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'Head of the snake': Cavaliers, Pacers face off in NBA playoffs | Keys to the series
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- 'Head of the snake': Cavaliers, Pacers face off in NBA playoffs | Keys to the series
INDEPENDENCE — The Cavaliers and Indiana Pacers will meet with a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals on the line.
The Cavs are on the heels of a historic four-game sweep of the Miami Heat , including blowout wins i n Games 3 and 4 . The Pacers pulled off a wild rally in overtime of Game 5 to dispatch the Milwaukee Bucks , 4-1.
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The Pacers won three of the four regular-season meetings between the two teams, though two of those games were played after the Cavs had already secured the No. 1 seed in the East and had little incentive left.
Game 1 will begin at either 6 or 8 p.m. Sunday, May 4.
Here are the keys to watch in the second-round series.
Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) blocks the shot of Cleveland Cavaliers forward Isaac Okoro (35) on Jan. 12, 2025, in Cleveland, Ohio.
Cavaliers aiming to slow down Pacers guard/forward Tyrese Haliburton in NBA playoff series
Two-time Pacers All-Star Tyrese Haliburton was voted as the most overrated player in the NBA by an anonymous player poll. The Cavs don't see it that way.
The poll generated some buzz in Indiana, to be sure. Haliburton was named to the All-Star team two years in a row and last season averaged 20.1 points and 10.9 assists. This season, though, he was left off the All-Star squad and then in April found out his peers had named him the league's most overrated player.
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The Cavs, meanwhile, see him as the No. 1 threat to stop in the Pacers offense.
"I didn't vote. I mean, look at him," said Donovan Mitchell , who took one of those spots on the All-Star team this season. "He's been to the conference finals. He's a talented player. Since the All-Star break, he's been averaging like 20 and 12. ... He's the head of the snake."
Atkinson simply shook his head when reacting to the anonymous players poll. Haliburton's combination of scoring and passing ability means that while the Pacers have an attack that can hit from you any angle, Haliburton is perhaps the most dangerous to let roam.
"So I think he's one of the elite guards in this league, that poll, I don't know those guys. They must not be watching the same film I'm watching," Atkinson said. "I think he's one of the hardest, hardest covers in [the league], elite because he's got both. He can score and then he's a lead passer. Elite jumper. It reminds me of the LeBrons of the world, the James Hardens of the world. They can just fire passes on a dart to any spot on the court."
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland celebrates after making a 3-pointer against the Miami Heat on April 20, 2025, in Cleveland, Ohio.
Will the Cavaliers have Darius Garland against the Pacers in the series? And if not, how do they replace him?
After Cleveland 's sweep of Miami, Heat forward Kyle Anderson said the Cavs looked like a better team without Garland on the floor. The Cavs don't see it that way.
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"If you want my honest answer, and I don't mean to throw shots at anybody and or even entertain what was going on between them," Anderson said, "but I think they looked like a better team without Garland on the floor."
The Cavaliers quickly shook off that notion.
"I don't listen to that," Atkinson said. "I think we're better with our all-star point guard, personally."
Atkinson said there is "some concern" with Garland's Game 1 status as he recovers from the big toe sprain that kept him out of Games 3 and 4 against Miami. He's considered day-by-day.
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If he's not available, the question becomes: how do the Cavs respond?
Sam Merrill started in Garland's place in Miami, which could be the case again versus the Pacers. Against the Heat, Atkinson wanted Ty Jerome , De'Andre Hunter and Dean Wade all coming off the bench because of their fit in the rotation and the matchup. It's possible the Pacers could call for something different, but Merrill might again get the nod to begin the game.
"We like Sam [in this spot] because he's two-way and especially with — if Darius is going to be out — he can create advantages," Atkinson said. "Not in pick-and-roll, but with off-ball screen stuff and then he can hold his own defensively."
Of course, after the initial starting five, how the rotation plays out is completely flexible anyway. Jerome and Hunter, especially, have been massively important players off the Cavs bench, and Wade assumed some larger roles as the series progressed.
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How do the Cavs defend Pacers' 'five-out' offense in NBA playoffs?
The Pacers attack defenses with "five-out" offense that utilizes five players who can shoot from nearly anywhere on the floor. It creates a fluid system that makes it difficult to defend every inch of the floor.
The Pacers have seven players who are averaging double figures in the playoffs, led by Pascal Siakam at 19.8 points. He's followed by Haliburton (17.6 points), Myles Turner (16.8), Andrew Nembhard (15.0), Aaron Nesmith (14.8), Bennedict Mathurin (10.3) and T.J. McConnell (10.0).
It's a lot of mouths to feed offensively. Defensively, it's lot of mouths to cover, and it creates as many options for where the shot is coming from as possible.
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"Oh, it's the hardest thing to guard in basketball is five out, five shooters. It just is," Atkinson said. "So you got to decide how much you're going to — it's the Boston conundrum, it's Indiana — how much you're going to switch? Are you going to stay in coverage? Obviously against Miami, we were in coverage a lot, right? We didn't switch as much. But this series could be different because of the five out."
It could put the most pressure on Jarrett Allen . The Cavs have been working on extending his defensive footprint, but that'll be a must in this series. But then again, the defensive questions could lead to some solutions at the other end of the floor.
"We all know JA's next step is to be able to guard five out. I think it's a challenge, but he's more than capable with his versatility," Atkinson said. "I will say this, they apply that, but we also have two bigs offensively, so they're going to have to guard us too, right? It's a hard guard for us.
"But I think when we play those two bigs together with our offensive rebounding, our pick and roll offense with JA, they're going to have to guard him. So it might seem like a disadvantage for us on one end. It could be an advantage for us for us on the other."
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: NBA playoffs: Cavs, Pacers series center on Haliburton, Garland's status
