2025 Playoffs ECSF: Cavs (1) / Pacers (4) (1-4)

[jbk1234]

147 assists for the Pacers this series, 103 for the Cavs. In the final game, the Pacers out-assisted us 26 to 10. The offense simply stopped being fluid like it was in the regular season. Guys who were having bad shooting nights kept shooting, and specifically kept calling their own number trying to go 1-on-1. There's a time for that, but it was always our only plan.

I think it was our only plan because our rotation shrank and the team didn't have the legs to keep running actions.

Every rotation player on the Pacers shot over 40% from three except Toppin. Every rotation player on our team shot under 35% from three except Mobley. (And Okoro, I guess. Okoro went 2/5, his two makes happened in garbage time in game 4.)

Mobley and Allen were super-efficient and didn't get the ball enough, both over 68% true shooting. Allen had a bunch of turnovers that probably hurt the confidence the guards had in him.

Myles Turner was the best defensive big on the floor.

The Cavs really needed to win game 2, in hindsight, to make this a series.

I wonder what was up with Merrill and if Strus's "don't show up" text was directed at him. May not have been at all, or maybe Merrill knows he's looking for a new home in the offseason.

On the assist front, most of delta is from game 1 and the first half of Game 4. It's easy for the Pacers to rack up assists when they're shooting north of 50% and 67% from 3 on high volume. Conversely, a lot of assist opportunities from 3 clanked off the rim for the Cavs.

[toooskies]

147 assists for the Pacers this series, 103 for the Cavs. In the final game, the Pacers out-assisted us 26 to 10. The offense simply stopped being fluid like it was in the regular season. Guys who were having bad shooting nights kept shooting, and specifically kept calling their own number trying to go 1-on-1. There's a time for that, but it was always our only plan.

I think it was our only plan because our rotation shrank and the team didn't have the legs to keep running actions.

Every rotation player on the Pacers shot over 40% from three except Toppin. Every rotation player on our team shot under 35% from three except Mobley. (And Okoro, I guess. Okoro went 2/5, his two makes happened in garbage time in game 4.)

Mobley and Allen were super-efficient and didn't get the ball enough, both over 68% true shooting. Allen had a bunch of turnovers that probably hurt the confidence the guards had in him.

Myles Turner was the best defensive big on the floor.

The Cavs really needed to win game 2, in hindsight, to make this a series.

I wonder what was up with Merrill and if Strus's "don't show up" text was directed at him. May not have been at all, or maybe Merrill knows he's looking for a new home in the offseason.

On the assist front, most of delta is from game 1 and the first half of Game 4. It's easy for the Pacers to rack up assists when they're shooting north of 50% and 67% from 3 on high volume. Conversely, a lot of assist opportunities from 3 clanked off the rim for the Cavs.

The Cavs had 33 potential assists to the Pacers' 43. In terms of just basic movement, the Cavs made 215 total passes to the Pacers' 328. (Pacers were at about their season average, we averaged 267.5.) The ball wasn't moving.

https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/passing?LastNGames=1


While I was there I looked at Garland, Strus, and Mitchell's missed 3s. All of Strus's were short except one which they cut the video off too early to tell. Garland had two in-and-out shots and missed another two short. Mitchell was all over the place until he got hot late.

[JonFromVA]

147 assists for the Pacers this series, 103 for the Cavs. In the final game, the Pacers out-assisted us 26 to 10. The offense simply stopped being fluid like it was in the regular season. Guys who were having bad shooting nights kept shooting, and specifically kept calling their own number trying to go 1-on-1. There's a time for that, but it was always our only plan.

I think it was our only plan because our rotation shrank and the team didn't have the legs to keep running actions.

Every rotation player on the Pacers shot over 40% from three except Toppin. Every rotation player on our team shot under 35% from three except Mobley. (And Okoro, I guess. Okoro went 2/5, his two makes happened in garbage time in game 4.)

Mobley and Allen were super-efficient and didn't get the ball enough, both over 68% true shooting. Allen had a bunch of turnovers that probably hurt the confidence the guards had in him.

Myles Turner was the best defensive big on the floor.

The Cavs really needed to win game 2, in hindsight, to make this a series.

I wonder what was up with Merrill and if Strus's "don't show up" text was directed at him. May not have been at all, or maybe Merrill knows he's looking for a new home in the offseason.

On the assist front, most of delta is from game 1 and the first half of Game 4. It's easy for the Pacers to rack up assists when they're shooting north of 50% and 67% from 3 on high volume. Conversely, a lot of assist opportunities from 3 clanked off the rim for the Cavs.

The Cavs had 33 potential assists to the Pacers' 43. In terms of just basic movement, the Cavs made 215 total passes to the Pacers' 328. (Pacers were at about their season average, we averaged 267.5.) The ball wasn't moving.

https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/passing?LastNGames=1


While I was there I looked at Garland, Strus, and Mitchell's missed 3s. All of Strus's were short except one which they cut the video off too early to tell. Garland had two in-and-out shots and missed another two short. Mitchell was all over the place until he got hot late.

fwiw, we're not especially pass happy for a motion offense style team (which helps keep our turnovers low). I suppose one of the frustrating things is how we seemed to stop trying. Maybe it's the view of a player .vs. the view of a fan, but I would have liked to see them try some stuff and fail before giving up on running plays.