Pacers End Cavaliers, Thunder Get Crucial Game 5 Win

On Tuesday night, one top seed was closed out while the other top seed took a 3-2 lead in the Conference Semifinals. 

In Cleveland, the Indiana Pacers recovered from a 31-19 first quarter deficit to defeat the Cavaliers 114-105 and advance to the Conference Finals for the second consecutive season, knocking off the 64-win Cavaliers in five games. After trailing by the 12-point first quarter margin, the Pacers outscored the Cavaliers 66-45 over the second and third quarters.

In Oklahoma City, the Thunder prevailed 112-105 to take a 3-2 series lead back to Ball Arena on Thursday, a game that tips at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN.

In the first game of the night, the Pacers shot 50% from the field and made 15-of-35 from downtown, led by Tyrese Haliburton’s 31 points (10-for-15, 6-for-10 from deep) with 8 assists and 6 rebounds. Pascal Siakam added 21 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists on 8-for-20 shooting. Andrew Nembhard contributed 18 points and 6 assists on 7-for-11 from the field and made three of his six 3-pointers. Aaron Nesmith, despite struggling shooting the ball (5-for-14, 1-for-7 from downtown) grabbed 13 rebounds with his 13 points. Myles Turner was effective inside, with 4 blocks along with 10 points and 7 rebounds, contributing to a 47-46 Pacer rebounding edge. The team also shot 17-of-22 from the line. The Pacers committed 13 turnovers to the Cavaliers’ 11. 

Donovan Mitchell led the Cavaliers with 35 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 steals, but struggled from the field making 8-of-25 and only 4-of-13 from 3-point range. He did however successfully get to the line and made his free-throws, going 15-for-21. 

Mitchell, who averaged 24 points on 44% in the regular season, shot just 42.4% against the Pacers (24.5% from downtown) after 23.8 points on 47.8% in the first round against the Miami Heat. He had consecutive 40-point games in Games 2 and 3 against the Pacers, but scored just 12 on 3-of-11 in the Cavs’ 129-109 loss in Game 4. 

Evan Mobley played a strong Game 5 with 24 points, 11 rebounds, and 2 blocks on 8-for-12 from the field and 7-for-9 from the line. De’Andre Hunter off the bench produced 12 points on 5-for-12 shooting in 30 minutes off the bench. Darius Garland, visibly bothered by his toe injury, missed 12 of his 16 shots and missed all six of his 3-point attempts and finished with just 11 points. As a team, the Cavaliers shot just 38.9%, made only nine of their 35 attempts from deep, and converted only 26 of their 37 free-throw attempts. 

On Tuesday night, the Cavaliers made things interesting late, but ultimately could not make the plays down the stretch that were needed. They will face a long offseason of reflection, a team that was dominant in the regular season but faltered in the playoffs. 

After winning games by 21, 37, and 55 points in the opening round against the Miami Heat, the Cavaliers had shot 46%, 43%, 42%, 43%, and 39% against the Pacers. Winning 64 games in the regular season, they were a team that began the regular 15-0 and won 12 consecutive games just two weeks later. From February 5 to March 14, they won 16 consecutive games. For the duration of the regular season, they did look like the class of the conference. The Pacers did take three out of four from the Cavaliers in the regular season though (including going 5-0 vs. the Cavaliers at Rocket Arena; the Cavs were 36-5 combined at home against other clubs) and are a very well coached team under Rick Carlisle that presented the Cavaliers with matchup issues. The Pacers, who will face either the Boston Celtics or Nrw York Knicks in the Conference Finals, will be a difficult matchup for either. They won three road games in the series versus the Cavaliers, marking the first time since their 2005 first round series against the Celtics that they won three road games in a series. 

The Thunder in their seven point win got out to a quick 12-2 burst, but the Nuggets rebounded, leading 28-27 after one quarter and outscoring the Thunder 28-27 in the second as well. After a 30-24 third quarter, they entered the fourth quarter with an eight point lead. Then the Thunder got going, closing the gap and making for an exciting finish. 

Just above the two minute mark, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander knocked down a jump shot over Jamal Murray, who fouled Gilgeous-Alexander on the play. The star went to the line and finished off the 3-point play, giving the Thunder a 103-100 lead. To that point. SGA had 26 points. On the next play for the Nuggets, Nikola Jokic hit one of the most incredible and improbable shots that you will see. 

With the shot clock winding down, covered by Chet Holmgren and no option to pass the ball, Jokic, back to the basket, looked to his left and then spun back to his right before launching a lofting, high arching three as the shot clock wound down. Holmgren, in position, contested as well as you can. 

Swish. 

“Ohhhh! Joker’s wild!”, screamed TNT’s Ian Eagle as the shot went through. The impossible make gave Jokic 44 points and tied the game at 103 with 1:40 remaining. Seconds later, Jalen Williams cashed in on a corner 3-pointer. On the next Nugget possession, Jokic found Michael Porter Jr., but Porter Jr. missed his 3-point attempt. Gilgeous-Alexander connected on a top of the arc triple with 47.1 seconds remaining, giving him 29 points and the Thunder a 109-103 lead. Porter Jr. then air balled a triple and Gordon missed from the corner, and Gilgeous-Alexander secured the rebound with 25 seconds remaining. His two free throws gave him 31 points in the game (he finished 12-for-23 from the field and 6-for-6 from the line with 7 assists and 6 rebounds. 

The Thunder, with their 34-19 fourth quarter, continued their final frame dominance over Games 4 and 5, as they have outscored the Nuggets 63-37 in the fourth quarters of the last two games of the series. 

Oklahoma City shot 50% from the field for the game, 12-for-29 from downtown, and 18-of-23 from the stripe. They held the Nuggets to 41.2% shooting and 13-of-46 from deep. Jalen Williams aided Gilgeous-Alexander with 18 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists, though he was 5-of-14 from the field, and 2-of-5 from downtown and 6-of-8 from the line. Holmgren played a solid game with 14 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocks on 6-for-9 shooting. Isaiah Hartenstein also did an admirable job, with 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 1 block on 7-for-9 from the field. Lu Dort made 50% of his shots, 4-for-8 from distance, a major turnaround from Game 4’s 2-for-13 performance. Alex Caruso off the bench was 3-for-6 from downtown for 13 points in 24 minutes. 

As has been said ad nauseum, one runs out of words to describe Nikola Jokic. One of the best centers in history and one of the best offensive players, Jokic delivered another luminous line: 44 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals in 44 minutes on 17-of-25 from the field, 5-for-7 from 3-point range, and 5-of-5 from the line. Aside from Jamal Murray’s 28 points (though the guard was 10-for-27 and 3-of-13 from deep) and Gordon’s 13 points and 5 rebounds on 6-for-13, the Nugget role guys struggled. Porter Jr. missed six shots and all of his 3-point attempts, and Russell Westbrook in 20 minutes contributed 4 points on 1-for-7 shooting. 

With their season on the line back at home on Thursday, the Nuggets will surely come out ready to attack. It will be up to the Thunder to absorb the blow and counterpunch.