2018 PLAYOFFS: (4) Cleveland vs. (5) Indiana

While the Bucks could overcome their 36 point halftime deficit to the Sixers, the Cavs are losing to NY anyway so we can pretty much call it: the Cavs will play the Pacers in the first round.

I'm not gonna lie, I haven't seen a single minute of Pacers basketball this season. For all I know their very existence was fabricated in the name of basketball reasons, and they will be swept by Cleveland on NBA TV, and we'll all just nod our heads and say, "makes sense"... Apparently Oladipo is having a breakout year, Darren Collison is shooting the ball well, and Myles Turner still exists, but I still have a hard time giving them a chance in this series. While I'll always love the duo of Kevin Pritchard and Nate McMillan for leading the Portland Trail Blazers to several championships, they seem like an overachieving team heading into the LeBron wood-chipper.

Cavaliers in 4.

Cavs in 5, I want to have faith in the Pacers, but no. Playoff LeBron.

Playoff LeBron will lay waste on the east again, their first victim is the Pacers. RIP. 4-0.

Did anyone else see this matchup and think "sneaky upset"? Cavs not really running on all cylinders and pacers are steady

Cavs sweep. They really lucked out with this matchup.

Did anyone else see this matchup and think "sneaky upset"? Cavs not really running on all cylinders and pacers are steady

I wouldn't be shocked if it happened. Even though they finished with a 50-32 record, they have looked vulnerable and had stretches where they've struggled. I don't think it's out of the question.

At the same time, it's really tough to pick against them because of LeBron. I'm going with the Cavs in six, but there is part of me that thinks we could see a Cleveland collapse, and subsequent Indiana upset.

Cavs in 5 with one game of Lance Stephenson playing well and harassing LeBron again to fool the Pacers fans into a illlusionary hope of winning another game only for LeBron and the Cavs to beat them by 40 in the final game of the series.

Cavs in 5 with one game of Lance Stephenson playing well and harassing LeBron again to fool the Pacers fans into a illlusionary hope of winning another game only for LeBron and the Cavs to beat them by 40 in the final game of the series.

rt

Cavs are weak and LeBron is old. Post Heat era LeBron hasn't been impressive. His decline due to aging should show significantly in this year's playoffs especially along with dysfunctional team put together in Cleveland.

CLE in tough 6.

Cleveland in 7.

Indiana won the season series 3-1, but I really have no thoughts on this series (not sure if that's a good or bad thing); I don't even know who the Cavs starting 5 is, as it's been unstable af. I'm guessing Hill-Hood-James-Green-Love. I don't like Love at center - I'll go Pacers in 7 just to choose something.

I think the Cavs got very lucky during the last stretch of games, and that luck is going to run out at the wrong time for them. During that stretch and the earlier 19 and 2 (?) stretch, LeBron James done the carrying: even with many triple doubles and godlike figures, his Cavs were winning by fairly slender margins. I also don't think the Cavs are that good to begin with. At home, at least until half way through the season, the Cavs had a weird as hell points differential of just +2 points even removing the Isaiah Thomas games. They were winning less by larger margins on the road. From what I've seen since then, their home differential probably didn't change a whole lot. So for whatever reason, I think home court advantage may not be that great an advantage for them. I'm giving the Pacers the series in 7, maybe 6 games. It may be wishful thinking, it is the outcome I want to see and it gives me something else to root for this season. The Pacers were 3-1 against them in the season. Their 1 win came with Isaiah Thomas in the starting line up. All 3 losses came without Isaiah Thomas, although 2 of the 3 losses were decided by less than 5 points...

LeBron at the end of the first quarter had 2 points, 0-3 from the field (2 points from the foul line). Not gonna cut it, they got into the hole in the first and never got out of it.

Nice work by Oladipo and Indiana.

Triple-double for LeBron to open the series, but Pacers come out on top. If nothing else, there'll be no sweep for Cleveland.

Triple-double for LeBron to open the series, but Pacers come out on top. If nothing else, there'll be no sweep for Cleveland.

Just shows how end of game stats can be total bunk. People who just read the box score will go "he did all he could do", but the first quarter was what decided the game. They never dug out of the hole.

Looks good on paper, though.

Not to mention that at this point of the year, a W is far more crucial than a TD. All good if you can get both, but if the best you can say is "check my stats", then you've still fallen short of the goal.

One step closer to my Pacers in 5 pick lol

I reckon the Cavs will bounce back with a double digit win of their own in Game 2.

LBJ is laying his farewell carpet nicely for the offseason. Him joining the 76ers would be a sight to watch.

Cavs in 4 not looking as good now...

Kudos to the Pacers for punking them, and for not totally collapsing when Cleveland would try to make a run. I expect the Cavs to crush them in game two, but I have to give Indy a lot of credit.

At least they can't blame this loss on Isaiah Thomas. Nor could they blame any of the other v Indiana losses during the regular season on Isaiah Thomas (who only participated in 1 of the 4 matches and that was the 1 they won), but it turns out they did*. So come to think of it...

* https://hashtagbasketball.com/cleveland ... nd-preview "Cleveland did win the final matchup between the two teams, but all four games were before the Isaiah Thomas trade, so there isn't a whole lot to glean from the season series."

just wondering... did anyone actually catch the first quarter instead of finishing the awesome boston-MIL game?

Pfft, gordon. Who watches demented Celtics game these days? Summer league is more fun.

I reckon the Cavs will bounce back with a double digit win of their own in Game 2.

this dude always trying to jinx lebron and his teams smh

That's being a bit superstitious now, isn't it?

I do think it'll happen, though. Indiana got the job done in Game 1, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.