Obi Toppin & Pascal Siakam power the Pacers forward

I ate a creamsicle and played basketball today. If ever there were markers for future success…

By: Samson Folk I @samfolkk

There’s a lot of things that change schematically game to game in the playoffs, but there is something to be said for playing with more “force”. Platitudes rock sometimes, because sometimes they’re true, and they can perfectly encapsulate what changed.

The Pacers, flat out, opened the game by getting to every ball much quicker than they had been at any point in the series. No clutch shots, no insane shot variance, just much better basketball. Yes, it was nice that the Pacers hit their threes early and often, but they cleaned up the glass, forced turnovers, and moved with far more purpose and intention on offense, and the ball was zipping around the floor. Quick decisions. 

Note: I’m surprised they categorized Bennedict Mathurin’s forearm shiver as a flagrant 2. Although, Mathurin can’t put himself in those positions. There’s an acceptable level of shithousery, but that one really ended up being a massive negative for his team in what was the most important game of the season to date.

Maybe most meaningful of all, Tyrese Haliburton appeared to have thoroughly unriddled (is that a word?) the Cavs defensive approach to him. They also found Pascal Siakam early and often to jumpstart the offense and bend the Cavs defense - even facing the zone. Important!

While the close to the first quarter wasn’t a home run by any means, they still walked into the second frame with a commanding 15-point lead (38-23). Hard to complain.

Oh, back to Siakam, he opened the second quarter with eight straight points and an assist. Ty Jerome was less than aggressive closing out so Siakam launched over top for a triple. Then he pulled directly from the top for a second triple. Then he stepped straight to the 16-foot mark and buried a pull up middy. Then he perfectly placed a post entry pass to Toppin — an underrated skill of his, a holdover from the Nurse era Raptors — who dunked the ball. An absurdly good stretch of play from the Pacers star, who had been fairly quiet in the series since his opening run of play in Game 1. 

Massive change in usage, demeanor, everything. Siakam was sprinting with his palms up, calling for the ball every time down the court. Baptized in his own shot making, stepping forward as a new version of himself.

The even better news? In the midst of that torrid 10 point scoring stretch, the Cavs offered nothing in return. 25-point lead for the good guys (yes, back to the shock jock dichotomy). 

Note: Toppin is Julius Erving? Just saw the replay, maybe not all the way there, but that swooping layup was something else. He was a Power Forward, Powering the Pacers Forward. 

We got the T.J. McConnell stretch of play, as he knifed everywhere and anywhere he wanted on the court; we got a friendlier whistle for the Pacers as they defended Donovan Mitchell — who opened the game shooting 2-9 from the field — and we got an insane, no look, jump pass (there’s a t shirt for this, I believe) dime from Haliburton to Turner for an and-1. Nembhard and Turner, one of the best pick-and-roll partnerships of these playoffs, played a perfect game of cat and mouse with the re-screen to draw the switch and dump the entry pass to Turner for a bucket over the small. Turner went ballistic from downtown. 

Notice how I haven’t mentioned the Cavs in any capacity in some time? Well, they didn’t do anything, really. Everything, and I mean damn near everything was breaking the Pacers way. They torched the 3-2 zone, by the way, and they may or may not have done so by attacking it the way that Caitlin and I had laid out on the podcast. Nice. 

The Pacers more than doubled the Cavs in the first half. 80-39. Insanity. 

Mitchell came out to warm up for the second half and tweaked something in his ankle, and he did not return. Described as a “left ankle injury”. Something to monitor.

Siakam immediately takes on Jerome in isolation, from beyond the three-point line, slides to the bucket, gets fouled, and finishes over a rotating Allen. Holy moly, the water is still turned on to start the second half. 

Shaboozey is playing during the review for Garland’s offensive foul. I’m line dancing in my home. The Cavs broke off a 9-0 run. I barely blinked. It became a 13-2 run. Barely blinked. I’ve never been able to have that type of apathy towards a run. The lead was too damn big. 

Of note as well: Siakam had a couple marvelous plays against the Cavs zone. Showed terrific poise, control, and patience to beat it from the middle. When this series inevitably swings back toward competitive, that’s going to be really important. 

Even with the Cavs scoring against a much more lax version of the Pacers defense, the Pacers stuck to their offensive principles and worked through options to keep finding looks. They kept everything churning. Repeated stiff arms. 18 minutes of stiff arms. 

James Johnson checks in with seven minutes to go in the fourth. Ben Sheppard is driving to the cup and scoring. He is banking in below the break threes. We are wrapped, ladies and gentlemen. A proper thrashing.

We got the Toppin game. We got Hot Girl Basketball. This game was easy, and damn near perfect. However, closing out the Cavs won’t be. Onto Game 5, with much intrigue.