Pacers demolish the Cavaliers to force Game 7: 3 takeaways

The Pacers are not done yet, dismantling the Cavaliers in Game 6 to force a penultimate Game 7 back in Cleveland.

After a demoralizing Game 5 loss, on a questionable block and then a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by LeBron James, it wouldn’t have been a surprise to see the Pacers’ enthusiasm sapped in Game 6. But instead of meekly accepting elimination, Indiana won every quarter of Game 6, including a 15-point margin in the third quarter to a potential elimination game into a blowout.

Indiana won by 34 and led by so much that LeBron sat for the entire fourth quarter. Indiana was +11 on the glass, had eight fewer turnovers, made half of their 30 3-point attempts and got huge performances from Victor Oladipo and their supporting cast. It was a strong statement that they’re not done yet and have every intention of pushing LeBron and Cleveland as far as they’ll go in Game 7.

Takeaways

The Pacers finally made LeBron look human. It was LeBron’s superhuman efforts in Game 5 that pushed the Pacers backs to the wall, but in Game 6 they were able to make him appear mortal. LeBron finished with 22 points, seven assists and five rebounds, and Indiana outscored Cleveland by 24 points in the 31 minutes LeBron was on the court. The Pacers were able to put the onus on Cleveland’s supporting cast and, once again, they weren’t up to the challenge of making outside shots. Every Cavalier besides LeBron finished 9-of-32 on 3-pointers.

Victor Oladipo was back, baby. Oladipo had struggled mightily over the past three games of the series, missing many of the quick jumpers that had buoyed his effectiveness all season long. Oladipo finished with a triple-double — 28 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists. The most important factor for the Pacers was his 6-of-8 shooting from the 3-point line. Three of his six makes were pull-ups, including two huge ones in transition. When he’s making that shot, the Pacers offense is at another level.

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A hand for Domantas Sabonis. The play of Sabonis has been enormous for Indiana over the past three games. He scored 19 points on 9-of-11 shooting in this game, and added six huge rebounds. He’s not the shooter and floor-spacer that Myles Turner is, but he’s a great passer, keeps the ball moving in the halfcourt and is so adept at finding space around the basket. He played just 23 minutes in Game 6, but the Pacers outscored the Cavaliers by 28 over that stretch. If he can be that effective in Game 7, it will be a huge boost for Indiana.