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Cleveland Cavaliers: Late Pacers Rally Should Scare Cavs For Now And the Future

By Nathan Beighle

Apr 17, 2017; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) drives to the basket against Indiana Pacers forward CJ Miles (0) during the second half in game two of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Quicken Loans Arena. The Cavs won 117-111. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 17, 2017; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) drives to the basket against Indiana Pacers forward CJ Miles (0) during the second half in game two of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Quicken Loans Arena. The Cavs won 117-111. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Cleveland Cavaliers, who were up 19 points in this game 2, almost let the Pacers comeback yet but luckily saw the big 3 save them.

The Cleveland Cavaliers held off a late rally from the Indiana Pacers en route to their game 2 victory. This is the second straight game that the Cavaliers allowed the Pacers back into the game after being up double figures late.

James, Love, and Irving all excelled as they put up 25, 27, and 37 respectively. Outside of the big three, Cleveland got three triples from Deron Williams and insignificant contributions from everyone else.

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This just isn’t acceptable and the Cavaliers should be lucky that they are playing the Pacers right now. In this game especially, the Cavaliers sprinted out to a fantastic lead in the third quarter, but their gassed selves didn’t look too great in the fourth quarter. After blowing a 12 point lead in the fourth last game, the Cavs resorted to back isolation plays and eventually saw their lead down to just five with about a minute left.

Iman Shumpert was the main X-Factor in the third quarter and played 20 second half minutes. With Smith out with a left hamstring injury, Shump’s impact was especially crucial in bouncing out to the lead.

The Cavaliers fourth quarter defense this postseason has been horrendous. They have a 127.7 defensive rating in the fourth quarter. Couple that with a 90.1 offense rating, and the Cavaliers have an unsustainable -37.6 net rating in the fourth quarter. While for now the Cavs can just sub in the big three and be fine, they must find different lineups that utilize the strengths of each member of the big three without them all being on the court at the same time.

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As the playoffs continue, late game execution on both the offense and defense end will be huge keys for the Cavaliers. Sleep easy Cavs fans; they are still up 2-0.