If you missed the game thinking it would be an easy win with the Cavs resting most of their starters (Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Max Strus and Evan Mobley) then you were likely like the Pacers. The game was anything but easy for Indiana and turned out to be extremely entertaining along with being one of the better games the Cavs played of late.
Jarrett Allen still has his goal of playing 82 games, to which Kenny Atkinson said he’s glad to oblige, and along with him was Ty Jerome, Sam Merrill, Dean Wade and De’Andre Hunter. As of right now, those are your top four reserves come playoff time around Allen.
Ironically, that 5-man lineup had played 11 possessions together before the Pacers game and was a -27.3 per 100 possessions. They ended the game adding 22 more possessions to those stats but kept pace with a -5 in their time together.
Kenny Atkinson ended up using 17 different 5-man lineups throughout the game with Jerome, Merrill, Wade, Hunter and Isaac Okoro being used the most and Jerome, Craig Porter Jr, Wade, Hunter and Allen, and Jerome, Merrill, Okoro, Hunter and Tristan Thompson being the two most productive lineups of the game at a +5.
Even with all these lineups, the Cavs had a chance to win it at the end. Jerome, Hunter and Merrill (late) carried the Cavs team to competitiveness and left the door open for the 64th win. It came down to a final possession with Porter Jr and the ball in his hands, and the Cavs couldn’t get a clean look off for the win.
The most ironic part of the game was the Cavs sticking to their plan to play, and then rest players, and it is taking that rest for the Pacers to climb back in the game. By the halfway point of the 4Q, Jerome, Hunter, and Merrill were all out of the game and were not put back in even though the game was close. Jerome last played at the 3-minute mark of the 3Q, and Wade, Hunter and Merrill all were taken out halfway through the 4Q. When Jerome went out, the Cavs were up 6. When Hunter, Wade and Merrill all left, the Cavs were up 2.
Somehow the Porter Jr, Jaylon Tyson, Okoro, Javonte Green and Thompson lineup was only a -4 in the final 5 minutes to the Pacers starters. Those starters scored only 1 point the final three minutes of regulation.
All this talk of rest and Kenny decided he needed to take some quarters off too. In an uncharacteristic, but likely purposeful, eruption occurred in the 3Q when Thompson did not get a foul call on a made basket. This pushed Kenny over the edge with not one but two technical fouls earning him an ejection. If this was a real game, it likely would have stopped after one tech. But it’s safe to say Kenny wanted to provide a spark to his team who was reeling on the other side of a 12-0 run but also wanted to show even though the starters weren’t there, this was every bit of a real game.
And it was very much a real game. While the Pacers started the game coming out looking like it may be a short game for the Cavs with a quick 6-0 run, the Cavs quickly responded with a 10-2 run which would set the tone for how the rest of the game would go.
It was really the Jerome show to start, and for much of the game, that powered the Cavs offense. He led the Cavs with 7 1Q points, and as soon as he went out of the quarter the Cavs offense struggled. They proceeded to miss 8 consecutive buckets and only scored 5 points in the final 4 minutes of the quarter without Jerome.
Luckily for the Cavs the Pacers didn’t fare much better as both teams shot sub-39% from the field for the game. While offense came later, it certainly didn’t start out that way. The Cavs posted a highly offensive 88 oRTG in the 1Q.
With Jerome starting the game, it paved the way for Porter Jr to get some burn and is clearly someone announcers Reggie Miller and Kevin Harlan enjoyed due to his activity and willingness to play amongst the trees as a guard. His scoring (16 points) looked a lot better than his impact stats (-13).
One of the problems Porter Jr saw throughout the game is getting his shot blocked – he had 3 blocked FGA and 4 for the game. In under 450 minutes this year, Porter Jr has 14 blocked FGA. If projected out over a full game, he would lead the team (outside of Nae’Qwan Tomlin and Luke Travers skewed stats with under 75 minutes played).
In addition to his PG instincts, one thing Porter Jr needs to work on in the offseason is developing a push shot like Jerome or a float game like Garland. One of the struggles for younger players is realizing a). the speed of the game, b). the length/reaction time of shot blockers in the NBA and c). that just because the rim looks open, doesn’t mean it is.
Porter Jr has the athleticism to finish with the best of them but that overly confident mindset can get him into trouble, and blocked shots. The blocked shot issue could be solved quickly with a finesse finishing package of his choice, whatever it may be.
The 2Q started out kind of fun with Jerome leading the Cavs on a 12-2 run. He assisted or scored on 10 straight points at one point during that stretch.
Given it was a nationally televised game, and the last for TNT, one could only hope Sean Marks didn’t decide to tune in with all the cap space he has available this offseason, a hole at the PG spot and a Jerome being born in the area.
For the quarter itself, the Cavs were a +13 with Jerome on the floor, and a -4 with him off the floor. That’s how the Cavs went from 5 down to end the 1Q to being a +9 in the 2Q.
The 2Q, and largely the game, was a story of the Virginia Cleveland Cavaliers leading the way. In the 2Q alone, Hunter led the team with 10 points and tied Allen with 5 rebounds for the quarter. Alongside Jerome’s shot making, Hunter displayed a bevy of his own with all his FGM coming inside the arc.
While Hunter often gets labeled as a shooter, one thing not to underestimate is his off the bounce. Take for instance in the 2Q, working the pick-and-roll with Allen, and taking Jarace Walker off the dribble for the drive and score.
Hunter’s usage rate of 22.8 is several points higher than Caris LeVert’s on the year of 19.4. While usage rate is what it says it is (how many possessions does a player use which can be influenced by role), it also is a good indicator of shot creation skills. And for what most believe the Cavs lost in the trade, the stats say they didn’t lose it at all.
The biggest difference from the 1Q to the 2Q, and what helped the Cavs get back into the game, was 0 fast break points in the 2Q for the Pacers compared to 12 in the 1Q. The Pacers play at the 8th fastest pace and score the 5th most fast break points per game – they like to run and run a lot. So, when they’re not able to, it looks like a different ball game.
If the Cavs end up playing the Pacers in the 2nd Round of the playoffs, that will be the key to the series – keep them in the halfcourt, and out of transition. For the game, the Pacers were 47th percentile in the halfcourt compared to 79th percentile in transition.
One other spot the Cavs took advantage of was rebounding. Indiana is one of the league’s worst rebounding teams coming in at 28th in rebound %, and the Cavs finished the half a +10 in rebound total and +4 for the game. This is without Mobley, and Allen only playing 15 minutes (although he did grab 10 rebounds). For as much as the Cavs have had rebounding woes of the late, this is another key area to potentially circle back on for this series.
Just like the ‘More Cowbell’ SNL skit, the 3Q was More Jerome. He again scored or assisted on 10 straight points including one of which was a walk-in three-pointer off a steal he created in transition.
After the last of Jerome’s 10 straight points responsible for, the Cavs were up by 8 points. This is to a team playing for something. At halftime, the Cavs bench team versus the Pacers were somehow a +4. The Pacers are a good team, and have been playing well, but the Cavs bench was outdueling the Pacers on the road.
The 3Q ended up being a quarter full of runs. First, the Pacers responded from being down 9 with a little 8-2 run of their own to get back into the game to which prompted a Kenny timeout.
Coming out of that timeout, the Cavs responded with an 8-0 run of their own to grab their largest lead of the game (11 points). That run was inspired by Okoro and Hunter who were both taking turns in shot making from the perimeter and at the rim.
Then just like that, the Pacers rattled off a 18-4 during a 3–4-minute stretch that got them back into the game. This is what inspired the Kenny ejection after a missed foul call on a Thompson driving float shot.
But the Cavs had to get the last little push by stealing 4 quick points to end the quarter with Green putting the emphasis on “stealing” as he stole an inbounds pass for a layup that gave the Cavs the lead heading into the 4Q.
Kenny has been able to utilize Okoro more on the move and as a screener than JB Bickerstaff using him as a stationary player before and it’s help add another layer to his game that similar role players like Bruce Brown and Josh Hart, who he is trying to emulate, have thrived at.
The 4Q was Merrill’s turn to get hot – so much so Kevin Harlan said “KABOOM!” after a Merrill make. Merrill opened the 4Q with three made 3’s as the Cavs and Pacers traded baskets and the Pacers really prevented a potential Cavalanche early in the 4th.
Merrill would set the tone of the three-point barrage in the 4Q as the team got hot. They ended up going 8-for-12 in the 4Q alone on 3PA and at one point had 5 consecutive baskets that were all 3PM.
The Pacers got into the fun with a few 3PM of their own after the Cavs which delighted Reggie Miller sitting courtside, as for a few minutes stretch it felt like a shooting contest with each team volleying a shot back into the other team’s court.
Get this: The Cavs shot 66% from 3P in the 4Q but just 15% on 2P. They were 2-for-13 inside the arc and one or two more made 2Ps likely would have been the difference down the stretch.
But really the difference down the stretch is the Cavs removing their key bench players, and the Pacers going on a 10-0 run late when that happened to salt the game away.
Even without scoring much at all in the games waning minutes and allowing the Cavs to go on a 5-1 run of their own, there simply wasn’t enough offensive shot creation on the floor with Thompson, Tyson, Okoro and Green to make a difference.
Speaking of Green: He was a team worst -14 in his 20+ minutes for the game. Green has had a few games where he’s provided a spark (+24 in Chicago, +15 vs San Antonio and +11 in Detroit) but has also had stretches of so-so play as well.
What’s interesting to note is Green has garnered some of the minutes that Tyson may have gotten before his arrival. While you would like to see Kenny give the rookie a shot, it also seems like they’re prepping Green for any potential playoff minutes they may need should injuries or fouls persist.
However, Tyson didn’t exactly inspire any confidence in the minutes he was out there posting a -9 in 8-minutes of play and missing all 4 of his FGA.
If we’re mentioning any other takeaways, it’s alongside Porter’s float game, Okoro needs to further develop his relocation shot capabilities. Okoro with his feet set versus having to reset off a closeout or movement are two completely different shooters. His shooting mechanics look to get out of whack and feel rushed when he’s forced to relocate. It happened a couple of times in the game and the results were as you’d expect.
Even with a backup bench, the Cavs were only outscored by 5 bench points for the game. It speaks to the depth the Cavs have built that even their backup bench can compete with one of the better bench units in the league.
The Cavs led for nearly 29 minutes which almost doubled the amount of time the Pacers did.
The biggest takeaway from the game had a competitive, productive, and healthy game and the Cavs did just that. The last few games are all about getting to the playoffs healthy and in rhythm, and anything else is a bonus on top.
The unique implications that the Cavs do play into in their final games is impacting how the Pacers and Knicks are positioned going into playoff seeding. The Pacers and Knicks are currently battling for the 3rd seed with the Cavs playing the Pacers twice and the Knicks once down the stretch. If the Knicks lose out and the Pacers win out, the Pacers get the 3rd seed while the Knicks winning just once puts them at the 3rd seed.
It was interesting hearing Shaq and Charles Barkley talk at halftime about specifically playing for playoff matchups – it’s a thing, and it’s not a bad thing. Teams prefer the path of least resistance but also realize some team’s matchup well with others. In this case, the Cavs probably wouldn’t mind losing to the Knicks to increase their odds of avoiding the Knicks in the 2nd round (and leaving that to Boston) and instead getting the Pacers or Pistons/Bucks.
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