The higher seeds of the Eastern Conference Cleveland riders (64-18) will face the fourth seeded Indiana Pacers (50-32) in the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs. The two franchises have not gathered in the playoffs since the first round in 2018, when the Pacers pushed Prime LeBron James in a match 7.
What we know of Cleveland
After the release of the playoffs last season, there were concerns about the Cleveland list. The overlap between Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland in the rear area and Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen in the front area seemed too much to overcome. Something had to be done on redundancy.
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Except that nothing was. The riders rather hired Kenny Atkinson to replace JB Bickerstaff as head coach and told him to understand it. What he did. Atkinson has installed an offense more based on movement. He clicked. The 121 points by 100 Cleveland possessions this year marked the best net note of the NBA by a large margin.
We already knew what a defense supported by Mobley – Defensive player of the year of this year – And Allen was capable, and they held this promise, subjecting the eighth defense of the League. The final result was 64 regular season victories, the seeded n ° 1 and a net rating only at the Eastern conference at the Boston Celtics title champion. The leap from the pretender to the competitor was vast.
It is useful to have Mitchell and Garland, two wonderfully creative bullet statters, such as several attack points. Both can play on the balloon or out of the other. Mitchell, in particular, has sold control of the offense This season.
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No one benefited from the Egalitarian Basketball brand in Cleveland more than Mobley, which has increased its workload as a playmaker and a floor spacer this season. Allen does the dirty job by his side, and together they probably form the best protection duo of the league. It's pretty quartet. Everyone has made at least one All-Star team, and we are no longer concerned with the redundancies of the list.
The CAVS even made a trade in the fight against the list on the deadline, adding the Hawks of Atlanta Hawks. Hunter is the most versatile of a collection of wings which includes Max Strus, Isaac Okoro and Dean Wade, each of whom has their own fifth man. And the sixth man from Cleveland, Ty Jerome, was one of the best in the league this season, strengthening a stacked guard rotation (although defensive).
Together, they struck victories sequences of 15, 12 and 16 during the regular season and did a quick job of Miami during the first round of the playoffs, by ahead of the heat by a margin of 112 points in a clean scan.
What we know about Indiana
After a surprise visit to the final of the Eastern Conference in 2024, the Pacers made the activity of a season of 50 victories, guaranteeing a seed of playoffs for the first time since a campaign in 2020 during the pandemic.
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They have Tyrese Haliburton, a supreme playmaker, at the head of another powerful offense. It was not always pretty. He and the Pacers had their difficulties during the first months of the season, especially in defense, because they won a record of 16-18 in January. Since the start of the calendar, however, only CAVs and Celtics have had a better net note than Indiana (+5,3) in the Eastern Conference.
When the dust settled, Haliburton had collected an average of 18.6 points (on the 47/39/85 shooting), 9.2 assists and 3.5 rebounds in 33.6 minutes per match. It was his first full season with the star striker Pascal Siakam, who added a 20-7-3 on the 52/39/73 of the shooting in 32.7 minutes per night. Both are on the sidelines of all-nba consideration. By playing together, they gave a net note of +6.8 points by 100 possessions.
Add Myles Turner, their loyal bidirectional center, and this note improves at +8.6. From there, the pacers turn a handful of wings: Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Benédict Mathurin, Obi Toppin and Ben Sheppard. All are credible threats. None of them keeps at a defined level, although Nembhard and Nesmith – the other two starters of Indiana – are committed to this end.
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We cannot forget TJ McConnell, their mouths of ignition on the bench. He is energetic personified.
The Pacers are deep and good, and they were better in the last month of the season, when they finished 15-4. They carried this momentum in the first round of the playoffs, where they faced the Milwaukee Bucks without foundation, dismantling them in five games. This starting program – a relatively young and emerging group – dominated the 27 -point bucks in 84 minutes in the series.
Tête-à-tête
The Pacers won their regular season series with the riders, 3-1.
Discard the last two meetings – the two pacers victories – which occurred in the last week of the regular season, when the horsemen rested Mitchell, Mobley and Garland, among others. Indiana also rested Haliburton and Siakam during their regular season final. However, we should note that the bench of Cleveland – led by Jerome – pushed the Pacers entirely in good health in what ended up being a two -point match on April 10.
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We could be able to draw a little more from their previous meetings, when the two competitors of the central division met for a series at home on January 12 and 14. Indiana won the first match, 108-93, behind six two-digit players and a 32-7 victory, in the second period which overthrew a 15-point deficit in the 15-point victory. One of the Indiana players is not two-digit: Haliburton, who underwent a left-ended voltage in the first half.
Haliburton also missed their meeting two days later when Mitchell exploded for 35 points in a 127-117 victory. Remember: it was also before the hunter trade. In the end, Haliburton only played half of basketball against the riders this season, totaling two points, and the Pacers finished 3-1 against a team that has lost only 18 games all year round. If you want to call this an advantage for Indiana, knock out.
Match to watch
Tyrese Haliburton against Donovan Mitchell
The two guards will not be a defensive assignment of the other. They barely kept each other in the regular season. Although we can see them drive out the other's weak defense, which would be fun.
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Instead, it will be a contrast in styles. Haliburton is more a playmaker, Mitchell plus a scorer. Both are sensational, limiting the superstard. Mitchell is more seasoned. Haliburton is more inconsistent. Between his score and his game creation, Mitchell generated 36.7 points per game; Haliburton produced 40.7.
It will be interesting to see how each team defends the leader of the stars of the other.
Nembhard will probably attract Mitchell's assignment for the Pacers. Nesmith is another option, although he did not face Mitchell for a single second this season. Nembhard spent almost nine minutes on Mitchell through two games this season, holding the best brand of Cleveland at nine points (3-8 FG, 1-3 3p). But the riders as a team scored 136.3 points per 100 possessions during these minutes. Quite effective, but keep in mind: Nesmith was also not available in the regular season to counter Garland as a secondary creator.
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Meanwhile, it is anyone who is guessing who defends Haliburton for the riders. Neither Mitchell nor Garland can stay in front of him. The greatest bodies of Cleveland, Mobley and Allen, will not want to keep it in space either. This leaves a collection of Strus, Okoro and Hunter. Haliburton would like his hand to Strus. Okoro did a decent job by defending Haliburton last season, but he finds himself on the sidelines of the rotation of the playoffs this season. Could Atkinson prefer the length of Hunter in front of the soil of the Indiana floor? He will surely try it.
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Cleveland riders
To no one's surprise, Atkinson relied on his four stars – Mitchell, Garland, Mobley and Allen – in fourth quarter (at least those that the riders did not gain in eruptions). Fifth place could go to any hunter, Strus, Jerome, Okoro or Wade. The combination of size, skill and athletics of Hunter makes him most sensible in the group, although Acinson trusted Strus's experience in their only match close to the heat in the first round. None of the two alignments played a lick against Indiana in the regular season.
Indiana Pacers
In the clutch, head coach Rick Carlisle trusted Mathurin or Nesmith, as needed, with Haliburton, Siakam, Turner and Nembhard. The two units had a clear two -digit note (in the dark, of course) during the regular season, Depending on the glass cleaning. Against the bucks in the first round, Carlisle went with the defense of Nesmith, and what quintet won two victories, finishing a +4 over 12 minutes. They did not play a single possession together against Cleveland during the regular season.
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Prediction: Six riders
Pacers are a problem. They will give riders more crises than heat. That's sure. They can mark in clusters. Defense? It is their weakness. I have confidence in Mobley and Allen's ability to disturb Haliburton's penetration just enough to allow Cleveland's offensive to be the most explosive outfit.
Paris Ribs in series
(Via betmgm))
Cleveland Cavaliers (-500)
Indiana Pacers (+375)
Series schedule (all time is)
Game 1: Sunday @ Cleveland (TBD)
Game 2: Mar., May 6 @ cleveland (TBD)
Game 3: Ven., May 9 @ Indiana (TBD)
Game 4: Sun, May 11 @ Indiana (TBD)
* Game 5: Mar., May 13 @ Cleveland (TBD)
* Game 6: Thu., May 15 @ Indiana (TBD)
* Game 7: Sun, May 18 @ Cleveland (TBD)
* If necessary
