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Key: Enemy Territory
After stumbling to the finish line in the regular season, the Wine and Gold have rediscovered their rhythm through the first two games of the Playoffs, taking a 2-0 edge to Indianapolis after taking care of business at The Q. Tyronn Lue’s squad hasn’t been perfect in those two wins, but they finally look like themselves again after an uneven second half of the season.
On Thursday night, the Cavaliers play their first Playoff game in Indiana in almost 20 years – and a place where they haven’t had a ton of success during the regular season lately, dropping 12 of their last 14 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
After Cleveland’s one-point win in the series opener, the Pacers took the Cavaliers to the wire again on Monday night – with Indiana nearly overcoming an 18-point deficit and a combined 89 points by the Big Three before falling for the ninth straight time at The Q.
The Wine and Gold have never lost a series (12-0) after taking a 2-0 lead, are 26-4 against Eastern Conference foes since the 2015 postseason (including an 11-3 mark on the road) and LeBron James hasn’t lost a single First Round game since 2012.
The Cavaliers still have some issues to fix, but – after averaging 113.0 points per, shooting .545 from the floor and handing out 22.5 assists through the first two – they head to Indiana confident, in rhythm and with history on their side.
Key: King of the Road
In terms of history, it seems like LeBron James makes his own on an almost nightly basis. He did so again on Monday night – becoming the first player since steals and blocks were first tracked in 1973-74 to tally at least 25 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, four steals and four blocks in a Playoff game.
Through the first two games of the series, James has been very sharp – averaging 28.5 points on 58 percent shooting from the floor, 40 percent from long-rage to go with 8.0 boards, 10.0 assists, 3.5 steals and 2.0 blocks.
The four-time MVP would love to clean up his turnovers – he led both teams with eight miscues on Monday – and his subpar free throw shooting season has continued in the Playoffs – shooting 60 from the stripe through two games after hitting on a career-low .674 this year. But he's still at the top of his game at the right time of year.
LeBron hasn’t been matched up directly with Paul George much in the series – with J.R. Smith and Shump getting that unenviable task.
George has been very good for Indy through the first two games, leading the Pacers with 32 points on Monday and averaging 30.5 points through two games – but Cleveland did a nice job on the four-time All-Star in the second half, holding him to 4-of-11 shooting after intermission.
Key: Changing of the Guards
After Wednesday’s practice in Independence and before leaving for Indiana, J.R. Smith told reporters that his left hamstring was feeling better and that he’d love to give it a go for Game 3.
The 13th-year shooting guard has had a difficult season on and off the floor in 2016-17 and, after a solid five-game run late in the campaign, is once again struggling to find his shot. He hasn’t topped double-figure scoring since the Boston game on April 5 and hasn’t connected on more than two field goals in a game going back to the Atlanta loss on April 9.
But even while scuffling on the offensive end, he’s been focused defensively through the first game-and-a-half of the series.
After taking a DNP-CD in Game 1, Iman Shumpert was huge in relief on Monday, making life difficult for Paul George and pitching in with five points on 2-for-3 shooting.
Kyle Korver has been very quiet through the first two games – combining for four points, having only attempted five shots in the series.
Indiana’s reserve 2-guard, Lance Stephenson, has had no trouble getting untracked in the series – averaging 14.5 points on a combined 14-for-27 shooting through the first two games. But as good as he’s been offensively, he was no match for the bigger Kevin Love on Monday night, and Cleveland’s All-Star forward made him pay.
Key: Good Vibrations
When the Pacers made the decision to cool Kyrie off with Paul George and match Kevin Love up with Lance Stephenson in the third quarter of Game 2, the Cavaliers made them pay dearly – exploiting the mismatch as Love went on a personal 10-0 run against Indy, boosting Cleveland’s lead to 19 late in the third quarter.
Overall, Love notched his 12th career postseason double-double: finishing with 27 points on 6-for-7 shooting, going 12-of-12 from the stripe to go with 11 boards, three dimes and a block.
With his incredibly efficient stat line, Love became the first player in in the shot-clock era to score 27 or more points on seven or fewer shots in a Playoff game.
Love came into the postseason on a roll – notching double-doubles in each of his last seven regular season outings and getting right back on track after grabbing just four boards in Game 1.
Love’s been locked up with Indiana’s blue-collar big, Thaddeus Young, who was very good in Monday’s loss.
After finishing with eight points and nine boards in Game 1, the 9th-year pro from Georgia Tech added 16 points on 7-for-11 shooting in Game 2, adding three boards and a game-high six steals – equaling the amount Cleveland had as team.
Key: Like He Drew It Up
Kyrie Irving has picked up right where he left off last season – topping the 20-point mark for the 21st time in his last 24 Playoff games, topping the 30-point plateau for the ninth time and passing Mark Price for the 2nd-most points in franchise postseason history with his 37-point outburst in Game 2 at The Q.
On the night, Irving tallied 11 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter – going 4-of-7 from the floor in the period and 14-for-24 overall, hitting all five attempts from the stripe, adding two boards and a pair of assists.
Irving – who finished 4th in the Eastern Conference in scoring (25.2) and 3rd in the NBA in free throw efficiency (.905) – registered at least 20 points and seven assists in all four regular season contests against Indy and has been just as good through the first two games of the First Round – averaging 30.0 points and 4.0 assists heading in Thursday’s showdown.
Indy’s Jeff Teague was overshadowed by Irving on Monday, but had a very strong outing – finishing with 23 points on 8-for-12 shooting, including 2-of-3 from long-range and 5-of-5 from the stripe.
Teague averaged 18.5 points and 11.0 dimes against Cleveland in the regular season – and after facing him with Atlanta in the two previous postseasons, the Cavs know exactly how dangerous he can be.