The Indiana Pacers stole Game 1 of their second-round playoff series Sunday night on the road against the Cleveland Cavaliers, 121-112.
It was a surprising result, after the Cavaliers — the wire-to-wire No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference — rolled through their first-round opponent, the Miami Heat, in a commanding sweep.
But, if Game 1 was any indication, this will be a competitive, back-and-forth series; the Cavaliers recorded consecutive losses just three times during the regular season, so a response should be expected.
Here are three things we learned from Game 1 of the conference semifinals series between the No. 4 Indiana Pacers and No. 1 Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Cavaliers sorely missed Darius Garland
In a game in which the Pacers sprinted out in transition, point guard Darius Garland’s absence was palpable. Missing his third consecutive game with a toe sprain, Garland provides a counterpoint to Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton. Although Garland can be a liability on defense, his speed and athleticism would’ve helped diversify Cleveland’s offense, especially from 3; the Cavs shot just 23.7% from beyond the arc and snapped a streak of 91 games with at least 10 made 3s. Garland, a 40.1% shooter this season from 3, could have made a huge difference.
Indiana’s 3-point deluge impressive, but regression is likely
With the tempo the Pacers unleashed Sunday, they were able to unsettle Cleveland’s defense, especially along the perimeter. And when Indiana was able to put up clean looks from beyond the arc, it flushed 19-of-36 (52.8%) of them. Many were open, but that pace is not only unsustainable, a steep regression to the mean should be expected. Cleveland will almost certainly adjust, and the Pacers were tied for a very respectable 9th this season in 3-point percentage, but it was at a 36.8% clip.
Cavaliers top priority for Game 2? Slow the Pacers in transition
Though the stats for fastbreak points appear at first glance to be even — with the Pacers winning 15-14 — that was not reflective of the way Indiana relentlessly scooped rebounds and loose balls and galloped up the floor. The Cavaliers did far better in the second half at getting back and protecting the rim and rushing to close lanes in transition. Still, Game 1 proved that one half will not be nearly sufficient against a team that ranked 7th in pace (100.76) in the regular season.