Thoughts on Pacers VS Cavs in Round 1

CoachD · Post #1 » by **CoachD** » Mon Apr 9, 2018 2:50 pm

I am curious how Pacer fans feel about the matchup with the Cleveland LeBrons if they stay in the 4 seed.

I know the Pacers are 3-1 against them this season, and LeBron is a different beast in the post season, but I feel like the Pacers create some serious match up issues for the Cavs.

They don't have anyone to contain Dipo, and the defensive backcourt pressure that you get from Dipo, CoryJo and Collison is going to undoubtedly slow down Cleveland's backcourt scoring.

All season, the Cavs have had issues with teams that have solid big man scoring both in low post scoring and bigs who can stretch.

Pacers_Freak · Post #2 » by **Pacers_Freak** » Mon Apr 9, 2018 3:32 pm

I know they have a lot of talent. But I am sincerely hoping for Philly to stumble and the Cavs get the 3 seed. The East is LeBrons until he is dethroned.

DoubleEagle4 · Post #3 » by **DoubleEagle4** » Mon Apr 9, 2018 4:02 pm

Pacers are getting punished for being the 5 seed. I would be happier being the 6 or 7 and playing Boston or Philly. Playing games 1&2 in CLE will be very very tough. It's one thing to beat them in the regular season, but they seem to be getting healthy now and it's always hard to beat Lebron in the playoffs (especially at home).

If this is the way it plays out, the Pacers better find a way to win one of the first 2 games and get back to Indy tied at 1-1. It can be done and I'm for sure not counting the Pacers out, just saying that this is not my dream match-up...

MUpacersSIC · Post #4 » by **MUpacersSIC** » Mon Apr 9, 2018 4:18 pm

I’m hopeful they can be competitive, but it’s more likely they win 1 or 2 games.

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granger05 · Post #5 » by **granger05** » Mon Apr 9, 2018 5:10 pm

This is the second year in a row when I felt like the Pacers made a nice push to end the season in a higher seed than they'd been in most of the year only to have Cleveland taper off and match LeBron up with us anyway. If the Pacers had managed the 3 seed where they got to play one of the MIA/WASH/MIL crowd in round 1 and potentially a banged up BOS or another of that group should they pull through...well, I'd be a lot more optimistic about the playoffs. It's good to measure your team against the best, but I don't expect that we'll measure up yet. That regular season record doesn't matter much in the playoffs for a veteran contender like the Cavs have been.

pizza guy · Post #6 » by **pizza guy** » Mon Apr 9, 2018 5:28 pm

The Cavs have been playing well lately, but they did just lose to Philly in a game they wanted to win, and LeBron dropped 44 points. They're not unbeatable. Not that it'll be easy, or that I was hoping for the Cavs. But, getting LeBron in the first round isn't the end of the world.

It's not just a measuring stick, it is THE measuring stick.
Maybe, just maybe, the rest of the team struggles to keep up with Playoff LeBron and it costs them a game or two in the first round. By the second round, they'd have those kinks worked out.
And, we're playing with house money anyways. We were never supposed to be here anyways, so why not play our hand and try to beat the house?

In terms of match-up, who else plays LeBron as tough as Thad Young? Bogey hasn't been bad either. How good are Clarkson and Nance going to be? Are either Hill or Hood going to be healthy? Or for that matter, Kevin Love? Having Booker to throw at Love is another bonus for us, if Myles or Damos are having trouble. The real question surrounds Vic. Does he have another gear? And do we have someone to step up if Vic is defended well and becomes less effective? Can Bogey step up? Myles? Sabonis? DC? Lance? That's what we don't know for sure, and that's what will determine the series.

Also, I think our bench is way better than theirs. But LeBron probably isn't going to check out of a game the entire post-season, so, how much will that actually matter?

Pacersike · Post #7 » by **Pacersike** » Mon Apr 9, 2018 5:56 pm

I can think of 6 teams I rather face than Lebron and his figurants again.

Lebron's total first round exits: zero

Compared with other teams, a loss against Lebron says the least possible about our team. Superstars like him are on a different level than Oladipo. I wanted to see Oladipo go toe to toe with Irving or Derozan or Wall or Giannis, to estimate where he ranks among them.

On the other hand, offering Lebron a first round exit, would give the Pacers the attention they deserve.

I'll try to be positive and believe in a victorious outcome.

(4th in the East might be the worst ranking of playoffs Lebron as well)

BooomBaby · Post #8 » by **BooomBaby** » Mon Apr 9, 2018 6:12 pm

Bring on Cleveland, we lose, we lose.

Still will not change the fact that this was a great and fun season.

I could not be more proud of these players, coach and GM.

Jermainevent · Post #9 » by **Jermainevent** » Mon Apr 9, 2018 10:49 pm

If the NBA gives the Pacers a fair shake at knocking them off, I'm all for it. If star calls are going to be made, hopefully, our star is the recipient of a few calls too.

basketballwacko2 · Post #10 » by **basketballwacko2** » Tue Apr 10, 2018 9:34 am

Pacersike wrote:I can think of 6 teams I rather face than Lebron and his figurants again.

Lebron's total first round exits: zero

Compared with other teams, a loss against Lebron says the least possible about our team. Superstars like him are on a different level than Oladipo. I wanted to see Oladipo go toe to toe with Irving or Derozan or Wall or Giannis, to estimate where he ranks among them.

On the other hand, offering Lebron a first round exit, would give the Pacers the attention they deserve.

I'll try to be positive and believe in a victorious outcome.
(4th in the East might be the worst ranking of playoffs Lebron as well)

Well it's about time he had a first round exit.

Pacers_Freak · Post #11 » by **Pacers_Freak** » Tue Apr 10, 2018 12:58 pm

I'll be rooting for the Bucks tomorrow night.

Pacers_Freak · Post #12 » by **Pacers_Freak** » Tue Apr 10, 2018 12:59 pm

Jermainevent wrote:If the NBA gives the Pacers a fair shake at knocking them off, I'm all for it. If star calls are going to be made, hopefully, our star is the recipient of a few calls too.

You and I both know star calls will be made. It is what it is.

Post #13 » by **Jake0890** » Tue Apr 10, 2018 2:16 pm

Bring 'em on.

We weren't even expected to be any more than a lottery team. Somehow, we swept the Warriors. Somehow, we have a better record than Paul George's new team. Somehow, we made the playoffs. Somehow, we are the 5th seed.

Somehow, we'll find a way against the Cavs too.

The Cavs are not that good this year. LeBron is great, Kevin Love is one of the most underrated players in the league. But the rest of the roster is incredibly weak. They have little depth and their interior defense might be one of the worst in the entire league.

Of course, I would not have picked to play LeBron in the first round. I would have much rather played the Sixers. But this is not all gloom and doom as some people above would lead you to believe.

If there's anything I learned from watching this team this year, it's that we can never count them out. We can win.

pizza guy · Post #14 » by **pizza guy** » Tue Apr 10, 2018 3:39 pm

Jake0890 wrote:Bring 'em on.

We weren't even expected to be any more than a lottery team. Somehow, we swept the Warriors. Somehow, we have a better record than Paul George's new team. Somehow, we made the playoffs. Somehow, we are the 5th seed.

Somehow, we'll find a way against the Cavs too.

The Cavs are not that good this year. LeBron is great, Kevin Love is one of the most underrated players in the league. But the rest of the roster is incredibly weak. They have little depth and their interior defense might be one of the worst in the entire league.

Of course, I would not have picked to play LeBron in the first round. I would have much rather played the Sixers. But this is not all gloom and doom as some people above would lead you to believe.

If there's anything I learned from watching this team this year, it's that we can never count them out. We can win.

This is the big thing for me. This team has surprised me at nearly every turn. From total wins, to Oladipo being an All Star, the wins in games decided by 3 or less, and the massive comeback wins we've seen. So, I'm with you. I feel like this team can never be counted out.

Now, the playoffs are a different monster. LeBron will find a weakness and attack it. If we're really lacking talent, it'll show in the playoffs. It's much harder to win 4 games against the same team on gumption and chemistry in the playoffs. I'm hoping that Nate's been holding back some secret weapons, or that Vic has that mysterious extra gear that some guys have. We're going to need good Lance to bring his A game and energy, and we'll need aggressive Myles to bring his big boy pants every night.

This team has shown the ability to beat anyone when they play well. Bogey has to be in a groove, and Vic has to keep attacking, and the defense has to be strong. Ultimately, the East is a mess. I don't buy the Sixers still - their win streak has been against almost entirely weak competition. The Cavs are unknown. The Celtics are injured. The Bucks are disappointing. The Wizards feel like they just want this season to end. And the Heat are scrappy but most untalented. The Raptors look like the only team that's been consistent, and even that has dipped lately. They have a lot to prove in the post-season, and a coach I believe will get fired if they flame out too soon - even if he wins COY.

So why not us? Why not the team that was never supposed to get this far? Why stop now?

Laure · Post #15 » by **Laure** » Thu Apr 12, 2018 12:35 pm

To be honest, Pacers already their expectations. This is just gravy.

And it's better to lose against Lebron than let's say, Celtics. A long series here, regardless of the outcome, will do wonders for the young core. No pressure for the team at all.

CircleCitysportsfan · Post #16 » by **CircleCitysportsfan** » Thu Apr 12, 2018 1:58 pm

I'm expecting at least two wins. If we get one in Cleveland, it's going 7.

winter_mute_13 · Post #17 » by **winter_mute_13** » Thu Apr 12, 2018 7:59 pm

TBH I don't have a good feeling about going up against LeBron again. But OTOH I predicted 35 wins this season. So obviously I'm totally wrong and the Pacers are going to sweep the Cavs this time around

It's just a shame. But Boston and Philly look vulnerable, thanks to injuries and inexperience. But we had to draw LeBron. Oh well. Got to play the hand you're dealt.

JermaineOYea · Post #18 » by **JermaineOYea** » Thu Apr 12, 2018 10:11 pm

The one thing I know about this Pacers team is that they don't care bout no stinkin LeBron.

They won't be intimidated.

Yunsen · Post #19 » by **Yunsen** » Thu Apr 12, 2018 11:54 pm

This honestly isn’t that bad of a matchup. Yeah Lebron will go nuts but he will against anyone in the playoffs. Cleveland has no one (besides maybe Lebron) that can guard Oladipo and they don’t have the length to give Sabonis a lot of trouble. The key I think will be how Turner does. If Turner performs well, we’ll have a really good chance to win this series. If he doesn’t, I think we lose in 5 or 6.

I don’t think we’ll win the series but putting odds on it I’d give us a 30% chance to pull the upset.

Pacers_Freak · Post #20 » by **Pacers_Freak** » Fri Apr 13, 2018 2:32 pm

Yunsen wrote:This honestly isn’t that bad of a matchup. Yeah Lebron will go nuts but he will against anyone in the playoffs. Cleveland has no one (besides maybe Lebron) that can guard Oladipo and they don’t have the length to give Sabonis a lot of trouble. The key I think will be how Turner does. If Turner performs well, we’ll have a really good chance to win this series. If he doesn’t, I think we lose in 5 or 6.

I don’t think we’ll win the series but putting odds on it I’d give us a 30% chance to pull the upset.

Honestly not that bad of a matchup?? I would literally rather play any other team in the East than Cle. I mean I get what you're saying about the actual matchup.... but Bron is the eraser.