KEEPING PACE
On Friday night, in the penultimate contest of the regular season, the Cavaliers take on the Pacers in a game with major Playoff ramifications.
The Cavaliers – who sit in the East’s 4th-seed, one game ahead of Indiana with two games to play – snapped a three-game skid on Wednesday night against Memphis, bouncing back from a halftime deficit to sink the shorthanded Grizzlies. Donovan Mitchell led Cleveland with 29 points and Jarrett Allen notched his 41st double-double of the season in the victory.
The Pacers come to town having won five of their last six, four of those victories by double-figures, including a 17-point win over the Raptors on Wednesday night. The league’s highest-scoring squad put up 140 points in the win – led by Tyrese Haliburton’s 30 points and 23 more from Obi Toppin off the bench.
Indiana took the first two meetings of the season back in the first two weeks of the season, but the Cavaliers got a clutch road win in mid-March and look to even the series on Friday. The Wine & Gold wrap up the regular season on Sunday afternoon against the Hornets.
SHOOTER’S TOUCH
As good as Wednesday’s win felt for the Cavaliers in general, it had to feel even better for Donovan Mitchell – who had his best offensive showing in a month-and-a-half.
In the much-needed victory over Memphis, Mitchell led the Cavaliers with 29 points, just his second 20-point game since the start of March, going 9-for-17 from the floor, including 5-of-10 from long-range, to go with eight assists, four boards, three steals and a block.
Mitchell has faced the Pacers just once this season, but he was on his game – finishing with 38 points to lead both teams, going 13-for-21 from the floor and 8-of-10 from the stripe, leading Cleveland with nine assists in the 121-116 loss.
On Friday night, he’ll see plenty of Tyrese Haliburton – Indiana’s second-leading scorer (20.3ppg) and the league’s top assist man (10.9apg). Haliburton snapped out of a mini-funk –going a combined 6-of-18 from the floor in his previous two games – with his 30-point night on Wednesday.
The 4th-year man from Iowa State has doubled-up in all three previous meetings this year against Cleveland – averaging 17.7 points and 12.7 assists per.
UP FRONT AND PERSONAL
The deal for Pascal Siakam in mid-January has taken the Pacers to a different level, and the veteran forward from New Mexico State has been the Pacers most consistent performer since his arrival.
In 39 games since the deal, Siakam hasn’t missed a game and will finish as the team’s leading scorer at 21.2ppg on 55 percent shooting. He’s topped the 20-point mark 19 times with the Pacers, with three games of 30-plus. He’s also piled up 10 double-doubles in his time with Indy.
One of those double-doubles came in the mid-March meeting with the Wine and Gold – finishing with 19 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. IN the previous meeting against Cleveland – on New Year’s Day while still a member of the Raptors – Siakam led all scorers with 36 points.
Siakam will tangle with Evan Mobley for much of Friday night’s contest. Mobley is coming off a solid two-way performance against Memphis – doubling-up with 12 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, adding a team-high four blocks and game-high-tying three steals.
Mobley missed the mid-March meeting with Indy, but doubled-up in each of the previous four – averaging 19.5 points and 12.5 rebounds over that stretch.