INDIANAPOLIS – A thrilling, unlikely overtime win propelled the Indiana Pacers into the next round of the NBA playoffs, where they’ll take on the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Cavs finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference (64-18) to earn the top seed. The Pacers (50-32) earned the fourth seed in the East.
Game 1 of the series is scheduled for Sunday, May 4, at Cleveland’s Rocket Arena. While it will air on TNT, the NBA has not yet announced the tip time. The league hasn’t set the schedule for Games 2 through 7, either—not even the dates.
Regular-season series
During the regular season, the Pacers won three out of four against the Cavaliers, but the four-game series was anything but typical.
Their first two meetings came as part of a home-and-home series on Jan. 12 and Jan. 14. Each team notched a road win.
You pretty much have to throw out the results of the final two Indiana-Cleveland games.
Indiana’s win on April 10 clinched the fourth seed, but Cleveland rested four of its five starters, as the team had already secured its playoff position.
Their last meeting on April 13 saw both teams’ reserves battle it out. The game looked like a laugher, with the Pacers trailing by 23 points in the fourth quarter, before the Blue and Gold launched a furious comeback to win 126-118 in double overtime.
Playoff history
The Pacers and Cavs have met three times in the playoffs.
In 1998, the Reggie Miller-led Pacers beat Cleveland 3-1 in a first-round series. Indiana made it to the Eastern Conference Finals that year but lost to the Chicago Bulls in seven games.
The Pacers dropped a pair of first-round series to the Cavaliers in 2017 and 2018. The LeBron James-led Cavs swept Indiana in 2017, although the Pacers pushed the Cavs to seven games in 2018. In both seasons, Cleveland advanced to the NBA Finals but lost.
Myles Turner is the only holdover from those back-to-back first-round series.
During this year’s playoffs, the Cavaliers were the only Eastern Conference team to sweep their opponent in the first round. They tore through the eighth-seeded Miami Heat, with the closest margin of victory being nine points in Game 2.
The Cavs blasted Miami by 55 points in Game 4, 138 to 83, to close things out.
Balanced scoring
During the regular season, guard Donovan Mitchell led the Cavaliers in scoring with 24 points per game. Point guard Darius Garland averaged 20.6 points per game, while forward Evan Mobley averaged 18.5 points per contest.
The Cavs have a multi-dimensional scoring attack, with seven players averaging double digits. That’s matched by the Pacers, who also have seven players averaging at least ten points per game.
During the regular season, Pascal Siakam led the Pacers in scoring with 20.2 points per game. Tyrese Haliburton was second with 18.6 points per game (he also averaged 9.2 assists), while Bennedict Mathurin was the Pacers’ third top scorer with 16.1 points per contest.