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same thing happened vs milwaukee every one starts doomposting like we suddenly became worse than the wizards acknowledge the defeat and move on be there on sunday

Carlisle said postgame he "clearly didn't have guys ready for this" and that he takes ownership. He says it wasn't refs fault, we got outplayed. This is how a coach should respond in my opinion. Same reason I respected Donovon after game 2. Just take ownership and move on instead of whining.

• don't be down double digits in the first quarter, have some urgency for gods sake

• Haliburton needs to lead the offense, not be a houseplant around TJM and Nembhard

• We need the aggressive Pascal! The one that fights for position offensively, rolls in for a layup and hits fadeaways.

• More Mathurin and Walker in the regular rotation. TJM and Sheppard should be situational energy boosters.

• I don't miraculously expect Turner to take 15 rebounds, but whatever he lacks in rebounding I wanna see compensated with threes and scoring

Add your own

Holy shit can they stroke the Cavs any more than what they already do??? "Mitchell showing what happens when you can get some help" like holy shit the Cavs gotta be raw at this point with how much they are getting stroked.

Between shots falling below the mean, Hali underperforming, and this being a Cleveland must-win, this game has honestly convinced me that you might well win the series. While Cleveland is clearly the more robust team when healthy (or rather, as healthy as it will realistically be for this series), the gap is not significant enough for Indiana's hustle to not be able to close this.

This next game will be a must-win for you though, IMO.

hell i mean even DM stood up there like a man and owned their two losses...im concerned that all of this is going to his head.. youre suppose to be the leader.

I felt like the team underperformed on the "Boom Baby" court this season, so I wasn't psyched to see the "Boom Baby" tees last night. Does anyone else feel this way?

We've yet to have anyone score 30, and I had to think back on a team that didn't rely solely on one guy and had a lot of ball movement to win it all in the playoffs. Thought I'd look up their PPG stats of their players to see if I was wrong, looks pretty similar if you adjust for today's pace

I’m not sure how many redditors will be at the games tonight and/or Sunday (I’ll be in Gainbridge Sunday) but I would love to see the old-school chants make an NBA appearance.

Some of them might be a little corny, but it beats just screaming noise or yelling random stuff in my opinion.

When the Cavs turn it over or get a foul, imagine 18,000 people hitting them with the:

“YOU CAN’T DO THAT” clap clap clapclapclap

And, if the opportunity presents itself, a “Winning team! Losing team!” chant would be chef’s kiss. Look up Utah State’s winning team losing team, it’ll give you chills.

I understand it takes a ton of coordination and I understand it’s a pretty unrealistic goal, but if no one floats the idea then it definitely won’t happen and I think it would add so much to the atmosphere.

I am no stranger to sailing the high seas to watch the Pacers, but I want to watch the rest of the playoffs legitimately. I cut the cord years ago and I am trying to see if I can just subscribe to one service, or if I have to pick up multiple as the playoffs hop around networks. Is Bally's or Fan Duel still a thing? Can I buy single games from NBA.com? I live in Hamilton County so I don't know if that will restrict me in any way. Thanks for any help you can provide!

Game Preview

Pacers Odds: +3.5, ML +136, o/u 228

TV: TNT

Projected Starters

Pacers

• PG - Tyrese Haliburton
• SG - Andrew Nembhard 
• SF - Aaron Nesmith
• PF - Pascal Siakam
• C - Myles Turner

Cavaliers

• PG - Ty Jerome
• SG - Donovan Mitchell
• SF - Max Strus
• PF - Dean Wade
• C - Jarrett Allen

Injuries

Pacers

• Isaiah Jackson - Out (Torn Right Achilles Tendon)

Cavaliers

• Darius Garland- Questionable (Left Great Toe Sprain)
• De'Andre Hunter - Questionable (Right Thumb Sprain)
• Evan Mobley - Questionable (Left Ankle Sprain)

I'm a lifelong Pacers fan from NY (loved Reggie, have always been annoyed with the extremely delusional Knicks fans surrounding me) and I've been to a bunch of Pacers road games but never a game in Indy. Flying in tomorrow morning for game 4, obviously very excited, and I was wondering if anyone local had any recommendations for places to congregate with fans in the hours leading up to the game? Trying to make the most of my time before getting to watch us go up 3-1. Thanks in advance!

let’s look at the positives, Benn has been a huge plus for us offensively and keep in mind this is just his first postseason.

if we continue to get his production and our starters get back to playing they have been since December, then we have a great shot at winning this series.

side note, i would like to see Jarace play in game 4, he brings a ton of versatility to the table and he’s one of our more impactful zone beaters.

I was so excited to get them today. I saw a notification they were delivered and went to check my porch and didn't see them, but the FedEx truck was there. The guy walked out with a Walmart box which I thought was strange, but it was the right size. Then I checked the address and name and it definitely wasn't me or my address... Wasn't even a street I reconized. Guy said "oh they must have loaded my truck wrong." I said I was expecting a Puma box and he looked and said he didn't have it. I checked and it delivery occurred 90 minutes prior and the picture was to a house I didn't reconize and the house number didn't even match my house number.

I immediately called Puma and they said even though it was obviously delivered to the wrong place I have to wait 3 days to file a claim and get a new pair shipped out. I could order another pair and return the first pair if they end up showing up they told me. I've never had this happen before....we get packages all the time with no issues.

Not sure if I should wait it out or order another pair and do a return if I end up with a second pair. I really wanted to wear them tomorrow.... Hope nobody else who ordered some has issues.

It's all psychological with him, but I can't figure it out.

I get that it's only his 2nd playoff run, and also facing a tremendous defense putting a ton of pressure on him. But his lack of aggression is so frustrating. Especially when the opposing star is relentlessly carrying their team, DM taking 30 shots a game. I don't expect Ty to shoot a ton, it's not his style, but he has to be more aggressive. I believe he can be the best player in this series, but his floor is so utterly confusing. Early in the year he had actual games with zero points. Other stars will still have decent stats in bad games, but Ty will jus be a such a no-show. It's these terrible stat lines that open him up to such criticism. I read his piece about reading social media and it affecting him, but he was talking in past tense so that's over and done with. But what about today? He's been nothing but praised last couple days for his heroics, but you can't come out an take just 8 shots, 4 points? Took just ONE THREE POINT ATTEMPT? For a guy that seemingly can get that shot off (that step back creates so much space) whenever he wants? The unique thing with him is that when he is aggressive and drives, you never know if he'll shoot or pass. He's got a deep bag too. Mitchell, or Dame or Free Throw man in NY seems pretty obvious they are looking to score. But Ty, pass first can always find the right pass or go to the float game, the jumpshot, the step back etc, which makes him more potent. But when he's in his head and just always looking to jump pass, just lets the defense off the hook.

He is the captain of the ship. There was a LOT of reasons we lost today. But if he go down, I want our franchise guy to go down fighting. Reggie should tell him his big regret of not being aggressive enough vs Jordan's bulls in the 2nd half of game 7.

Tyrese is my favorite player and obviously I love his game. But I wish the league would treat him like his peers in terms of the whistle. Even when he drives he rarely gets calls like Mitchell or the other guards we play. I don’t want him to foul bait but is it too much to ask to go up strong a few times?!

Also, Rick needs to learn how to play the media game with his stars. He needs to call out the refs publicly for allowing Hali and siakam to get bodied all night with very few calls. I’ve been waiting for years for him to get T’ed up and he does it when we are down 20 it just makes no sense to me

Wondering what match-ups you think would be fun to get for the 10-game ticket package for the season.

Of course the Lakers, Bucks, Celtics, Knicks.

Friday was by far the Pacers' worst day of the week this season, going just 5-9 heading into weekends.

Their best day... Sunday, where they went 11-3.

Does this mean anything. I don't know, but I feel like we need a positive right now.

I wouldn't say I'm superstitious, but I'm a little stitious when it comes to sports. So like any rational person, I analyzed my habits from the first series against the Bucks, and noticed for game 3 (the one we lost) I did not eat any chicken wings.

Besides that game, chicken wings had been a part of my Pacers enjoyment experience every other time that series. So naturally, I was sure to pick up some wings before settling in to watch game 1 against the Cavs, and the trend continued.

Then game 2 happened. I went to the grocery store before the game, and got some wings to cook myself. I wasn't hungry yet so I figured I could dry brine them for a couple hours to make them come out nice and crispy. But my appetite never came. I finally made them in the 4th quarter, and I still wasn't even hungry. I just made them out of desperation. I worried I had missed my divine wing window and my efforts were too little too late.

But I shit you not, from the moment I bit into that first wing everything began to change. The put-back from Nesmith, the Nembhard steal, the foul on Haliburton. And when he drained that three, I leapt from the couch with wing sauce on my fingers.

I know it's dumb. My girlfriend has rolled her eyes any time I mention eating wings for the game... But it's hard to argue with data. Wings = Wins until they don't.

So I guess I'm looking for some validation here that I'm not crazy. None of it makes any scientific sense. It's for sure just a series of coincidences that I've turned into causation to make myself feel like I have some kind of control over the game. Maybe me posting this jinxes the whole thing. I don't know about all that, but I know one thing for sure. I'm getting some god damn wings tonight.

I think we, the fans, need to do something to catch Myles attention and show how badly we want him to retire a Pacer. Like a concerted effort by the entire fanbase.

Similar to how we falsely accused Jalen Smith of crimes. I’m not saying we have to start there, BUT I’m willing to get Myles on a watchlist if it means he stays a Pacers.

Thoughts?

Seeing the Knicks, who were 2-0 in their series, lose Game 3 at home by a 20+ pt. deficient gives me life given our rivalry. Of course, Knicks fans will still blame our loss on "finally" playing a healthy team and theirs on bad luck 😆

Title enough said. Pacers in 6

No real reason to panic. The Cavs came in down 2-0 and finally healthy, it was always going to be a big punch coming from them. We haven't helped ourselves tonight, but the biggest issues are very fixable and certain things I'd be surprised to see repeat like Nesmith shooting so poorly or the rebounding being poor, even by our standards.

It is nothing new for us to have an incredibly ugly game in a series. We have some really bad ones our last playoff run, and the Milwaukee loss was bad in Round 1. Time to make some correction and get back to work for game 4.

Painted nails real quick for tonight’s game

14 to 2 for free throw attempts last night between Mitchell and Haliburton.

Overall they only won the ft match up by 7 tho:

We shot 24 with Benn leading at 9

They shot 31 with Mitchell leading at 14

We hit 16 with Pascal missing 3 of his 4

They hit 23 with multiple players missing at least 1 and Mitchell missing 4

What stands out to me is Siakam and Ty only having 6 total free throws while Mobely had 6 alone. Signals a lack of aggression from two of our best.

Players must adjust to how the game is called. If the refs let physical play go, you gotta be physical. You can't whine the other team is pushing and you're not. Same thing with FTs. They never call lane violations. You can't be an idiot and let the other team get a jump on you, especially at the end when the refs might be "letting them play." As many have mentioned players from both teams were routinely in the lane early. Let the refs start calling it, then our guys will adjust. No one can blame them for playing the way the game is called.

What happened to Ben Sheppard this year/in the playoffs? He was so good last postseason and looked like he was going to be a key rotational player but now I’ve barely seen him play.