 4/27. Time is TBD