The Indiana Pacers beat the short-handed Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 4 of their series with a 20-point difference. The final score was 129-109 in the Pacers’ favor after they led by as many as 41 points at the half. Despite a dominant win at home, Charles Barkley feels the Pacers’ real test would be to close this series out on the road in Cleveland.
Similar to when Barkley said that Game 3 of the Celtics-Knicks series is a must-win for Boston, Barkley resonated with the sentiment that every game can be momentum-shifting in a series against the top two teams in the Eastern Conference. Barkley feels that the Pacers will have to win Game 5 in order to ensure that the Cavaliers don’t regain momentum, win Game 6 in Indiana and force a Game 7 at home in Cleveland. Barkley feels the Cavaliers have an advantage if the Pacers don’t win Game 5 and allow this series to go to seven games.
“The Cavs got to have a one-game mentality. Let me tell you something, if they can win that game, their next game, Game 6, Indiana gonna be feeling the heat. Because they’re gonna be like if we don’t get this thing done, they’re not gonna go get Game 7 back in Cleveland,” said Barkley on the “Inside the NBA” show.
Barkley believes that despite a commanding two-game lead in the series, the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds of the Eastern Conference can fuel themselves off the momentum in a single game to pull off a comeback from that position. Therefore, every single game, their opponents (the Pacers and the Knicks, respectively) need to bring their A-game to avoid putting themselves in a troubled position.
Do The Cavaliers Have The Firepower To Force A Game 7?
Among the long list of injuries that have plagued the Cavaliers in the offseason, Donovan Mitchell’s latest addition becomes the most concerning one. With Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and De’Andre Hunter missing a big chunk of the series, their return in the last game was a short-lived relief for the Cavaliers as they lost Mitchell to injury at halftime when the team was down 41 points (39-80 at the half).
With Kenny Atkinson saying Mitchell is scheduled for an MRI, his availability casts a shadow over the Cavaliers’ ability to pull off this comeback. The Pacers seem to have their luck in their favor against the Cavaliers this season. Despite the Cavaliers being a No. 1 seed in the East, the Pacers had a 3-1 series record against them in the regular season. Moreover, only 13 times in all of NBA history has a team come back from a 3-1 deficit in the Playoffs. The Cavaliers themselves most notably did it with LeBron James in the 2016 season.
Therefore, it seems very unlikely that (even if Mitchell is back on the roster) the Pacers throw away this lead from this point.
