The Cleveland Cavaliers were only in limbo for a single day.
They obliterated the Miami Heat on Monday night, sweeping their 10th-seeded foe in historic fashion to suggest they didn't even deserve to be there. It was impossible for them to finish their series any faster than they did, and they became the first Eastern Conference team to clinch and move on to the next round.
The mystery of what awaited them did not stay a mystery for long, however, as the very next night the Indiana Pacers hosted the Milwaukee Bucks up 3-1 in their playoff series with a chance to clinch. With Damian Lillard out for the next year after tearing his Achilles, the odds were long for the Bucks to do anything but roll over and die.
Yet the Bucks came out as a team that didn't want to go home, starting the game on a 13-0 run. They didn't let up, either, and built a 20-point lead a few minutes later. Things were setting up wonderfully for the Cavaliers, as a Milwaukee win would give them more time off for Darius Garland to rest his injured toe and ensure their opponent was fighting a lack of rest themselves.
Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers decided they didn't want to fly back to Milwaukee, however, and roared back to tie the game. The teams went back-and-forth down the stretch and the game was propelled into overtime.
That is where history occurred. Hot shooting by Gary Trent Jr. and interior dominance by Giannis Antetokounmpo put the Bucks up seven points with 40 seconds to go. In the play-by-play era, no team had ever come back to win a game in such a situation.
No one told the Pacers. Haliburton led the team all the way back in a flash, and he roasted Antetokounmpo on the final possession to score the winning basket. The Bucks are heading home, and the Pacers are moving on to face the Cavaliers in the second round.
The Cavaliers now know when their next playoff game will be
With the Indiana win, the NBA has now announced when the Cavaliers will host the Pacers to start the second round of the playoffs.
It will be Sunday, May 4th, with the exact time to be decided. It will at the least mean six full days without a game for Cleveland, and the hope is that Darius Garland will be ready to play. If not, however, the Cavs have made it clear they can still play elite offensive basketball even without their All-Star point guard.
The Heat were an overwhelmed foe, a former giant who is well past its prime. That is not the case for the Pacers, who were in the Eastern Conference Finals a year ago and have a well-balanced team. The Cavaliers should face a stiffer test from Indiana starting Sunday.
On the other side of the bracket, the Boston Celtics blasted the Orlando Magic to advance, but the Detroit Pistons stayed alive with a win in Madison Square Garden to prevent the New York Knicks from moving on. If and when the Cavaliers take down the Pacers, it continues to appear that the Boston Celtics will be waiting.
To get there, things begin on Sunday. May the Fourth be With You.