Cleveland Cavaliers vs Indiana Pacers

A game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Indiana Pacers starts Game 1 of the second-round NBA Playoff series at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Sunday evening. After this series ends with either Cavs or Pacers victory they will challenge the winner between Celtics or Knicks for conference final participation.

Among all Eastern Conference teams this season the Cleveland Cavaliers proved themselves to be the superior group. The Cavaliers finished second in the NBA Playoffs by defeating the Miami Heat 4-0 in their opening round.

Cleveland enters the contest well-prepared since they last competed six days ago while maintaining a strong assurance due to once again sweeping Miami by large margins of 37 and 55 points.

Round one stalwart Donovan Mitchell led the Cleveland offense with 23.8 PPG points yet Darius Garland scored 24.0 PPG points in the same round yet he missed two Heat matches owing to injury and could sit out this upcoming game.

The Indiana Pacers sealed their position in the NBA second round for two consecutive times after beating the Milwaukee Bucks 4-1 in their first-round matchup.

The Bucks faced major deficiencies during their series against Indiana since Giannis Antetokounmpo provided most of the resistance and three of five games played without Lillard.

The Pacers' top player of the playoff season so far is Pascal Siakam who has 19.8 points per game followed by Tyrese Haliburton who provides 17.6 points and 11.6 assists to the team.
During their match with the Bucks for the opening round the Pacers accomplished much as they halted an offensive force that had earned the league's top efficiency rating of 123.7 points per 100 possessions in April. The Cleveland Cavaliers delivered an unheard-of 136.2 points during their match against the Miami Heat. Having this offensive strength will benefit them in this round.

The Cavaliers’ three-point shooting has been a game-changer, elevating them to elite status this season. In the first round, they torched the nets at a 44.4% clip from deep (per Cleaning the Glass), a rate that’s going to be incredibly difficult to contain. And this wasn’t some fluke—Cleveland finished 10th in 3P% over the final month of the regular season, proving their long-range prowess is no accident.

But here’s the twist: Indiana just held off Milwaukee—the NBA’s best three-point shooting team all year—despite allowing 39.3% from deep in their first-round series. That was one of the worst defensive marks among playoff teams, yet the Pacers still won in five games. How? By outgunning the Bucks, shooting 40.2% from three themselves.

Yes, relying heavily on the three-ball is risky, but in the playoffs, it can be the ultimate equalizer. The Cavs ranked just 16th in three-point defense this season (four spots below Indiana), and if they stay red-hot from deep like they did in Round 1, that could spell trouble for opponents.

Indiana will likely lose the rebounding battle, but they’ve shown they can mitigate that disadvantage. Don’t be surprised if the Pacers find a way to counter Cleveland’s firepower—this series could come down to who stays hotter from beyond the arc.