2017 Playoffs

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Lance Stephenson's first order of business in the offseason will be to find a place to live. He's already begun looking for a house, and plans to find something soon so he can move out of his downtown hotel and establish a new home.

His second order of business will be to gather all his belongings scattered across the country. "I've got stuff everywhere, man," he says, which means he has some things in a storage unit in New Orleans, where he began this season, some things in a unit in Minnesota where he last played before rejoining the Pacers last month, some things in New York, where he was living after he was released by the Timberwolves, and some things near Las Vegas, where his parents live.

His third and most important order of business: get healthy.

Stephenson played on a left ankle that was about 75 percent of its normal strength after joining the Pacers for their final six regular season games and the playoff series that ended on Sunday with a 106-102 loss to Cleveland. You only would have known by watching him carefully when he jogged up and down the court; he tended to go up on the toes of his left foot. Still, he performed admirably, scoring 22 points in 30 minutes in the final game and averaging 16 points on 51 percent shooting for the four-game playoff series.

He played the fifth-most minutes among Pacers in the postseason, but ranked third in points and assists and fourth in rebounds, and had just four turnovers in his 107 minutes.

That was more than anyone reasonably could have anticipated, and offers hope for next season. The change Stephenson brought to the team was so dramatic as to divide the season into two distinct segments: pre-Lance Pacers and post-Lance Pacers. Although they were 5-5 in the games he played, all five losses were to the defending champion Cavaliers and all five were closely contested. His debut in the April 2 regular season game in Cleveland went to double-overtime. The four playoff games were decided by a combined 16 points, and all were up for grabs in the final minute.

Stephenson is under contract for next season, and the Pacers have an option on the season after that. That bodes well for all concerned. The Pacers know they have a contributing, and perhaps standout, player safely in the fold and Stephenson has enough security to go house-hunting this summer after a three-year nomadic journey that took him to five other NBA teams after his advisers rejected the Pacers' contract offer in 2014.

Stephenson, to varying degrees, had productive moments with Charlotte, the Clippers, New Orleans, Memphis and Minnesota, but never approached the promising level of play he established with the Pacers in the 2013-14 season or in his return to the Pacers this season. The difference comes from being entrusted with the ball to make plays and from being "home" again.

The fans, who loudly and warmly embraced him after he rejoined the team, get partial credit for that.

"I felt important," he said following Sunday's game. "That made me play even better. When you've got people in the whole stadium believing in you, not just the team but the whole stadium believing in you … even through mistakes they were 'Come on, you can do it!'

"Some guys need that push. I needed it at that point. I was real down when I got here."

Stephenson's comfort and compatibility with his new surroundings showed most obviously in his 3-point percentage. After hitting 35 percent of his attempts with the Pacers three years ago, he set an NBA record for futility with Charlotte in the 2014-15 season, making just 18-of-105 attempts (.171). He shot well in brief stays with the Clippers (40 percent) and Memphis (35.5) last season, but was just 1-of-10 with New Orleans and 0-of-2 with Minnesota earlier this season.

With the Pacers this time around, he hit 12-of-24 attempts.

"I know this court," he said. "And when you know you're going to get the ball and you're confident your teammates are going to hit you when you're wide open, you get confidence in your shot. You shoot like you shoot in practice."

If Stephenson was "real down" when he rejoined the Pacers, he still lifted his teammates — and the fans — with his raw enthusiasm and bravado. He was like a dose of an energy drink, providing a jolt for a decaf team that admitted to needing it. He enjoys having that role, but would prefer to have company next season.

"We just need that competitive edge," he said. "We've got the guys, we just need that competitive edge. We've got to get mad. No one gets mad, no one puts that fight all the way into the game to win the game. I feel like that's all we need. We need guys who want to win."

Stephenson figures to improve the odds that Paul George will stick around to be part of that winning effort. With George set to become a free agent after the 2017-18 season, he and Stephenson haven’t talked with one another about their future, but they stayed in touch during Stephenson's three-year "exile" from the Pacers and their on-court and off-court chemistry remains.

"I feel like we push each other," Stephenson said. "I want it to continue that way. Stay positive with each other and move forward.

"We already know we need each other. We ain't got to talk about it."

Stephenson's fourth order of business, then, will be to regain the game he had when he left the Pacers in free agency three years ago. He was the runner-up for the Most Improved Player award and nearly earned selection to the All-Star game in the 2013-14 season, and plans to get back to that level and beyond. He's more grounded and mature now, and at 26 years old should have several productive seasons ahead of him.

"I had all the fun I can possibly have in the three years I was gone," he said. "Right now I'm focused on my body and coming back to that All-Star level."

He's no longer Born Ready. He's Reborn Ready.

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Stephenson Reborn, and Ready for a Busy Summer

If your glass is half-full, the Pacers are oh-so-close to becoming an elite team again after playing the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers to the wire five consecutive times.

If your glass if half-empty, the Pacers just got swept in a first-round playoff series, seemingly took a small step backward from the previous season, and need an overhaul.

The front office will decide which glass to drink from over the summer, but for now the Pacers' best move is to tip their collective hat to LeBron James, move on and try to find ways to overcome the deficiencies of the past season. All James did in the Cavs' 106-102 close-out victory on Sunday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse was score 33 points, grab 10 rebounds, pass out a team-high four assists, pick off four steals, block a couple of shots and hit the game's biggest shot, a 3-point dagger over Pacers' center Myles Turner.

James' dominance reiterated the argument that playoff series go to the team with the best player, and James remains the most dominant player in the NBA no matter what the creative voters of the league's Most Valuable Player award say. He was reminiscent of the 2000 version of Shaquille O'Neal, who finished with 41 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots when the Lakers eliminated the Pacers in Game 6 of the NBA Finals.

The Pacers tried to overcome James' brilliance with a group effort, and once again came tantalizingly close. Although swept in a seven-game playoff series for the first time in franchise history, they didn't concede anything, and can legitimately look back on a competitive effort. They had a game-winning shot at the buzzer in Game 1, were still within striking distance in the final minute of Game 2, had a 25-point halftime lead in Game 3 and led Sunday's game by two points with 91 seconds left.

"It was a fight every game," said Pacers guard Lance Stephenson, who delivered another quality performance off the bench with 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting. "I don't think they had one easy game. We tried our best. Every time we threw a punch they threw one right back."

The Pacers' failure to throw the last punch will haunt them and reflect upon them, but so will James' clutch play.

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The Pacers, who trailed by 13 points with 9 ½ minutes left in the game, rallied once again and took a 102-100 lead on Thad Young's tip-in. After a 20-second timeout, the Cavs did the smartest and simplest thing they could do: give the ball to James and get out of the way. Once Myles Turner was switched onto him, he sized up Turner at the 3-point line, dribbled and juked his way into an opening and nailed a 3-pointer with 1:08 remaining.

"He just had to show me something where I felt I could get my shot off," James said later. "Once I saw his hands drop, I knew I had that shot. Just trusted my mechanics, what I've been doing and it went down."

It was the only 3-pointer of the game for James, and the only non-layup of his 13 field goals. The Pacers either didn't or couldn't keep him from the basket, but playing off him might not have offered much solace. James hit 45 percent of his 3-point shots in the series. Odds were, he was going to hit a 3-pointer, drive for a dunk or layup, or pass off for a teammate's field goal. He finished with 36 assists, three times as many as Cavs point guard Kyrie Irving.

"The whole NBA knows he's a tough cover," said Pacers point guard Jeff Teague, who finished with 15 points and 10 assists. "He's really a power forward who can play point guard. He's a tough matchup."

To say the least. The Pacers, though, had too many self-inflicted wounds to escape scrutiny.

They scored just 10 points from the foul line, 13 fewer than Cleveland, and missed seven free throws. They also failed to score after Young's rebound basket. James deflected the ball from Young's dribble on the Pacers' next possession. He then missed a 3-pointer, but Irving grabbed the long rebound and Stephenson had to foul Kyle Korver with 19.1 seconds left to stop the clock.

Korver hit both free throws to extend Cleveland's lead to three points. Teague turned the ball over on the Pacers' next possession. Paul George got the ball right back on a steal, but missed an open 3-pointer from the left wing with 1.9 seconds left that would have tied the game — missed the rim entirely, in fact.

"I may have rushed it," he said. "I should have took my time in that moment. Definitely one I wish I could have back."

Two turnovers and an air ball are not the way to close out playoff games. Their four losses to the Cavs came by a total of 16 points, tying an NBA record for the smallest margin of defeat in a four-game sweep in an NBA playoff series. James, meanwhile, led his fifth consecutive first-round sweep. He hasn't lost a first-round game since Game 4 of Miami's 2012 series against New York.

With a little prodding from a reporter, James recalled that game.

"J.R. (Smith) had a nice move that game, by the way," he said. "A windmill move on the baseline. We won Game 5 though, right?"

It remains to be seen what James remembers from this series. The Pacers, though, will remember all those lost end-of-game opportunities. And George will have the memory of a poor finish to an otherwise outstanding series. He averaged 28 points, 8.8 rebounds and 7.3 assists for the series, but shot just 39 percent from the field. He hit just 5-of-21 field goal attempts on Sunday, and just 1-of-6 in the fourth quarter.

"Rough night," George said. "That's all it is. Rough night. Nothing that I haven't dealt with for this whole series in terms of double teams and traps. Just a slow night for me to get a rhythm."

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First Round Exit Leaves Pacers So Close, but Yet So Far

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Midway through the third quarter, with the Pacers attempting to rally themselves back into the game, an opportunity was presented in the form of a fastbreak. As Thaddeus Young sprinted towards the basket, LeBron James wasn't far behind, taking flight and swatting Young's layup out of bounds.

From that moment forward, the Cavaliers put forth a 9-3 run to extend their lead to an 80-69 advantage, proceeding to beat Indiana 106-102 in Game 4 and finish the series with a sweep, eliminating the Pacers from the 2017 NBA Playoffs.

"It was a rough night, nothing I haven’t dealt with all series in terms of double teams and traps," said Paul George after the game. "Just a slow night for me to get a rhythm."

In a series in which the the first three games had all come down to the wire, Sunday's finale was no different, as the Pacers managed to take a 102-100 lead late in the game, sending The Fieldhouse into hysterics. But James, who finished the series averaging 32.8 points, 9.8 rebounds, and nine assists, took the oxygen out of the Pacers' comeback, flinging in a go-ahead 3-pointer to put the Cavaliers back on top for the remainder of the game.

The loss marked the fourth time in the last six seasons that Paul George and the Pacers have been bounced from the postseason by a LeBron James-led team, and on Sunday, James was in full command, scoring 33 points to go along with 10 rebounds, four assists, and four steals.

James wasn't alone in his contributions. Kyrie Irving finished his night with 28 points while the third member of Cleveland's impressive trio, Kevin Love, did his damage on the boards, hauling in 16 rebounds.

"They’re a tough team," Kevin Love said. "In the fourth quarter, we missed a lot of shots. We did a poor job of executing. LeBron made a big shot for us there at the end."

Paul George, who had scored 29 or more points in each of the first three games, struggled to catch of rhythm on Sunday, finishing his night with 15 points, seven rebounds, and six assists.

Much of Indiana's offense came from Lance Stephenson, who connected on four 3-pointers and finished with 22 points, and Myles Turner, who after having three games in which his shots wouldn't fall, found his touch, scoring 20 points and snaring nine rebounds.

In the fourth quarter, fighting for their postseason lives, Stephenson got the crowd at The Fieldhouse back into the game by converting an and-1 on a fastbreak to bring the Pacers within six of the lead. Minutes later, it was George who got the crowd going as he drilled a 3-pointer from the wing to cut the score down to a 98-93 Cavaliers lead with 6:26 remaining.

After a Cavaliers timeout, a quick bucket from Irving was followed with a torrent of Indiana scoring, as the Pacers rallied to a 5-0 run capped by a layup from Turner, which triggered yet another Cavaliers timeout as Indiana trailed 100-98 with 4:17 remaining.

With under three minutes remaining, it was Thad Young who tied things up at 100, nailing a hook shot to knot the game.

As the clock ticked down, George tried to get a shot off in the lane, but it sailed wide. Luckily for Indiana, Young was patrolling the paint, rising up and tipping in the miss to give Indiana its first lead since they were up 28-27 in the second quarter.

But with the Cavs on offense, it was James again who played the role of hero for Cleveland, knocking down a 3-pointer to put Cleveland back up by one. With the Cavaliers up 103-102, James tried again to hit from deep, but this time his shot rimmed out. As the rebound sailed towards the corner, Irving broke on it, corralling the offensive board and setting up Kyle Korver to take free throws with 19.1 seconds left in the game. The sharpshooter hit both, putting Cleveland up 105-102 and forcing a Pacers timeout.

On their final possession, after the ball changed hands to the Cavs and was regained by the Pacers, George attempted a 3-pointer to tie, but the shot was long and James secured the rebound, spelling the end for the Pacers and their season.

"It was a fight every game," explained Stephenson at his locker. "I don't feel like they had one easy game. We tried our best. But every time we threw a punch they threw one right back, and that's why they won."

In the must-win game, Indiana started off the afternoon in control, forcing the first timeout of the game when George connected on a wide-open 3-point look to give Indiana a 13-10 lead.

For the Cavaliers, the play of Irving and James set the tempo for the visitors, scoring 14 of Cleveland's first 16 points.

As the first quarter drew to a close, Irving and Jeff Teague traded buckets in the final moments, with each connecting on floaters as the Pacers maintained a two-point edge at the break, leading 24-22.

After not making a 3-pointer for the entire first quarter, Cleveland started to heat up from downtown, drilling three 3-pointers in the first four minutes of the second quarter to take a 37-32 lead with 7:55 remaining in the half.

Following a Pacers timeout, Stephenson helped spark a Pacers rally, drilling two threes to pull the score to a 38-37 Cavs lead. But Cleveland's backup point guard, Deron Williams, was a menace for Indiana's defense, scoring six straight Cavalier points to extend Cleveland's lead to 43-39.

But out of a timeout, it was Stephenson who spirited the Pacers again, drilling his fourth 3-pointer of the half to cut the deficit down to just one point.

After the Pacers knotted things up at 50, James began to lock in, cutting to the basket on consecutive possessions to put the Cavaliers up 54-50. On the defensive side of the ball, James drew a charge against Myles Turner with 2:18 remaining in the half, giving Cleveland another chance to extend its lead.

Following the game being tied up at 50, Cleveland closed the half with an 8-2 run as Indiana went into the locker room with three of its best players — Paul George, Myles Turner, and Lance Stephenson — dealing with foul trouble.

With a new half came a new resolve from the Pacers, who charged back at the Cavaliers and forced a Cleveland timeout when Paul George rose up and hit from downtown, making the score a 65-63 Cavs lead just 3:41 into the third.

The Cavs, however, were able to regain control of the game, eventually outscoring the Pacers 30-25 in the third quarter to take an 11-point advantage into what would end up being the Pacers' final quarter of basketball of the 2016-17 season.

In the fourth, the Pacers made a run at the lead — capturing it briefly — but were met with resistance by James and company at every turn. Despite outscoring the Cavaliers 25-18 over the final 12 minutes of play, it wasn't enough to overcome the deficit created by Cleveland in the second and third quarters. And even with an inspired finish and a late chance to tie, the Cavaliers finished the game at the foul line, sending the Pacers' season to an end with a frantic finale on Sunday afternoon at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

"We were playing well and the energy was great, we were competing at a high level," said Jeff Teague of the final moments. "It just didn't go our way."

The Pacers held the Cavaliers to 41.1 percent shooting, but Cleveland went to free throw line 27 times, making 23 of them.

The Cavaliers had just 11 assists on the night.

Five Pacers scored in double figures, with Myles Turner and Lance Stephenson each reaching or surpassing 20 points.

Jeff Teague finished with a double-double, scoring 15 points and passing out 10 assists.

"I think we came out and we showed heart. It was a very difficult game emotionally. I thought our guys fought again tonight. We fought our way back in the game, took the lead. Give credit to Cleveland.  They made shots, stops and got big rebounds when they needed to." -Pacers head coach Nate McMillan

"It’s really frustrating to continue losing to the same team or same person. It’s real frustrating. It’s what I work hard for in the summers to try to help lead a team along and ultimately, it’s who I am always going to see and face. But again, we just came up short and didn’t do enough." -Paul George

"Offensively we were not that good. We missed some shots. We didn’t play with the same spunk and pace. I thought we played with pace early on, but with two minutes to into the fourth quarter, we kind of stopped and started walking the ball up the floor.  Defensively, I thought we were really good.  I thought Lance (Stephenson) made some shots.  That was part of our game plan to show Paul George a crowd because he’s a great player.  We have to give up something.  I give credit to Lance, he played great today. He made shots that kept them in the game.  Without his shots that he made, we probably would have went up by 18 in the half.  We did a great job on PG.  We kept him to 15 points tonight.  I thought we did a good job on C.J. Miles the whole series – he has been a Cavs killer since I have been here." -Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue

The Pacers, who finished the regular season as the NBA's second-best free throw shooting team, made 10-of-17 free throws on Sunday afternoon. Additionally, Indiana was whistled for two technical fouls on Sunday, leading to two points for the Cavaliers.

Primary Logo Tee - $12. Game Night Specials can be purchased in the Home Court Gift Shop or any of our souvenir stands located on all levels of Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The special is also available online at PacersGear.com until midnight.

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Game Rewind: Pacers 102, Cavaliers 106 (Game 4)

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Pacers 102, Cavaliers 106 (Game 4)

Toward the end of practice on Saturday, while the players were shooting free throws, Pacers president Larry Bird walked onto the court to show something on his cell phone to Paul George. The two exchanged a few words and a few laughs, then went back to their business.

"Ah, man, this girl!" George said when asked later.

"He showed me a crappie," George said. "A big crappie that a buddy of his caught."

Sunday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, the Pacers will attempt to delay fishing season for a while and avoid allowing their season to become one they want to throw back. Another loss in their Game 4 matchup with Cleveland at Bankers Life Fieldhouse would end their season and leave them with the unwanted distinction of becoming the first team in franchise history to be swept in a seven-game series.

The Pacers have been swept in a three-game series (1981) and in three five-game series (1968, '90, and '92), but have yet to suffer four consecutive defeats in the postseason. To avoid that, they'll have to recapture the energy and execution of their first-half blitz in Game 3 on Thursday, when they scored 74 points and built a lead that peaked at 26 points, and hold on to it for more than 24 minutes.

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"We know what it takes," said George, who averaged 32.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 7.7 assists over the first three games.

"We had the blueprint. We were on the right page in the first half of what we need to do, but it's putting 48 minutes together and sustaining that first half all the way through."

The Pacers were in improved spirits on Saturday, more talkative and upbeat than on Friday when they were still mourning their Game 3 loss. The video review of that game had painfully revealed what they already knew regarding the lapses that caused their collapse, namely the defensive negligence and offensive sluggishness that allowed the Cavs to score 70 points.

Saturday's session was devoted in part to applying strategic tweaks to counter the adjustments Cleveland had made on Thursday, but strategy likely will be a secondary factor to the intangibles of energy, focus and confidence on Sunday. At this point they're calling upon pride to save them from being hooked in front of their home fans.

"It would be a huge disappointment to this fan base, huge disappointment to this team, to this organization," George said. "Especially knowing the circumstances, that we shouldn't be 0-3. To fold in Game 4 on our home floor, it would be a setback for many things."

The Pacers had a last-second shot from C.J. Miles that could have won Game 1, made a comeback that put the outcome in Game 2 in doubt until the final minute and had a 25-point halftime lead and a 20-point lead with 4 ½ minutes left in the third quarter in Game 3. They've been outscored by just 12 points, total, in the series, which is both glass-half-full admirable and glass-half-empty frustrating.

Add their double-overtime loss in Cleveland on April 2 and it's obvious why the Pacers believe they can compete with the defending champions. Now they have to find a way to defeat the defending champions, at least this once.

That entails overcoming the whopper named LeBron James, who is averaging 32.7 points, 9.7 rebounds and 10.7 assists in the series, and has a 47-7 record in first-round playoff games. The Pacers have already had their seasons ended by James' teams three times, losing to Miami in 2012, '13 and '14.

"Seems like every year he's in the way," Lance Stephenson said. "We gonna get him. We gonna get him."

Stephenson was responding to a question about James' dominance, didn't say it in a boastful manner and didn't specify when, exactly, the Pacers would hurdle a James team. For it to happen on Sunday, though, will require a strong defensive effort.

Coach Nate McMillan said Saturday that begins with defense, specifically staying in front of the ball and forcing the Cavs to shoot over them – and then getting out to contest 3-pointers. It's easier said than done when James is attacking at warp speed for dunks while also hitting 47 percent of his 3-pointers, though. The Cavs overall have hit 44 percent of their 3-pointers and hit 10 more of them than the Pacers have hit, for 30 handy bonus points.

McMillan draws confidence from the fact his team has been in this situation already this season. Not exactly, but almost. The Pacers had to win their final five regular season games to make the playoffs, and did just that. Now they face another elimination game.

"We responded well," McMillan said. "We won those games we needed to win. That was like a playoff atmosphere. We know what we need to do."

"We have to bring it," Stephenson said. "We've got to come out there aggressive, get under them, make everything difficult and take it right to them. No respect."

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Pacers' Pride and Season Are On The Line

All season long, the Pacers have bounced back quickly after their "bad" losses, the ones in which they weren't competitive or failed at home against inferior teams. At the next practice session, they were dependably upbeat and talkative with one another while shooting free throws when the media was allowed in.

Not so on Friday, the morning after one of the most perplexing and frustrating losses in the franchise's postseason history. Clearly that loss to Cleveland, featuring a squandered 25-point halftime lead, will take a while to get over. Call it a hangover, call it a mourning period, they'll need time to rebound emotionally.

"It's weighing on me today," said Paul George, who uncharacteristically was one of the first players off the court. "It will weigh on me tomorrow, probably up until Sunday."

Sunday brings Game 4 of their first-round playoff series against the Cavs. It might as well be Game 7 for the Pacers, who trail 3-0 and face elimination with another loss. Playoff eliminations are difficult enough, but eliminations that come with a sweep that ends on your home court are even worse. For the Pacers, in fact, it would be unprecedented, as they've never been swept in a seven-game playoff series.

To avoid making history, they'll have to regain the mojo that carried them through a 74-point first half on Thursday. They won't need to score 74, a franchise record for the first half of a playoff game, but they'll certainly need to avoid the malaise that brought the second-half meltdown.

The Pacers watched nearly 90 minutes of video on Friday, then took to the practice court to shoot. (Cleveland took the day off.) They will focus on game strategies and spirit-revival on Saturday, and plan to be ready to go again on Sunday.

Coach Nate McMillan, however, didn't view Friday's quiet atmosphere as an indication of resignation.

"More pissed off," he said. "Pissed off that we allowed that game to get away, which we should be. We had control of that game and you need to learn a lesson from that game. It's a 48-minute game and you have to come out with even more urgency in that third quarter to put this team away."

The video revealed the obvious. The Pacers played a game of extremes, one of the best halves in franchise history followed by one of the worst. The explanation was simple. The offense grew stagnant in the second half, open shots were difficult to get and shooters grew tentative.

"I guess we used all our bullets," Lance Stephenson said of the first half, forcing a smile.

McMillan said he warned his players against a letdown at halftime. He had seen his team's tendency to relax too much with comfortable leads throughout the season, and knew even a 25-point lead wasn't enough to guarantee a win against the defending champions, led by the force field of LeBron James.

"We didn't execute what I talked about at half," McMillan said. "We needed to be the aggressors. You can't come out and get on your heels.

"The one thing I showed was how calm (the Cavs) were, even when we went up by 25 or 26 points. We were more patient in the first half, moving the ball, our spacing was good. The second half we're playing against the shot clock and playing a lot of one-on-one basketball. We weren't getting good shots and everything was contested."

The Pacers' offense was bogged down in part by their failure to get defensive stops in the second half. More often than not, they had to take the ball out of the net and try to get a shot out of their halfcourt offense, rather than running and playing more randomly in transition. And while there was plenty of blame to share for the second-half demise, McMillan said Jeff Teague bears the greatest responsibility to keep the offense flowing.

"It starts there," he said. "Point guards establish that tempo on both ends of the floor."

The Pacers also need more from Myles Turner. The 21-year-old center is averaging just 7.7 points in the three playoff games — about half of his regular season average — on 32 percent shooting from the field.

They'll likely need more from everybody on Sunday, unless Cleveland lets up and is willing to take the series back to its home court for Game 5. That will require a short memory, renewed enthusiasm and a narrow focus.

"We have to look at it one at a time," George said. "We've got one on our floor. We've got to treat it as our Game 7 and we've got to look at this series as four Game 7's. We've got to do it one game at a time.

"We've been good in this situation, especially closing the regular season with wins when we needed to. So hopefully we approach it the same way."

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Pacers Approaching Game 4 with Game 7 Attitude

Looking back, it was probably a big mistake.

That 25-point halftime lead the Pacers built over Cleveland on Thursday, the one that brought a level of bedlam to Bankers Life Fieldhouse not heard since the 2000 NBA Finals, ultimately brought out their worst tendencies — the same tendencies that have haunted them all season.

Riding high against the defending champions, the Pacers relaxed. They became stagnant and uncertain and inaccurate at the offensive end, and failed to find the fortitude to stop the Cavaliers' landslide at the other end. That their 119-114 loss happened against the best team in the Eastern Conference, regular season records be damned, and one led by the NBA's best player, Most Valuable Player voting be damned, made it more understandable, but all the more frustrating.

The Pacers might have been better off trailing by five or 10 points, given their nature. The way it turned out, it was one of those games where no good questions existed to address what had happened and no good answers could have explained it. You can't expect someone who just crawled out from under an avalanche to give an insightful explanation, although there is one crucial difference: The Pacers were not innocent bystanders to their demise. They participated in it.

"It happened so fast," Lance Stephenson said. "We just didn't respond.

The gold-clad sellout fans at The Fieldhouse were witnesses to history, but their team was on the wrong side of it. Cleveland, which trailed 74-59 at halftime, overcame the largest midpoint deficit ever in the NBA playoffs. Its comeback from a 26-point abyss in the final minute of the second quarter was the third-greatest of all postseason comebacks.

The Cavs knew it could happen, because they committed a similar collapse on April 9, when they lost a 26-point lead in the fourth quarter alone and fell in overtime at Atlanta. At least it took the Pacers a quarter-and-a-half to lose all of their halftime lead.

But this was a playoff game. Now trailing 3-0, they'll have to scrape themselves off the mat and regroup in time for Game 4 on Sunday to try to avoid being swept on their home court.

Perhaps no team in the franchise's 50 seasons has suffered a loss as agonizing as this one.  They began building momentum late in the first quarter, jumping from a tie with just under four minutes remaining to a 10-point lead at the end of the period, thanks to an unlikely lift from Kevin Seraphin, who produced nine points, two rebounds and two assists during that run.

They closed the half with a 29-14 run to extend the lead to 25, delivering what seemed like a knockout blow. Paul George scored 21 points of the Pacers' 37 points in the period and the defense limited the Cavs to 33 percent shooting.

The Pacers' gentle demeanor, it turned out.

Unshaken, the Cavs came out firing in the third quarter. J.R. Smith opened the period with a 3-pointer, the first rock in the landslide. The Pacers held firm for a couple of minutes, but their offense grew increasingly aimless and their shooting arms increasingly tight.

If one possession foretold what was to come, it was after LeBron James drew a questionable foul from Myles Turner, his third, and hit two fouls shots to bring Cleveland within 21. Jeff Teague missed a driving layup on the next possession, then Thaddeus Young missed three rebound attempts at the rim. Kevin Love came back with a 3-pointer, Turner missed two shots for the Pacers, and James answered with another 3-pointer.

The lead was down to 15, and the quarter was barely five minutes old. It shrank to seven by the end of the period as the Cavs hit 7-of-13 3-pointers on their way to 35 points while the Pacers hit just 5-of-26 field goal attempts on their way to 17.

Cleveland finally took the lead, 100-98, on James' open court dunk midway through the fourth. Teague hit a 3-pointer to regain it for the Pacers, and they would regain it two more times, but by then the outcome felt inevitable. James – who finished with 41 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists – was simply unstoppable. James, in fact, played virtually the entire fourth quarter with reserves, and stilled a 35-point charge in which the Cavs hit 10-of-16 shots.

"We got stops, and we got aggressive," James said.

The Pacers didn't and didn't. By the fourth quarter, with the outcome still in doubt, they had the look of a defeated team. Even during timeouts, they sat stone-faced on the bench, waiting for the coaches to come talk to them.

"You have to come out with the urgency to put a team away and not give them any life," coach Nate McMillan said. "You have the opportunity to be more aggressive with the lead and I thought we came out kind of passive.

McMillan got no argument from his players, including George. He finished with 36 points, 15 rebounds, and nine assists, but hit just 10-of-28 shots and accepted the blame for the third-quarter demise. He got off only five shots in the period, and missed them all.

"Early on in the third I saw it getting out of hand, but I trust the guys on that floor," he said. "I watched it kind of unravel. That's when I should have stepped in and demanded the ball a little more. Get us moving, get us flowing, get everybody in a rhythm once again, get everybody engaged once again. I did a poor job of that to start that third."

If the Pacers have been predictably poor in comfort zones this season, whether within games or after their best wins, they've also been predictably good after their worst losses. They won their last five games to get into the playoffs, a playoff series in itself. Now they are challenged like never before this season, and believe they will respond.

It wouldn't be surprising if they did, given trends. Besides, the Cavs have proven they can have letdowns in the lap of luxury, too. They did it in Atlanta and they did it in the first half on Thursday, when they brought their 2-0 series lead into the game.

"I believe in my teammates 100 percent," said C.J. Miles, who started in place of Monta Ellis.

"Guys definitely want to continue to play and definitely believe in what we can do. I'm not going to sit here and tell you're we're about to win four games in a row, but I can tell you the next game we're going to put everything into it. And then we'll worry about the next game after that."

A loss on Sunday could reveal a great deal about the fiber of the current team and raise all kinds of questions heading into a long offseason. It figures to be one of the most interesting games of the season, if nothing else.

"Sunday's game will be a test of our character," McMillan said. "It just comes down to that. Who will show up and fight to win a game and try to extend this series, which is what I expect to happen. We know what we need to do to give ourselves a chance to win. But it's not a 24-minute game or 36-minute game, it's a 48-minute game.
"I expect to come out Sunday and lay it all on the line. It's do or die for us now."

pacers-fall-off-halftime-cushion

Pacers Fall Off Halftime Cushion

Wheat Hotchkiss

After dropping Games 1 and 2 of their first-round playoff series in Cleveland, the Pacers appeared on their way to an emphatic bounce-back win in Game 3 on Thursday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

But LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers showed why they are the reigning NBA champions in the second half. James registered a triple-double and scored 28 of his game-high 41 points over the final two quarters to lead the Cavs to a stunning 119-114 comeback win.

The Pacers set a franchise record for points in the first half of a playoff game, opening up a 74-49 lead over the Cavaliers through two quarters. But Cleveland rallied, outscoring Indiana 35-17 in the third quarter and eventually moving in front with 6:28 remaining in the fourth.

"Here we are up (25) to start the second half and a chance to put our foot on their throat," Pacers forward Paul George said after the loss. "And we came out relaxed."

The two teams wound up trading the lead four times over the next couple minutes before LeBron James' layup off an inbounds pass gave Cleveland a 105-104 lead with 4:52 to play. Kyle Korver's 3-pointer pushed the Cavaliers' lead to four points, but George answered with a triple of his own on the other end.

James, however, continued his brilliant second-half performance by burying a three from the left corner that made it 111-107 with 2:50 remaining. The next basket didn't come until Channing Frye's 3-pointer with 54.8 seconds left, the finishing touch on Cleveland's colossal comeback.

"We didn't pressure on the ball, we didn't make anything tough," George said about the second half. "I thought they had stretches where they were walking into wide-open 3-pointers. They can't do that.

"We got beat like that in Game 1. We got beat like that in Game 2. At some point, we've got to nip that in the bud."

James finished with 41 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists, going 14-for-27 from the field and 6-for-12 from 3-point range.

George was as brilliant in the loss, nearly recording his own triple-double. He finished with 36 points, 15 rebounds, and nine assists.

The Pacers, however, struggled mightily in the second half, making just 13-of-51 shots (25.5 percent) over the final two quarters.

"How we played in the first half, they played in the second," Pacers guard Lance Stephenson said. "We just let down."

The first quarter was a back-and-forth affair initially, with four ties and six lead changes in the early going. But the Pacers seized control midway through the period when their reserves triggered a 10-0 run to give the Blue & Gold the first sizable advantage of the night.

Stephenson brought the energy off the bench in the early going. The fan favorite received a standing ovation when he first checked into the contest, then promptly drilled an open 3-pointer. Stephenson set up fellow reserve Kevin Seraphin early and often in the first quarter, as the Frenchman racked up nine points in just 4:25 in the opening frame, six of them coming during that 10-0 run.

As a team, Indiana was on fire in the opening period, knocking down 14-of-21 shots (66.7 percent) to open up a 37-27 lead over the defending champs.

"They definitely jumped all over us," James said. "We knew we'd have to take one of their punches, but they gave us a flurry, more than we expected."

The home team also got an encouraging lift early from second-year center Myles Turner. The team's third-leading scorer struggled mightily in the first two games of the series in Cleveland, but he knocked down a jumper on the opening possession of Game 3 and ignited the crowd in the second quarter with arguably the best dunk of his young career.

Turner missed a jumper on the right baseline, but hustled past Kevin Love to collect his own rebound, then bodied Tristan Thompson out of the way in mid-air while throwing down a monster one-handed slam that sent the sellout crowd into hysterics. Turner was so jacked up by the dunk he was still pounding his chest and gesturing to the crowd when J.R. Smith's 3-point attempt bounced out of bounds on the ensuing possession.

George, meanwhile, got off to an uncharacteristically slow start offensively, missing his first four shots and scoring just two points in the first quarter before returning to his torrid playoff production in the second period. George erupted for 21 points in the second quarter alone, helping Indiana stretch its lead to as many as 26 points and taking a 74-49 lead into the break.

Indiana's 74 first-half points shattered the previous franchise NBA playoff record of 65, set on June 2, 1995 against Orlando and again on April 17, 2004 vs. Boston. The Pacers shot 56.8 percent from the floor and went 10-for-17 from 3-point range in the first half.

"That first half, we felt like a real team," Stephenson said. "We were playing together, we were pushing the ball, we were making the right plays, we were hitting the open guys.

But the Cavaliers opened the third quarter with a 13-3 run to trim the deficit to 15. The Pacers pushed their lead back to 20 points after back-to-back 3-pointers by Jeff Teague and Stephenson, only for Cleveland to immediately reel off 14 unanswered points, capped by a James three from eight feet beyond the 3-point line.

A pair of Seraphin free throws ended the Pacers' scoreless streak, but James hit another 3-pointer on the other end to make it 89-84 with 30 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Stephenson drew James' fourth foul on the ensuing possession and knocked down both foul shots to give Indiana a seven-point advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

"We couldn't push like we were because we weren't getting stops," Pacers guard C.J. Miles said about the Pacers' second-half slump. "We were getting stops in the first half so that allowed us to push the tempo and move the ball and not let the defense get set.

"When you're not getting stops, now you're coming down against a more set defense every time and kind of getting stagnant."

The Cavaliers continued to chip away at Indiana's lead in the fourth quarter, eventually tying the game at 98 on James' driving dunk with seven minutes to play.

Cleveland stripped the ball from George on the next possession, leading to another dunk for James on the break, giving the Cavs their first lead since the 6:41 mark in the first quarter. Jeff Teague put the Pacers back in front with an acrobatic 3-pointer while drawing a foul on the other end, setting the stage for a wild finish that seemed utterly inconceivable just an hour and a half earlier.

"It happened so fast," Stephenson marveled after the game.

Teague had 15 points and seven assists in the loss, while Thaddeus Young recorded a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds. Stephenson added 13 points and six boards off the bench.

Love, Kyrie Irving, J.R. Smith, and Frye each scored 13 points for Cleveland, while Korver added 12 on 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range.

The Pacers will look to stave off elimination on Sunday afternoon in Game 4, scheduled for 1:00 PM ET at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

"We're playing for pride now," Teague said. "We're all competitors in here and we all believe in one another.

The Cavaliers outscored Indiana 70-40 in the second half. Cleveland shot 55.3 percent from the field and 12-for-21 (57.1 percent) from 3-point range and committed zero turnovers over the final two quarters.

George set a new playoff mark with 23 points in the first half and his 21 points in the second quarter, matched his most in any quarter ever (regular season or playoffs).

George's 15 rebounds were a playoff career high. He previously had 14 on April 24, 2014 at Atlanta and on May 14, 2013 against the Knicks.