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'They had us in the blender': Cavaliers must figure out how to stop Pacers in NBA playoffs
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- 'They had us in the blender': Cavaliers must figure out how to stop Pacers in NBA playoffs
CLEVELAND — The Indiana Pacers run an offensive system that operated so efficiently during Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals that it more resembled a steam engine running smoothly and with perfect timing.
The Cavaliers , down 1-0 in the series after a 121-112 loss Sunday, May 4, have to figure out how to knock the Pacers off their tracks.
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The Pacers and their five-out, fast-paced offense had a textbook night in Game 1. Indiana relies on having as many shooters on the floor as possible, while playing with as much pace as possible, along with as much ball movement as possible, to create the most difficult defensive assignment possible.
In Game 1, the Pacers finished with four players scoring at least 17 points, six players in double figures and eight players totaling at least seven points. They rolled through the Cavs with speed, ball movement, spacing and shooting.
"In the beginning, they had us kind of in the blender a little bit," said Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson . "It took us a while to get used [to it]. ... And then their shot-making was otherworldly."
The Cavs, of course, knew what Indiana's game plan was entering the series. But running such a fast-paced, ball-movement-heavy offense isn't easy to replicate in practice. It's one thing to know it's coming. It's another to stop it when the game can effectively turn into a track meet.
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Tyrese Haliburton is the conductor of that train. He not only scored 22 points but dished out 13 assists.
Trying to defend five potential shooters at once leads to spacing issues — it's difficult to defend virtually every inch of the court. Add in fast-paced ball movement and Haliburton at the controls, and there's a reason Indiana reached the Eastern Conference Finals a year ago. They're now three wins away from returning.
"It's not only the pace, or the speed, how fast they run, but they touch it, they move it around," Atkinson said. "And Tyrese is a master of that, he's just like a hockey distributor. He's kind of banging it around, and that's hard [to defend]. … I think we struggled not only with their pace but with their ball movement."
Over and over, the Cavs seemed to play quality defense for about 20 seconds until one last swing around the arc, one last pass, one last defensive lapse led to a wide-open shot, especially behind the 3-point line. The Pacers shot lights-out from beyond the arc, hitting 19 3s and shooting 52.8% from 3-point range.
Indiana Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith (23) celebrates after making a 3-pointer against the Cleveland Cavaliers during Game 1 of a second-round NBA playoff series May 4, 2025, in Cleveland, Ohio.
Tyrese Haliburton leads Pacers over Cavaliers in Game 1 of NBA playoff series
In addition to Haliburton's 22 points and 13 assists, Andrew Nembhard made five 3s and scored a team-high 23 points. Pascal Siakam and Aaron Nesmith each scored 17 points and had six 3s between them. Myles Turner finished with 13 points (only one 3-pointer). Bennedict Mathurin hit three 3s and had 11 points.
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It was a barrage from every angle, and the Cavs were left scrambling to cover every corner. Cleveland can perhaps point to that level of 3-point shooting being unsustainable for an entire series. But they also have to worry about forcing more contested 3s and interrupting the Pacers' shot quality.
The Cavaliers did begin to slow Indiana down during a third-quarter comeback that momentarily erased a 12-point deficit. But in the end, it wasn't enough. They have to hope something was figured out heading into Game 2 to knock the Pacers off their intended path.
Of course, the Cavaliers need to simply shoot at a higher clip than in Game 1, when they shot 45% from the floor and made only nine 3s. That's part of it, especially with point guard Darius Garland still sidelined . But the top priority is interrupting Indiana's offensive scheme.
"Throughout the game, they dictated," said Cavs All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell , who scored a game-high 33 points but made only one of his 11 3-point attempts. "In the third quarter we made our run and we kind of figured it out in different ways. I wouldn't say we figured it out because we lost, but we figured some things that worked, and now we gotta go back and watch it and watch why it worked and go from there."
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: NBA playoffs: Cleveland Cavs working to stop Pacers, Tyrese Haliburton
