The Cleveland Cavaliers completed their four-game sweep of the Indiana Pacers, winning a tight game this afternoon, 106-102and Twitter was full of reactions.
Falling to the No. 2 seed, losing 4 of 6 heading into the playoffs, and miserable defense in the last month headlined the Cavaliers entry into the postseason. But eight days later, the Cavs win four in a row and will likely wait a week for either the Milwaukee Bucks or Toronto Raptors.
Although none of the wins were in dominant fashion, the Cavs showed toughness at home, holding on, despite late Pacers’ runs. In Game 3, Cleveland showed resiliency, coming down from 25 at halftime, on the shoulders of LeBron’s herculean effort.
In Game 4, it was a full-team effort, as the Cavaliers sent Paul George and the Pacers packing for the offseason. This series has been all about LeBron James and the switch he flips when he goes into postseason mode.
King James averaged 32.8 points, 9.8 rebounds and 9.0 assists per game on 54% shooting. Kyrie Irving was sensational as well, putting up 25.3 points per game. On the other hand, Indiana didn’t have the firepower to be able to stay with the Cavs. Although all the games were close, it never felt like the Pacers would threaten to win multiple games or the series.
Paul George was carrying the Pacers, despite his post-game comments, averaging 32.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 7.7 assists per game. He got some help from Lance Stephenson, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the defending champions.
Let’s take a look at some reactions from around the league, regarding the Cavaliers’ sweep. ESPN’s Jay Crawford — who’s also a Cleveland native — had this to say:
Singer Rihanna, who’s supposedly a LeBron James fan, had to chime in on their sweep:
https://twitter.com/rihanna/status/856231362700947456
Indy Star’s Stephen Holder might have summed up the series in one tweet:
Fox Sports Ohio’s Sam Amico went on to sum up the Cavaliers’ season and playoffs’ run here:
Then there’s Skip Bayless, who gives a compliment, but then takes it right back:
Jeff Teague really needs to get out of the Eastern Conference, he just can’t seem to catch a break:
Colin Cowherd continues to push his case for LeBron as MVP, with the LeBron Song:
Lakers’ fans might have been the happiest about the Cavaliers’ sweep:
Many people took this angle and ran with it on Twitter:
The craziest thing is that George isn’t even a free agent until the summer of 2018.
Lance Stephenson might have been the second-best player for the Pacers, but this tweet sums up his relationship with LeBron:
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The Pacers are packing for the offseason and Cleveland will await the winner of the Bucks/Raptors’ series.