5. April 10: Pacers vs. Cavaliers
In their final nationally televised game of the 2024-25 season, the Pacers will host the Cleveland Cavaliers. This game will also be one of Indiana's final games of the regular season in its entirety.
The two teams are division rivals and were neck-and-neck in the standings last season. Cleveland finished just one game better than the Pacers did. However, despite finishing with a slightly worse record, the Pacers had a better playoff run and are in a better spot than Cleveland is going into next season.
Cleveland has a good roster with an intriguing core. This summer, they extended Donovan Mitchell, Jarrett Allen, and Evan Mobley to long-term contracts. Additionally, while it has not happened yet, it is expected that Darius Garland will receive a contract extension at some point as well.
However, despite their solid roster, the Cavaliers did very little to improve this summer. Over a month-and-a-half after the beginning of the offseason, the Cavaliers have yet to make a single external addition besides drafting Jaylon Tyson with the No. 20 pick in this year's draft. There is still plenty of offseason left, but it seems that Cleveland will end up with a quiet offseason.
This late into the season, the Pacers could have the opportunity to solidify themselves as a better team than Cleveland, and potentially, as the best team in the Central Division.