COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — The Cleveland Cavaliers begin play in the NBA’s Eastern Conference semifinals Sunday against the Indiana Pacers.
The top-seeded Cavs breezed past Miami in a four-game, first-round sweep during which Cleveland handed the Heat their two most lopsided losses in their postseason history. Cleveland’s combined 122-point margin in the four games is an all-time NBA record.
Indiana needed five games to eliminate Milwaukee in what some were expecting would have been a more competitive series between the 4th and 5th seeds.
Cavs all-star Donovan Mitchell has a chance to break a record Sunday. He and NBA legend Michael Jordan are the only players to score at least 30 points in seven playoff series openers. He can make it eight against Indiana on Sunday.
The Pacers took three of four meetings with Cleveland during the regular season, including two wins in the final four days of the season when the Cavaliers were resting their starters with the top seed already secured.
All eyes will be on the backcourt matchups: Mitchell and his running mate, fellow all-star Darius Garland, will pair against Olympic gold medalist Tyrese Haliburton and Andrew Nembhard. Both teams are deep, both teams play well late and in close games and both teams can score.
If it comes down to defense, well, the Cavs have newly-minted Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley patroling the interior to give Cleveland the edge in the frontcourt.
Series Schedule
Game 1: May 4 Indiana at Cleveland, 6 p.m.Game 2: May 6 Indiana at Cleveland, 7 p.m.Game 3: May 9 Cleveland at Indiana, 7:30 p.m.Game 4: May 11 Cleveland at Indiana, 8 p.m.Game 5: May 13 Indiana at Cleveland, TBD (if necessary)Game 6: May 15 Cleveland at Indiana, TBD (if necessary)Game 7: May 18 Indiana at Cleveland, TBD (if necessary)
Sunday’s game tips off at 6 p.m. and will be shown on TNT.
Should the Cavaliers get past Indiana, it would be their first appearance in the conference finals since 2018 and first without LeBron James since 1992, when they lost to Jordan’s Bulls in six games.
