As the old saying goes, live by the three and die by the three. The Cleveland Cavaliers died by it during a 121-112 Game 1 loss to the Indiana Pacers.
The top-seeded wine and gold shot a pitiful 23.7% from deep on Sunday. What really killed the Cavaliers, though, was Indiana shooting a blistering 52.8% from beyond the arc. That included role players like Andrew Nembhard and Aaron Nesmith, knocking down nine three pointers combined.
It was a perfect storm for the Pacers to pull off an upset and take a 1-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Similar to Game 2 of Cleveland’s first round series with the Miami Heat, Donovan Mitchell tried his damnedest to will the Cavs to victory, taking over in the third quarter in particular, where he dropped 12 of his 33 points.
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A dazzling comeback effort brought Rocket Arena to life over the final 16 minutes or so of regulation. Mitchell’s heroics left him gassed in the final stanza, though, he and his Cavaliers teammates simply didn’t have enough to finish off what could have been a memorable playoff comeback win.
On a night where the shots weren’t falling, it certainly looked like the Cavaliers were missing All-Star point guard Darius Garland, who was ruled out for a third straight game with a sprained toe.
That left much of the scoring burden to Mitchell and Mobley, who combined for 53 points. Mitchell’s 33 points actually pushed him past the great Michael Jordan for most Game 1s with 30-plus points in NBA history.
Mobley provided a balanced effort in support of Mitchell, with 20 points and 10 boards. Off the bench, Ty Jerome added 21 on what was an inefficient night shooting overall. Jarrett Allen added 12, De’Andre Hunter 11. Still, not a single player made more than two threes, which ultimately told the story of the game.
There was a rare tenseness felt throughout Rocket Area throughout much of the first quarter. Cleveland looked out of sorts early on. There were bad passes that led to turnovers and an offense that thrives on ball movement and everyone getting involved saw too many possessions ending with iso ball.
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It didn’t help that the Pacers simply couldn’t miss, shooting 66.7% from the floor and from three in the opening stanza. Trying to keep pace the Cavs shot 12 threes of their own, but made only three of them.
It became pretty clear early on that the Pacers were going to sell out to limit the damage from three, while leaving the paint susceptible to cutters and slashers. Cleveland started taking advantage of that in the second quarter, scoring 22 points in the paint to head to the half with 38 in the painted area.
The taking what they were giving strategy helped reduce the Pacers lead to just six at the break, 64-58. That felt like a win in of itself. The glaring discrepancy continued to be the three-point shooting though, as the Pacers went to the break shooting 60 and 60 from the floor and three.
It was more of the same during most of the third quarter as Indiana built the lead to 12 with about 7 minutes to play in the period. Nothing seemed to be going right for the Cavs. Then Donovan Mitchell happened.
It was actually Mobley who gave Cleveland its first lead since early in the first quarter when they led 8-6, with a hook shot to make the score 85-84. Mitchell stole the show, though, scoring 12 points in the third to ensure his team was within striking distance heading into the fourth.
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The final period lived up to the billing of an epic NBA Playoff bout, with both teams exchanging blows throughout the first seven to eight minutes of play. After six lead changes, the Pacers finally settled back in, knocking down some critical shots in the final few minutes to pull away and steal Game 1.
For the first time this postseason, the Cavaliers were punched first. For the first time this postseason, the Cavaliers will play from behind. They’ll look to deliver a counterpunch in what is now a critical Game 2 on Tuesday.
Alabama football completed Step 1. The Crimson Tide beat Oklahoma 34-24 on Friday, earning its first College Football Playoff victory.
With the first round completed, UA has a tougher test ahead. No. 1 Indiana awaits in the Rose Bowl quarterfinal, on Jan. 1 in Pasadena. As Alabama celebrates its victory and begins to prepare, here’s what to know about the 13-0 Hoosiers.
The coach
To say that Curt Cignetti has done a good job at Indiana is perhaps college football’s largest understatement. Cignetti, who took over last season, has turned the Big Ten’s ultimate doormat into the nation’s top team.
Cignetti joined up from James Madison before the 2024 season. He immediately took a program that had grown stale under Tom Allen to the CFP, then turned around and did even better this year.
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“I just know that winning lifts all boats,” Cignetti said after the playoff field was announced. “In terms of fan support in the stadium, donations, all parts of the university, downtown when you pack the stadium, bring a lot of people to Bloomington, it helps their sales. A lot of pride in Hoosier Nation. The largest alumni base in America, over 800,000 people. I’d say right now the arrow is pointing up. We probably got a lot of momentum going in those kind of areas.”
Cignetti has a connection to Alabama as well. He worked as the Crimson Tide’s wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator under Nick Saban from 2007 through 2011, helping set the groundwork for Saban’s dynasty in Tuscaloosa.
In addition to Indiana in James Madison, he was a head coach at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Elon after leaving the Tide.
The quarterback
For the first time in program history, Indiana has a Heisman Trophy winner. Quarterback Fernando Mendoza beat out a group of finalists that included Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia, Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love and Ohio State’s Julian Sayin.
Mendoza has thrown for 2,980 yards this season, with 33 touchdowns and six interceptions. He has completed 226 of his 316 passes so far.
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“Our focus right now is winning the College Football Playoff,” Mendoza told reporters Monday in Bloomington. “That’s what would make this trophy so much sweeter. I believe this trophy is a little bit of a push of confidence on us, on the team, that we’re making history for the IU team in history to be 13-0 and also to bring home a Heisman Trophy to Bloomington.”
The junior, who hails from Florida, transferred into Indiana from Cal this year. He spent two seasons in Berkeley before joining the Hoosiers.
The season
Indiana was the losingest program in the Football Bowl Subdivision entering this season. Some predicted it would be a step back for the Hoosiers, who lost several key players from last season’s playoff team.
Instead, IU won its first Big Ten title since 1967. It enters the CFP undefeated.
“I think that if we hooked everybody up in this room on a lie detector test and told them, hey, do you think Fernando Mendoza is going to win the Heisman this year and we’re going to be 13-0, Big Ten champs, the team has a lot of self-belief and unwavering belief, but I think it’s tough to make those predictions,” Mendoza said Monday.
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To cap off the season, Indiana, which had faced criticism for its strength of schedule throughout the year, pulled off a huge upset in Indianapolis. The Hoosiers beat then No. 1 Ohio State, earning the top seed in the CFP and a spot in the Rose Bowl.
Months after being named the 2024 Indiana Thoroughbred Owner’s and Breeder’s Association’s Horse of the Year for 2024, multiple stakes winner Demolisher was euthanized after a bout with laminitis.
“We went from the highest highs as Indiana Horse of the Year to the lowest low ever when we had to say goodbye,” said Resia Ayres, who bred and raced Demolisher with husband Ken.
Unraced at 2, Demolisher proved worth the wait as he won the first five starts of his career in 2024, topped by stakes wins in the Governor’s Handicap and the To Much Coffee Handicap. All five of those wins came at Horseshoe Indianapolis. He closed out the season with an unplaced start in the Bryan Station Stakes (G3T) at Keeneland.
In March the son of Dominus was honored as ITOBA’s top Indiana-bred 3-year-old male and its Horse of the Year.
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“It’s about as high as we ever expected to have any of our horses,” Ken Ayres said at the time. “It’s hard to put words to it. Obviously, we’re super excited about it.”
For several years, the common refrain among some state lawmakers has been that they had no desire to tackle the issue until the federal government reclassified the drug. That argument will be removed if the president’s order receives federal regulatory approval as directed.
