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Cavs vs. Pacers Game 4: What We Learned

By Jackson Flickinger

Apr 23, 2017; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) walks off the floor to the locker room after winning against the Indiana Pacers in game four of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Cleveland defeats Indiana 106-102. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 23, 2017; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) walks off the floor to the locker room after winning against the Indiana Pacers in game four of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Cleveland defeats Indiana 106-102. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 9, 2017; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Deron Williams (31) and forward LeBron James (23) talk to referee Justin Van Duyne (64) during the third quarter against the Detroit Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Pistons won 106-101. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 9, 2017; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Deron Williams (31) and forward LeBron James (23) talk to referee Justin Van Duyne (64) during the third quarter against the Detroit Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Pistons won 106-101. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports /

2. The bench continues to help.

The bench propelled the Cavs to the win in Game 3. They were also a big part of the win on Sunday afternoon as well.

Deron Williams was underwhelming during the regular season but he continues to deliver in the playoffs since improving his conditioning. He finished the day with 14 points on 4 of 4 shooting.

Channing Frye also had a solid afternoon as he put up 7 points and a block in 13 minutes.

The LeBron and bench unit with Williams, Frye, Kyle Korver, and Iman Shumpert was very impressive offensively. They posted an unbelievable offensive rating of 141.7 in 11 minutes of play. Conversely they had a dreadful defensive rating of 150.3.

This unit showed that they could be great defensively in Game 3, but it is clear that their specialty is offense.

It is also important to note that Richard Jefferson hasn’t seen a lot of time this series. That’s not something that I would expect to continue throughout the playoffs.

The playoffs are all about match-ups. We saw how valuable Jefferson was against a team like Golden State that has very athletic forwards. Jefferson will play more against teams that have similar athletic bigs. Don’t be surprised if Jefferson gets big minutes throughout the rest of the playoffs.