Cleveland — Coming off of the most dominant playoff series victory in NBA history, the Cleveland Cavaliers still have plenty to prove as they open their second-round matchup against the Indiana Pacers.
Cleveland, the Eastern Conference’s top seed, enter the series as big favorites (-500) coming off of a first-round sweep of the Miami Heat that mirrored the dominance they displayed in the regular season.
Actually, the Cavs somehow took it up a notch in the first round.
After having the second-best offensive rating in NBA history during the regular season, Cleveland set the all-time best mark for an offensive rating in a playoff series with an eye-popping 136.2 per 100 possessions.
For perspective, the second-best offensive rating this postseason is 18.2 points below Cleveland’s number.
The Cavaliers also set a new all-time league record with the biggest margin of victory in a series, dubbing the Heat by a total margin of 122 points.
While their offense stole most of the headlines, the Cavaliers defense was also elite against Miami in the first round, recording the second-best defensive-rating in the Playoffs at 102.7 per 100 possessions.
Particularly in games 3 and 4, Cleveland absolutely suffocated the Heat’s offense, holding Miami to totals of 87 points and 83 points, respectively, in the final two games.
The Cavs surrendered more than 23 points in just one of the final 8 quarters of the series while holding Miami’s leading-scorer Tyler Hero to a combined 17 points during that timeframe.
High-level defense will be even more important against the Pacers, who come in with the second-best offensive rating in the Playoffs so far (118).
The Pacers play at the fastest pace in these Playoffs and put up points in a hurry.
Led by point guard Tyrese Haliburton, Indiana wants to play in transition as much as possible and consistently get shots up early in the shot clock.
That is a stark contrast from what Cleveland faced against the slow-paced, half-court centric Miami offense.
The Cavaliers, while not playing in transition as much as Indiana, are actually better at that playstyle, leading the league with a 131.3 offensive rating in transition.
After a slow start to the season (10-15 record), the Pacers rebounded from January 1st on, compiling the League’s fourth-best record during that time span to finish 50-32.
Cleveland was one of the three teams with a better record.
Indiana goes nine-deep with a solid bench led by veterans like Obi Toppin and T.J. McConnell.
They will roll out lineups that have capable shooters at all five positions for the majority of the game. These are both strengths of the Pacers but once again, the Cavs are just stronger.
Cleveland has shot the three better than any team in the league all year, they go at least 10 deep even in the Playoffs and have two sixth-man of the year finalists in Ty Jerome and DeAndre Hunter leading their bench.
As far as star power goes, Halliburton along with Paskal Siakam are the faces of the Pacers and while very good players, pale in comparison to the Cavs quartet of stars in Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen.
When it comes to each team’s go-to players in crunch time, the Pacers, like nearly all teams in the NBA, have no answer for the duo of Garland and Mitchell.
While the Pacers are a very good team who made the Eastern Conference Finals a year ago, they will need a ton of things to go their way to stand a chance against a Cleveland team that has been head-and-shoulders above the rest all season.
Despite the dominance of both their regular season and first round performance, Cleveland still sits third overall in title odds and aren’t even the betting favorites to come out of the East.
There are a good amount of people doubting the Cavs get past Indiana and before the Heat series nearly everyone predicted a tough five or six game battle between Miami and Cleveland.
It was a theme during their historic 15-0 start, continued during their two other double-digit win streaks in the regular season and persisted coming into the Playoffs: the Cavs have been great, but will they be able to do it when it matters the most?
Well, thankfully for the Cavs and their fans alike, the time has finally come to answer all those questions and show the world what they’ve been doing the past six months is no fluke.
It won’t be easy. There will be times of doubt. But if you’ve been paying attention this season then you know- this Cavs team is truly special.
Barring major injuries, the Cavaliers will take care of the Pacers in five, possibly six games maximum, before dethroning the Celtics in the E.C.f. to make their first NBA Finals since 2018.
It will be interesting to see what the critics have to say then.
Stay tuned.
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