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It was on this day, last year, that the Indiana Pacers hit rock bottom. They blew a 26-point lead to the Cleveland Cavaliers en route to a crushing Game 3 loss, which all but ended their postseason hopes. The 25-point halftime lead the Pacers surrendered was the largest in NBA playoffs history. They returned the favor this time.
The Pacers roared back from a 17-point deficit at the half, led by Bojan Bogdanovic to stun the Cavaliers, and take a 2-1 lead in the series. The Cavs had a chance to win it late, but JR Smith air-balled his desperation heave from 38-feet as Indiana hung on for the win.
Here are the five biggest takeaways from the game:
#5 Cleveland's offense continues to flounder
The Cavaliers were one of the highest scoring teams in the league in the regular season but boy have they struggled in this series. Cleveland ended the regular season 5th in Scoring, at 110.9 PPG but haven't even come close to matching that mark. They're averaging 90 points a game this series, the lowest in these playoffs, which is quite simply astonishing considering everyone assumed it would be their strength.
The atrocious regular season defense has improved a lot and if Cleveland could match their offensive output, this series would probably have been a wrap.
One of the keys for Indiana during the season was stopping the 3-point shot and it's been the case this series. Cleveland lives-and-dies by the 3 and the Pacers who ranked 5th in 3 point % allowed at a measly 34.9% have stifled them. The Cavs, who shot 37.2% from 3 in the regular season, have been limited to just 30.8% from 3 and shot just 10/32 in Game 3.
Cleveland shot 39% from 3 in Game 2 and if they are to win this series, they'll have to hit them at that pace or else Indiana will pull off the biggest playoff upset we've seen in quite some time.
#4 Victor Oladipo struggles
While the box score might show that he had a good game, Victor Oladipo struggled in this one. The Cavs kept hounding him with double teams and negated his impact to a great extent. Oladipo shot just 5/15 and had 5 turnovers and missed some late 3s which might have cost Indiana this game.
He did a good job elsewhere by hauling in 6 Rebounds, along with dishing out 7 assists though. What would worry the Pacers is that if Cleveland keeps up this strategy to shut him down, they'll need the rest to step up big time and I'm not sure if Bogdanovic can keep this up in the coming games.
Still, winning a game with your best player only scoring 18 is a plus and Nate McMillan will probably draw up something to counter Cleveland's double teams. Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson mentioned on commentary that Oladipo probably needs to cut to the basket after passing off like Grant Hill used to, instead of just standing around, so expect changes in Game 4.
#3 A tale of 2 halves
This was a proper tale of 2 halves. Cleveland looked awesome in the 1st, drilling shots from everywhere and looked all but set to regain home-court advantage, but then Indiana took it up a notch. Their defense in the 2nd half was spectacular, limiting Cleveland to just 33 points in the half to overturn a 17 point halftime deficit.
The turnovers played a big part in this turnaround. Indiana had 11 in the first half, allowing Cleveland to get out on the break for easy baskets. The switch was then completely flipped in the 2nd half as this time the Cavs had 10 turnovers, and a couple of huge ones down the stretch as Indiana roared back.
Comebacks have been a theme for the Pacers this season and they've rallied from deficits of 15 or more points 9 times this season, showcasing their resilience. They've also been excellent in late close games, going 11-2 in games decided by 3 or fewer points. Cleveland was 39-0 in the regular season when leading after 3 quarters, which makes this Pacers comeback all the more impressive.
#2 LeBron James tries to take over late, but it wasn't enough
While he did have a couple of big turnovers in the 4th, James was simply sensational shooting the ball late in this one. After Indiana went up 84-77, James answered with back-to-back 3 pointers, with the 2nd being a ridiculous fadeaway over Domantas Sabonis near the corner. He then hit another long 3 to pull them back to within 4 with 38 seconds remaining. All in all, James scored 12 points in the 4th and assisted on 4 more, being directly responsible for 16 of the Cavs' 21 points in the quarter but it just wasn't enough.
The turnovers didn't help and one particular play he didn't get back on defense after a turnover, which led to a Bogdanovic 3 pointer. He shouldn't be the one to be blamed though. The Cavs apart from James went cold late in the game, and if not for Kevin Love hitting a late 3, no other Cavalier apart from James hit a shot from the 9-minute mark in the 4th quarter which is just abysmal.
#1 Bojan Bogdanovic
The man of the moment!
With Oladipo struggling from the floor, the Pacers needed someone else to come up big and up stepped Bojan Bogdanovic. Bogdanovic went nuclear in the 4th quarter, outgunning James as he kept the Cavaliers at bay with some incredible 3 point shooting. Bogdanovic scored 15 in the 4th quarter, including 12 straight for the Pacers in the critical stretch when they took over the game.
With the score tied at 77, he scored 7 in a row to push it to 84-77, after which James answered with 7 straight of his own, only for Bojan to score the next 5 to give the Pacers the lead for good. His presence on the floor is going to be vital in the coming games. Cleveland would in all likelihood double Oladipo again and the Pacers struggled when Bojan was taken out for Lance Stephenson late in the game due to foul trouble, as the Cavs just left him wide open.
That allowed the 7-0 Cleveland run and it was only after Bojan came back in the game that Indiana got back into its groove. His 30 foot 3 pointer with the shot clock winding down might end up being the defining moment of this series.
Guess the Lakers players!
