NBA Matchups: May 9

CLE @ IND | OKC @ DEN

Cleveland Cavaliers at Indiana Pacers

Team Totals: Cavs 114.8, Pacers 111.3

Injury Report: Darius Garland (Q, toe), De’Andre Hunter (Q, thumb), Evan Mobley (Q, ankle)

Pacers projected starters: Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam, Myles Turner

Cavs projected starters: Ty Jerome, Donovan Mitchell, Max Strus, Dean Wade, Jarrett Allen (Note: Not expecting Darius Garland or Evan Mobley to play)

Carlisle quotes: Said they just hung in there during the fourth quarter because they believe in each other, said they’re fortunate that Haliburton can hit two big shots within one week, said Mathurin and Jarace Walker have never been in an environment like this, said they got in some odd subs because of the size from the Cavs and because of who was playing well (Mathurin), said the Cavs were really physical with Haliburton, said the Cavs were making it hard for them to catch the ball, said there is still a lot up in the air on the injury front, said he told Walker to be ready for anything, said they will have an off day on Wednesday, said they were able to wear down the Cavs because they are deeper than them right now (because of the injuries).

Atkinson quotes: Said “we ran outta gas” in the fourth, said they have to get guys back and they just have to focus on winning Game 3, said he asked the refs to review if Haliburton was in early to get the rebound off his FT miss (before the big 3-pointer), said he’ll have to look at shortening the rotation, said they had four options on the inbounds play and they couldn’t get anyone open because of how Indy was grabbing guys, said they outplayed the Pacers and their fatigue late led to some poor decision-making, said it just wasn’t going Ty Jerome’s way despite how he was able to get downhill, said Mitchell asked to sub out late because he was cramping, said maybe he regrets not playing his bench guys more minutes because his guys were so tired late, said they need 1-2 guys back to just lighten up the minutes.

Stats and Notes:

*The macro stats were so pro-Cavs for 95% of the game before they just handed the Pacers the win. The only important takeaway from the meltdown was if the Cavs were too tired to lead to all of those mistakes. Late mistakes aside, the Cavs had nothing in the open court with the Pacers beating them in fast-break points 12-2, but the Pacers were able to get some transition chances at 19.0% of their possessions (18.2% in Game 1). The Cavs had nothing there with just 9.0% of their possessions in Game 2 from the 15.3% in Game 1. Clearly, they just didn’t have the legs because of being so short-handed. The Pacers also continue to crush in the halfcourt, but for the first time all postseason they were able to play in the open court more often. For the Cavs on offense, it was just the Donovan Mitchell Show, and they couldn’t generate enough putbacks overall. Indiana also won the wide-open looks battle yet again with 17 attempts to Cleveland’s 13. Even though the Cavs should’ve won Game 2, the Pacers did a lot to put themselves in position to win the game from a style standpoint.

Injury stuff: Yeah, this is not good for the Cavs. Evan Mobley was limping around while on the bench and cheering on his team, and beat writer Chris Fedor mentioned that Mobley was hobbling around the locker room after the game. It sounded like he had no chance to play in Game 2, and maybe he’s not even ready here, either. Darius Garland did get through some work in shootaround on Monday as he hit the treadmill. Like Mobley, it sounded like he had no chance to play on Tuesday. De’Andre Hunter also didn’t get through warm-ups, but it was somewhat interesting that he didn’t have his thumb wrapped while he was on the bench. On Thursday, Kenny Atkinson said that Hunter, Garland, and Mobley were able to get some reps in for practice, but it was just a shootaround-style practice. Atkinson mentioned that those guys didn’t do anything live. Not great.