Kenny's innovation this year was to pair Garland-Allen and Mitchell-Mobley. We traded for Hunter to get the Jerome-Hunter UVA magic off the bench.

The Pacers strategically targeted each of these pairings to break the soul bonds of our team.

They took out Darius so Jarrett doesn't have his soulmate.

They took out Evan so Donovan doesn't have his soulmate.

They took out Deandre so Ty doesn't have his soulmate.

The Hoosiers are messing with dark magic. They are the antithesis of power-of-friendship ball. Where Avignon had its Antipope, Indiana has its false prophet in Benedict (Mathurin).

They also have demon Obi Toppin resurrected from the 2023 Knicks series.

The only way to overturn this blasphemy is to lower our heads and pray together. Everyone, please repeat after me:

I Agree Go Cavs.

Let Em Meow.

This dude talks the whole game and is shoving people in the air. The Mo Wagner of the Pacers

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Halfway through the 3rd quarter and the Cavs leading by double digits, I've never wanted a clock to run out faster. What a weird feeling to have but I was sensing danger. Gotta come out Friday and set the tone early. Show these dudes that Cleveland has nothing but fight left.

3 minutes and this guy gets like 3 loose balls a steal and a block. Kenny you gotta play this guy if your other option can’t hit water if he fell out of a boat.

I swear this is the first coaching blunder from Kenny that irks me.

As the title says Garland and Mobley need to get back to have a chance. Not going to rehash what we all know from tonight that Mitchell is on another level and the supporting cast once again is a let down.

We are now going to see what this team is truly made of and if Kenny can coach them up. I don’t truly believe Indiana is the better team, I just believe the injuries have hampered and Cavs were not ready to be played so physically.

Either way, it was an amazing season and I’m proud to be a fan, just want to see some fight to even up this series!

That's all they had to do to close this out. Let's not over analyze it. It was a complete meltdown the last minute against a team that knows how to close.

Cant even be mad about this one, its just numbing.

The game started with a 3-pointer from Nesmith. As usual, the Pacers created a good look by moving the ball; they are elite in that aspect (passing).

Turner is the glue that holds this defense together, and he played some good defense. Whenever Turner wasn't in the paint, it was an easy dunk or layup for the Cavaliers.

After that, the Cavaliers' defense, especially Jerome and Merrill, held their own. As a team, they were playing much closer to the Pacers' players, therefore they could put pressure on the ball movement. The Pacers struggled to score for a bit.

Mitchell passed the ball much more this game; there was probably an instruction from the coach to do so.

In the last minutes of the third quarter, there were moments where the Cavaliers could have finished the game. Wade missed a wide-open shot, then the Pacers got the rebound, passed the ball, and scored an easy two points. On the next possession, Mitchell created an open look for himself against the center, Bryant, but missed it too. Then, in the last seconds, Nesmith made a 3-pointer in transition. The Pacers had good luck during this moment.

Offensively, Mitchell played an amazing game, but it wasn't enough because he had no help from Jerome.

The Pacers are just a team made up of good offensive players individually; you just can't hold them to zero points for long. The Pacers could score somewhat easily in the last two minutes, where the Cavaliers struggled. You could see that ending coming."

1. Man to man coverage no switching no zone one v one
2. Play through our bigs to slow the Tempo allow them to dictate and manage the offense 3.BE CONFIDENT IN SHOOTING THE MIDDY. 3s and lay ups won't cut it in the playoffs (as you see) we mainly need it from our role players. Strus, Merrill,Wade,Allen,okoro etc. too many times are they in position for a middy but they're not looking at the basket or passes the ball to someone at the three. If you watch Indiana they're players are confident in shooting that middy that's why they're offense is so fluid. Lastly, that's inbounds pass from strus was strus's fault. Lack of situational awareness awareness in general JA is perfect from the line JA made distance between him and Turner and Strus could've easily thrown it in the backcourt to JA (WATCH THE REPLAY) but his eyes were glued to DM and TY. Also someone could've came to struss aid and made themself available in his face all around terrible decisions from everyone including Kenny

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Boy there is some serious doom and doubters on Reddit. I can only imagine 2016 and the ridiculousness that was spilled on this page about how we have no chance down 3-1 etc etc. Hell I may have even been convinced by y’all at that point when I was out telling people at work how we aren’t done and can come back.

Yes we have injuries. Yes key players appear like they miss time. But how about some positivity, like anywhere on this sub. Every post seems to say the same thing. Injury update followed by how screwed we are. No one has given us a chance all year around the league. Not the other teams, announcers, press etc, but to hear our own fans doom and gloom constantly sucks. Where is the we’ll push through with hard work, determination and our depth to set the tone and win the series? All I see is negativity and it’s depressing honestly. It’s almost like the mods need to treat some of you like children and tell you if you don’t have anything nice or positive to say, don’t say anything lol.

For the doubters, I look forward to this amazing team to grit up and prove all of you wrong, once again like in 2016. Go Cavs!!!

I am just really curious why they had so much issue with just getting an inbound pass in? lack of practice? they had so much trouble just getting open to receive the pass. WTH

Anyone else confused on that game plan for the fourth quarter? It seemed like for most of the game, everyone but Ty was chipping in and playing pretty well, but in the 4th it suddenly just became Mitchell driving to the basket every possession and trying to get a foul called. It especially annoys me because I’ve already seen a few comments/posts on here complaining that the team let Mitchell down, when in fact, Strus, Merrill, and Allen had it going when they were given the chance. I hear a lot from the media and even Mitchell himself about taking a step back and letting others play a bigger role, but it seems the opposite happened at the end of this game.

After like 90% of the r/NBA game thread being Celtics fans clowning us and calling us fake #1 seeds and saying our shooting sucks. The Celtics then go on to put up the worst 3 point performance in franchise history… love to see it lol

I can’t believe the amount of trash I’m seeing on this sub rn. How can you call yourselves Cavs fans and give up after two games? In 2016, it was proven to fans that no matter how bad it looks, there is always a way to win. Y’all must have forgotten.

Let ‘Em Know until the season is over.

He's looked absolutely awful-- almost unplayable in both games. Awful shot selection turning the ball over, a casual 1-14 from the field!!!

Is he trying to keep his value down so we can re-sign him this offseason???

No, and I wish we'd just ban all the people complaining about him. Toe injuries are tricky for anyone - let alone an NBA point guard. He's left it all on the court for us for years. Cavs in 6

I feel dead inside after that one. Fans put so much into this team, it’s crazy the emotions they can put you through. I always laugh at those people who bust out TVs but I was really close to it tonight.

And I’m gonna do it all over again on Friday. Gonna let ‘em know until the season is over.

I honestly think we can beat that team 4 times in a row if we get our players back.

Seeing Strus drive into the paint and attempt a reverse layup in traffic with a minute or so left changed the outcome of this game imo.

Donavan Mitchell couldn’t handle the ball late game, leading to a series of unfortunate events.

How do you let Tyrese Halliburton get his own rebound after missing a late game free throw, get out of the crowd of defenders and hit a step back on Ty Jerome to win?

Also, why limit Sam Merrill’s playing time? Isaac okoro shot 2 shots all game and ty Jerome went 1/14; each of them had more minutes than sam and he outscored them both combined on 6 less shots.

Shoutout Max Struss though, man had the 2nd meanest dunk of the game

im not gonna lie i don’t know if we deserve to win this series after that.

I'm on the more doomer end of the spectrum, and my personal outlook for the series given all the injury news is very pessimistic. I've speed ran all the stages of grief in the past 24 hours.

However, I'm glad that Kenny has pushed through this entire season on playing a deep bench. We had two regular season games toward the end where we essentially played our bench against the healthy (though likely tired) Indy starters and matched up very well against them. This should give our bench guys at least a bit of confidence going into today's game.

Go Cavs.

Yes injuries are concerning and it’s not fun to lose game 1. This is a great team with a smart coach. Stop mourning a season we haven’t lost and just focus on enjoying some Cavs basketball!

We have depth. There’s been times we’ve all loved players that have not been playing much. See the goodness in the team and don’t get so bummed out. Jaylon Tyson is good. Craig Porter Jr is good. Dean Wade played 16 mins in game 1 - he’s good. The Cavs have options. When Evan’s not around they run more offense through Jarrett Allen - that can work extremely well! Donovan Mitchell and Sam Merrill have worked together very well!

There is still plenty of reason to have trust in this team. Remember the run we went on last year when we didn’t have Darius or Evan available and Deandre Hunter wasn’t even on the team??

Let’s focus on rooting for these guys and cheering loud rather than moping into game 2 like a bunch of babies. This is our team, they’ve demonstrated greatness and you and I know they have that, even without key players! I’m excited to watch a great game later.

After being called overrated, he made Cavs fans eat their words tbh.

Feel pretty terrible after last nights heartbreak. But y’know what? We’re only 12 wins from Champions and that seems like a good combination with a team that had 3 long winning streaks this season.

Streak activation starts now.

I’m gonna see Hali’s shot in my nightmares man. Being a Cavs fan for 20 years this is the most defeated I’ve ever felt post game. I just hope we can get healthy and get back on track.

Edit- Showing love to the man D Mitch. Absolute warrior today. I’m thankful to have Don on my team win or lose.

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Before I say anything, I know it’s easy to feel down—especially after how the game ended and with all the doom and gloom being posted on this sub. But let’s not forget: the series isn’t over. There’s still basketball to be played. We’ve got two days of rest coming up, which gives our injured guys a chance to recover.

As frustrating as the first two games have been, it’s not like the Pacers ran us off the floor. We stayed competitive today, even with key players missing from the rotation. I truly believe we can turn this around.

Also, if you’re suddenly showing up just to hate on our core guys while they’re injured, maybe take a step back. This is the time to rally behind the team—not tear it down.

that being said, FUCK THE PACERS, FUCK THE WORLD, CAVS IN 6 BABY!

Seems like this team is tight-lipped on injuries and timetables. Anyone read any updates?

I know the loss was disheartening. My heart actually sank when Haliburton made that 3. But I want to point out a huge positive take away from game 2.

We were able to dominate the fully healthy Pacers team for most of the game with our 3 key pieces out. That's a huge plus. It took a series of unfortunate events for the Pacers to barely squeeze out a win.

This means that even if none of DG, Mobley, and Hunter come back for the rest of the series, we are going to give Pacers hell. Today's game told us that we can compete with them despite the injuries.

This also means that if at least one of the three guys comes back from injury which is highly likely in the next few games, we will be even more competitive than we were in today's game.

I know everyone is hard on Ty Jerome for today's stinker but I can guarantee you that he's going to play much better than he did this game rest of the series. He's too big of a competitor to fall down and not get back up.

There were many blunders from the coaching staff especially in late game. As long as they can admit to their mistakes it will be a huge learning opportunity and our team will be better for it.

Today's game told me that the Cavs will not go down without a fight even if none of our injured key players come back. If at least one of them comes back? We should be favored to win this series.

Forget that the refs blew the Siakam and Haliburton FT rebounds. If the Cavs aren’t fully healthy, they don’t have a shot to win.

Without Garland, Mobley, and Hunter, they’re missing 3 scorers, extra defense, and most importantly 3 ball handlers.

Take Haliburton off the Pacers and what are they?

Now take Haliburton, Siakam, and Turner off the Pacers.

Meanwhile East is wide open and anybody's claim right now!! We have an uphill battle, 5-30 record for teams that lost first 2 home games in a series. And we have several injured players 😞