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KeyBank Five Keys: Cavaliers at Pacers, Game 4

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Key: Sweep Seekers

Instead of looking to even their First Round series at two games apiece after building a 26-point lead in the first half of Game 3, the Pacers will now spend Sunday trying to survive after surrendering the second-biggest comeback in Playoff history.

On Thursday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, the Wine and Gold – led by an historic performance by LeBron James – erased Indy’s 25-point halftime lead, chipping away through the third quarter and pulling away late to take the 119-114 win and a decisive 3-0 lead in the series. In that classic comeback, the Cavaliers outscored the Pacers, 70-40, after intermission – shooting 55 percent from the floor and 57 percent from long-range, holding Indiana to 26 percent shooting and committing exactly zero turnovers in the second half.

The Wine and Gold – who’ve gone on to sweep every Playoff series in which they’ve gone up 3-0 – have now dropped the Pacers in six straight games overall and haven’t lost a single First Round matchup since LeBron’s return. Over that span, the Cavaliers have gone 27-4 against Eastern Conference postseason foes – including a 12-3 mark on the road.

It won’t be easy for the Pacers to rebound from Thursday night’s devastating defeat, but they’ve still taken 12 of the previous 15 games over Cleveland in Indy and they’ll try to keep the Cavs from advancing to the Conference Semis for the 11th time in franchise history.

Key: Long Live the King

This year’s 2016-17 MVP might not be announced until June, but the announcement of the game’s greatest player took place on Thursday night, when LeBron James had a performance for the ages – even by his standards.

In leading the Cavaliers to the monster comeback, James posted his first triple-double of the Playoffs, 17th of his postseason career – finishing with 41 points on 14-for-27 shooting, including 6-of-12 from long-range, adding a team-best 13 boards, game-high 12 assists, a steal and a block.

Along the way, he passed Kobe Bryant for 3rd on the NBA’s postseason all-time scoring list and Wes Unseld for 7th on the all-time rebounding list.

James – who joins the Big O as the only players in league Playoff history to have multiple 40-point triple-doubles – hasn’t lost a First Round contest since 2012, when it took him five games to knock out J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert and the Knicks.

Opposite LeBron – although he’s being cross-checked by numerous Cavs, including J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert – is fellow All-Star Paul George, who looked exasperated at the postgame podium on Thursday night. He’s done everything he can: averaging 32.3 points, 9.3 boards and 7.7 assists per through the first three games.

And on Sunday, George – who’s now 7-15 against LeBron-led teams over his Playoff career – might need to do even more to keep his Pacers from being swept for the first time in franchise history.

Key: Second-Unit Statement

The Cavs had gotten solid performances from their reserves through the first two games of the series, but they rode their second unit to the finish line on Thursday night.

Channing Frye just keeps his strong veteran campaign chugging along – netting double-figures for the second time in the series, scoring 11 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter when he went 3-of-4 from the floor, 2-of-3 from long-distance – including a huge triple with under a minute to play to put Cleveland up seven.

Kyle Korver had easily his best game of the series, continuing to pummel the Pacers from beyond the arc – going 4-of-5 from long-distance on Thursday night. The 14-year vet is now shooting an eye-popping 72 percent -- going 18-for-25 in five wins over Indiana as a Cavalier.

Deron Williams had another solid showing on Thursday night, playing the entire fourth quarter and closing out the victory with a pair of free throws. Williams was also one of the major reasons the Wine and Gold didn’t commit a single miscue after intermission in Game 3.

The Pacers main threat off the bench in the series hasn’t been C.J. Miles so far; it’s been Lance Stephenson. Indy’s mercurial swingman got off to a scorching start on Thursday night, but the Cavs cooled him down in the second stanza – holding him to 1-for-7 shooting after hitting three of his first five.

Key: In the Trenches

While the Cavaliers were still shaking out of their funk early in the third quarter, Tristan Thompson was already in fifth gear – and his energy was infectious as Cleveland blew past Indiana in the second half.

Thompson’s been quiet on the scoring end through the first three games – averaging 7.0 points per – but he’s been outstanding on the boards (11.0 rpg) and especially on the offensive glass, with 18 of his 33 total rebounds coming on the offensive end. On Thursday night, the sixth-year center swatted a game-high three shots one game after blocking a pair at The Q.

In 44 career postseason contests, Tristan has grabbed double-digit rebounds in 27 – including all three games of the current series with Indy.

His fellow Longhorn, Myles Turner, has had a strong sophomore campaign, but – other than his massive one-handed dunk in Game 3 – he’s had a rough time in the series against Cleveland. After a solid 11-point, 8-rebound effort in Game 1, the Cavs have held him to six points and five boards in each of the previous two contests – shooting a combined 6-for-22 in the process.

The Pacers don’t need Turner to be the second coming of the Dunkin’ Dutchman; they just need him to be the same player he was during the regular season.

Key: Bouncing Back

Overcoming the daunting deficit that they did on Thursday night was incredible. But what made it even more incredible was that the Wine and Gold did so with two of their Big Three watching the entire fourth quarter from the sidelines.

Tyronn Lue talked about it after Saturday’s practice at Butler, maintaining that his stars are all good and on the same page as they look to sweep the Pacers on Sunday afternoon. Irving was off in Game 3 – finishing 4-of-17 on the night for 13 points. But he’s one game removed from dropping 37 on the Pacers on Monday night at The Q and he scored 60 points through the first two contests.

His counterpart, Jeff Teague, has had a somewhat solid series – averaging 17.7 points – but he was ineffective trying to keep his team afloat in Game 3 and, after averaging 11.0 assists against Cleveland during the regular season, is at only 5.0 apg in the series.

Love might not have posted big numbers, but his rebound and save in the third quarter gave the squad a big lift when it desperately needed one. Love finished with 13 points and six boards, but struggled from the floor – going 4-for-12 after his amazing Game 2 feat, netting 27 points on seven attempts from the floor.

He’s had his hands full with Thaddeus Young – who’s coming off his second straight double-figure scoring game, but made his true mark on the offensive glass, where he grabbed 10 of his 14 rebounds.