INDIANAPOLIS, IND. – If there was any emotional carryover from LeBron James’ game-winning buzzer-beater in Game 5, it apparently wore off before Game 6 commenced.
No amount of LeBron James magic could save the Cleveland Cavaliers from a 121-87 blowout loss to the Indiana Pacers on Friday night. He posted a pedestrian 22 points by his own standards throughout this series, sitting the entire fourth quarter of garbage time. Meanwhile, Pacers guard Victor Oladipo did what everyone expects star players to do with his team facing elimination, putting up 28 points and dishing out 10 assists to even the series at three games apiece. And so, the stage is set for a win or go home Game 7 on Sunday.
1. Subpar Supporting Cast
It’s no secret that LeBron James has had very little help throughout this series from his teammates. Despite his best efforts to get his teammates open looks, the shots just aren’t falling for a number of key players.
Get this, on Friday night, seven Pacers scored in double figures including all five starters, in support of Oladipo’s superb effort. For Cleveland, only three players (LeBron James, Jeff Green and Rodney Hood) scored in double-digits. In fact, Indiana has had more double-digit scorers than the Cavs in five out of the six games this series. James really is doing everything on his own, accounting for more than 35 percent of the Cavs’ total points in this series.
When the playoffs started there was a general consensus that this year’s Cavaliers squad had more depth than past teams, but those depth pieces have completely flopped in the playoffs. No one expected that to include Kevin Love though, who put up a whopping seven points in the loss.
2. A New First For LeBron
Everyone is well aware that LeBron has never lost a first-round playoff series in his 13-year career. He’ll put that undefeated record on the line on Sunday, which will also be the first time a LeBron James team was pushed to a Game 7 in the first round.
Friday marked just the third time James played a Game 6 in the first round and on the previous two occasions (in 2006 and 2008) James’ team wound up winning the series 4-2. Otherwise, in seven instances – including each of the last three seasons – LeBron’s team has advanced via a clean sweep out of the first round. In his other three playoff appearances it took five games to get out of the first round.
3. The Eye Test
In many ways the biggest observation anyone can make from Friday night, or the series as a whole, is that this Cavs team isn’t looking well enough equipped for another NBA Finals run. To say their efforts in this opening series have been underwhelming – outside of LeBron of course – would be an understatement.
Cleveland has been given numerous wakeup calls throughout this series: from losing in Game 1, to blowing huge halftime leads in Games 2 and 3, to needing a LeBron James miracle to pull off a win at home on Wednesday and now yet another blowout loss on Friday night, nothing has seemed to do the trick.
Friday was the Cavaliers chance to step on the jugular and flex their muscles. Instead, they’re going back to Cleveland to host a do or die Game 7 against a team with no shortage of confidence. This is the worst case scenario for the Cavs in that Indiana feels they’re playing with house money at this point. They have absolutely nothing to lose, while Cleveland has, oh just the loyalty of greatest player of all-time at stake.
And even in a win on Sunday, how can Cavalier fans feel any sort of confidence about the series that awaits against top-seeded Toronto? There are some serious flaws with this Cavs team right now, starting with the lack of consistent scoring outside of LeBron. If it hasn’t clicked this late into a series, it’s hard to see it suddenly changing in a few days just because it’s a new opponent. The Cavs could be in serious trouble.
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