Indiana played Cleveland tough this season. They’re 3-1 against various versions of the Cavaliers whereas the rest of the teams currently in playoff position in the East are a combined 6-13.
Not only did the Pacers outscore them by 16 points across the regular season series, they knocked down 16 threes — in what was they’re best three-point shooting performance of the season — to hand the Cavs their fourth-straight loss one day after they had held a clear-the-air team meeting. They snapped Cleveland’s 13-game win streak when Victor Oladipo sent Kevin Love flying and proceeded to drain a big, late-game three, and they rallied from a deficit of 22 points to win by two as Lance Stephenson jammed on his air guitar, frustrated LeBron James into committing an untimely technical, and finished with 16 points to go with 11 rebounds.