A year ago, the Pacers were called “lucky.” They advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals by beating a Milwaukee team without Giannis Antetokounmpo and then a banged-up New York team (before falling to Boston).
Doing it two years in a row isn’t lucky — the Pacers are for real.
Cleveland came out in Game 5 Tuesday night playing with a sense of desperation and effort not seen from them often in this series — their backs were against the wall down 3-1, and the Cavaliers played like it, racing out to a 19-point second quarter lead.
However, sustaining that proved too much, especially with Darius Garland trying to play through turf toe and Donovan Mitchell battling injuries as well.