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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.

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.

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.

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

When's the last time this team looked like it had a clue what to do against a zone?

It’s Draymond Green for me. I absolutely cannot stand that son of a bitch. Such a dirty, disrespectful and unsportsmanlike player.

I don’t like to bring these discussions right after a loss but the people are make this seem like we can only beat injured teams and not healthy teams. I obviously disagree with that. But to prove them wrong, we need to step it up better. It’s not about losing the game today, but the way we lost. Just from the start of the game, we saw the complacency of not getting our rebounds and being down 11-0. We pulled it off later on but the second quarter and the entire game after that was a total mess. Haliburton dropping 4 points is not a something a superstar would do. Siakam stepped up little too late. Obi Topin was completely abysmal. We just got out rebounded offensively (18-4). Cavs were winning fouls after fouls. Yes, the refs were horrendous but that doesn’t justify the effort our two superstars made today. So maybe the impact of their Mobley, Hunter, and Garland completely killed us over. We just got a reality check. Let’s hope the guys step up and get the W in Game 4.

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)

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.

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

Ive heard others say this before and now Tyrese. What does it actually mean? Why does the series start when someone wins a road game. A series that went 4-0 would have started, but one that went to 7 with no road team winning never did?? What does it actually mean lol

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 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?

Painted nails real quick for tonight’s game

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.

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.

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.

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!

Anybody got any advice on the smoothest way to get into the parking garage tonight? Last time I though I was clever by trying to go down Alabama, but that was a massive mistake lol

I have been jonesing while texting buddies during the playoffs for a Pacers "sticker" I can add to texts in Messages. I have 2-3 for IU (they're free), but cannot find a Pacers one anywhere, and after a cursory look, don't think I have the chops to create one myself. Anyone in the sub want to take a stab at it so we can all more easily spread the love moving forward? Thx in advance! And let's goooooooo tonight!