Pacers blow out Cavs, take 3-1 series lead

The Cavaliers seemed to find some life after Game 3 but were quickly reminded why the Pacers made the Eastern Conference Finals last season after nearly running the Cavs out of the gym in the first half. Following their 15-point lead after the first quarter, Indiana only allowed 16 points while scoring another 42 points in the second quarter to be up 80-39 at halftime. While the Cavs luck couldn’t get any worse in terms of injuries, star Donovan Mitchell did not even play the second half after suffering a non-contact ankle injury while warming up for the second half. Mitchell was unable to return and which can make you wonder if the Cavs coaching staff had already thrown in the towel even before the start of the second half.

To give the Cavs some grace, with the way Indiana played in Game 4 it seems like it would not have mattered if Mitchell played the second half or not as Indiana continued to roll even when the bench players started to filter in. Pascal Siakam led the Pacers with 21 points on 9-10 shooting, 2-2 from three to accompany a complete performance from long-time Pacer Myles Turner. Turner finished with 20 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists on 7-13 shooting but 4-4 from beyond the arc. Arguably the biggest x-factor in this pivotal Game 4 was Obi Toppin who contributed 20 points off the bench from 9-14 shooting to accompany his five rebounds.

While the Cavs only had their best player for the first half, Indiana dictated Game 4 from the opening tip and showed no signs of relinquishing any control from then on. While Tyrese Haliburton has hit two game winners this series already, he did not have his best game shooting, finishing with 11 points on 3-8 shooting, 1-5 from three which did not factor in too much to a Pacers team that was quite frankly just the better team all around on Sunday night. Cleveland is now holding their breath to see if Mitchell will be able to play on Tuesday night but with the Pacers now holding a 3-1 lead it might not even be worth the effort as this series seems all but over.