The Indiana Pacers looked great in Game 1 and stole a win on the road against the Cleveland Cavaliers. However, despite their incredible play, the Pacers won by nine points despite the Cavaliers shooting uncharacteristically poorly on wide-open threes.
Cleveland ended the regular season as one of the top three-point shooting teams in the league, both in efficiency and volume. This carried over for the Cavaliers as their 40.4% from beyond the arc in the playoffs is second-best, only behind the Pacers. However, in their Game 1 loss, the Cavaliers shot just 9-for-38 from beyond the arc (or 23.7%). Furthermore, they shot just 23.5% on three-point field goal attempts that were open. For some context, Cleveland shot 47.4% on such attempts in their first-round sweep against the Miami Heat.
The Pacers did a great job against the Cavaliers in Game 1, and fans should have plenty of reasons to believe in their chances of winning the series. However, it is highly unlikely that Cleveland will shoot this poorly again in the series, which does not bode well for Indiana.
Indiana needs to keep bringing their A-game to upset the Cavaliers
Even following their Game 1 victory, it is tough to say the Pacers are a better team than the Cavaliers. Cleveland finished the regular season with the top offense and also ranked as one of the best defensive teams in the league. Additionally, they have plenty of talent at the top of their roster and have plenty of advantages over the Pacers, though Indiana has a few of their own as well. Still, the Pacers have a legitimate chance to upset the Cavaliers and win the series, but they need to play at their best the rest of the way, which may prove to be too difficult.
The Pacers are a high-energy team that can win in different ways. They have improved drastically on the defensive side of the ball, and that was evident in their Game 1 victory in Cleveland. However, the Cavaliers earned the No. 1 seed in the East for a reason, and they pose as a legitimate threat to the Pacers on both sides of the ball. How they bounce back and move forward will be worth monitoring for the rest of the series.
Regardless, the Pacers are up in the series, and they have an opportunity to take a 2-0 lead back to Indiana on Tuesday night. As the Pacers look to make it back to the conference finals, they will hope that the law of averages does not come back to bite them and that the Cavaliers continue to play below their top level.