The Cleveland Cavaliers did everything wrong on Sunday night, and the final score shouldn’t sugarcoat that. Sure, they eventually won 104-100 over the Indiana Pacers in Game 4, a must-have victory that evened the series at two games each. It means they will be favorites to advance past the first round, holding home court advantage over the next three games, but no one should feel good about this team in the wake of this one.
The Cavaliers won Game 4, but their performance was anything but encouraging
Sure, Cleveland tied this series, but is anyone optimistic about how this team looks right now?
Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
There’s really nothing to feel good about.
As always, Cleveland’s saving grace is having LeBron James. The best player in the world looked gassed for large periods in the second half, which might be explained by his 46 minutes played after his first ever season suiting up 82 times. Despite that, the 33-year-old still recorded 32 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists, and two blocks on 12-of-22 shooting.
Beyond that, the Cavaliers got just enough help. Kyle Korver’s two triples late in the fourth quarter — one with 3:48 remaining and another about a minute later — saved Cleveland late. Tristan Thompson played seven minutes and made several positive plays that won’t show up in the box score. J.R. Smith’s 12 points helped buoy the team in the first half, including a damn-near-impossible three-quarters-court buzzer beater that had no business going in. That shot sure was useful late, huh?
But the Cavaliers can’t be proud of this win. Losing this game would’ve sunk them into a steep series hole with little confidence, outside of just having James, that they could come back. Nothing Cleveland has done this series indicates that they’re the better team, certainly not by any significant margin.
In no particular order, here are some things that Cleveland did wrong:
- Tristan Thompson played a relatively productive seven minutes — that he was plus-seven is telling — and was a DNP-CD the rest of the game. Larry Nance still isn’t making a huge impact. Kevin Love at center isn’t the answer!
- Speaking of, Love has totally disappeared from this offense. In Game 3, Cleveland screwed up by forcing him into post-ups that went nowhere against Thaddeus Young. So the team’s great Game 4 adjustment was ... well, nothing, really. Love took some spot-up shots, missed some second chance opportunities, was hampered by early foul trouble, and finished with five points on 2-of-10 shooting.
- If Love can’t, then who on this team can drop 20 points? The hope at the trade deadline was that it would be that this team would have secondary scorers by committee when everything gelled. Now, it looks like Cleveland will be lucky to get more than three or four players in double-digits, which once again increases the incredible load that James has to carry on a game-by-game basis.
- This probably has more to due with James’ apparent exhaustion than anything else, but there were several fourth quarter possessions that devolved into Jordan Clarkson isolations or Clarkson running pick-and-rolls with Jeff Green. With the game on the line. With the season on the line. And that’s the best the Cavaliers could throw at Indiana.
- I’m not foolish enough to suggest Rodney Hood is some magical cure-all — he clearly has warts as a player — but if the idea is to play someone who can create his own shot to get James some on-court relief, then maybe he needs more than 14 minutes. I guess. Look, there aren’t any good options here.
- This team is just joyless to watch and survives an overwhelming amount of the time this season thanks to James being better than anyone else on the court. If Victor Oladipo hadn’t been so off — and Indiana’s offense was pretty awful late in this one, too — then would Cleveland had had any chance? He missed 15 of his 20 shots.
There were moments were Cleveland’s defense looked alive in the second half, something that has happened spottily throughout the series. George Hill will hopefully return from a back injury in Game 5, which will help limit Jose Calderon’s role. But there’s not much to be optimistic about beyond the scoreboard from this matchup.
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