Indiana Pacers vs Cleveland Cavaliers

It’s win or go home for the Cleveland Cavaliers as they welcome the Indiana Pacers to Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse for Game Five of their Eastern Conference semi final show-down on Wednesday.

The home team have a mountain to climb to turn round a 3-1 series situation for only the 14th time in the history of the NBA if they are to maintain championships hopes.

Having put them back into contention with a win in Game Three, the Cavaliers were arguably their worst of the season, losing comprehensively 129-109 to the Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Monday.

Kenny Atkinson’s men were made to pay for another shoddy start as they trailed at half by a whopping 41 points – the joint biggest half-time margin in play-off history – and their second-half comeback was irrelevant.

What’s worse, while leading by 10 at the half, Donovan Mitchell’s talisman status was lost when he left the game with an injury. This just makes what is already a herculean effort for this number one seed in the East.

Just as at regular season (121.9) the Cavaliers averaged most points in the playoffs (121.3) came equally low (109) last time out – their lowest score within last 23 games since mid-March.

Back in their home court where they have been shelled the last two times out, Wednesday’s hosts will have to step up and win at home to make it a Game Six and have another day alive.

The Pacers rocked around the East last year when they advanced to the conference finals, and the Indiana outfit are just a triumphant step away form reproducing their accomplishment due to a decisive win this morning.

Rick Carlisle’s Pacers secured their third wire-to-wire playoff win—and their first of this series—behind standout performances from Pascal Siakam, Myles Turner, and Obi Toppin.

Indiana’s dominance was so overwhelming that most of the starters rested the entire fourth quarter, thanks to a commanding 44-point lead early in the third.

While Coach Carlisle surely celebrated the team’s explosive showing, he’s already pushing them to maintain momentum as they head to Ohio for Wednesday’s game, where they’ll look to close out the series.

The Pacers’ offense has been nearly unstoppable this postseason, fueled by elite ball movement—they set a playoff record with 25 assists by halftime in their last game. If they keep up this level of execution, they’ll be a tough team to slow down.