The performance on the court was plenty good enough, an 18-point victory in Cleveland that did indeed have a "shock the world" ring to it.
It was the Pacers' performance after the game, however, that should give their fans optimism for the rest of this first-round series, if not for series beyond it. To a man, they didn't celebrate. Didn't gloat. Didn't offer a single I-told-you-so to all the national media members who gave them no hope of eliminating the convoluted Cavaliers.
Hey, they could have been forgiven a whoop or two. They dominated the first quarter, never lost their poise after the Cavs got their lead down to single digits a few times and never trailed.