Game Preview: Pacers at Cavaliers (Game 2)

Last Updated: April 18 at 11:00 AM

It's just one game.

That's the message that head coach Nate McMillan and seemingly every player in the locker room shared following Indiana's impressive 98-80 Game 1 win over LeBron James and the Cavaliers on Sunday afternoon.

But despite their insistence that it was just another game, it's worth pausing on what Indiana was able to accomplish with its wire-to-wire victory over Cleveland.

The Pacers held the Cavaliers to just 80 points, the fewest Indiana has held an opponent to all year. The win also snapped LeBron James' streak of 21 straight first-round playoff victories, dating back to 2012.

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Victor Oladipo, Indiana's catalyst on offense all season, once again lit up the box score, notching a game-best 32 points, more than doubling his playoff career-high (15 points) in the process.

The series-opening game — in which the Pacers led by as much as 23 points — set the tone for the first-round matchup, which will continue on Wednesday night at 7 PM ET.

Having already taken a 1-0 lead, the Pacers will try to complete another feat that's never been accomplished against a LeBron-led team in the first round: win back-to-back games.

During Game 1, Indiana deployed Myles Turner on Cleveland's power forward Jeff Green, while using Thaddeus Young to keep track of Kevin Love. The plan worked well for Indiana as Green was unable to make a shot on Sunday, going 0-for-7 from the field.

Not only was Turner able to contain Green on defense, but the third-year forward also posted an impressive night on offense, scoring 16 points and snaring eight rebounds.

With two full days between games, all eyes will be focused on whether Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue elects to shuffle the starting lineup for Game 2.

Any changes made by Cleveland will likely be made with the goal of finding an offensive spark, which was missing during Game 1. As a team, Cleveland shot just 38.5 percent, making 8-of-35 3-point attempts as the Pacers swarmed the Cavaliers' ball handlers.

"I thought our guys did a good job of not giving up anything easy," said Nate McMillan after the game. "We did a good job executing offense and didn’t allow them to get in transition, which allows the crowd to get in the game. Just defensively, we were connected in trying to keep them in front and not giving them anything as far as attacking the basket, collapsing defense which will give them open threes. So just solid effort. We wanted to establish pace, control tempo. I thought we did that throughout the game."

Darren Collison

Victor Oladipo

Bojan Bogdanovic

Thaddeus Young

Myles Turner

George Hill

Rodney Hood

LeBron James

Jeff Green

Kevin Love

Pacers: PG - Darren Collison, SG - Victor Oladipo, SF - Bojan Bogdanovic, PF - Thaddeus Young, C - Myles Turner
Cavaliers: PG - George Hill, SG - Rodney Hood, SF - LeBron James, PF - Jeff Green, C - Kevin Love

Pacers: None

Cavaliers: None

April 15, 2018: Indiana opened up its first-round series with a dominant 98-80 victory over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday afternoon at Quicken Loans Arena.

The Pacers were led by a masterful performance from Victor Oladipo, who poured in a game-best 32 points to go along with six rebounds, four assists, and four steals.

Defensively, Indiana was able to stifle the Cavs, holding them to just 80 points — the fewest the Pacers have held an opponent in any game this season.

For Cleveland, James was his normal playoff-self, racking up a triple-double. But as a team, the Cavs made just 8-of-34 shots from long range and shot 38.5 percent from the field.

Aside from Oladipo, the Pacers were aided by key performances from Myles Turner (16 points, eight rebounds) and Bojan Bogdanovic (15 points, six rebounds).

The win marked the first time a LeBron James team has ever dropped Game 1 of a first-round series and snapped a streak of 21 consecutive first-round victories for James.

The Pacers return home to Bankers Life Fieldhouse to host the Cavaliers in Game 3 of their best-of-seven series on Friday, April 20 at 7:00 PM ET. Find Tickets »

TV: FOX Sports Indiana - Chris Denari (play-by-play), Quinn Buckner (analyst), Jeremiah Johnson (sideline reporter)
TNT - Marv Albert (play-by-play), Chris Webber (analyst), Allie LaForce (sideline reporter)
Radio: 107.5 FM/AM 1070 The Fan - Mark Boyle (play-by-play), Eddie Gill (analyst), Pat Boylan (studio host)