Cleveland Cavaliers vs Indiana Pacers Preview

Cavaliers Keys to Winning

• Cleveland failed to feed Kevin Love early last game, so I’m going to go with this again. You’ve got to feed your best players the ball consistently.
• The Cavs can’t allow second chance points. The Magic had too many chances with the ball, caused by a number of offensive rebounds. Cleveland played solid defense, but you’ve got to finish the possession.
• Younger guys have to be more disciplined. Kevin Porter Jr. showed that he has great ball handling skills, but he’s got to pay more attention to his form so he can knock down the open shots he creates. Darius Garland has to be a little more aggressive because we all know he can score when he has the ball. And Collin Sexton has just got to be a little bit smarter with his shot selection.
• For the whole team, passing has got to be better. They’ve got to be smarter on the fast break and move the ball up the court. Some guys were nervous to throw the ball into Kevin Love when he had post positions. They’ve got to be more confident all-around, but they’ve got time to build that chemistry and confidence.

Best Case Scenario

• Cleveland feeds Kevin Love early, and he has a 15 point first quarter and ends with 32 points and 11 boards.
• Garland shines in his second NBA game scoring 21 points efficiently.
• The team as a whole rebounds well and plays fast in transition.
• Passes are more fluid and it opens up a whole new dimension of the game.
• Cavs win in a very close game

Worst Case Scenario

• The Cavs start slow and play the same as they did in the previous game. They started fast out of the gate in the opener, but can’t start from behind early in this game.
• Defense is lazier and the energy is down.
• Cavaliers are out-rebounded by the Pacers big men by a substantial margin.
• The offense gets lazy and has bad shot selection if the game gets out of hand.
• The Cavs lose by 20 or more.

Realistic Prediction

• The Cavs listen to my advice and get Love some more touches.
• Everyone has great effort on the boards by boxing out every play.
• Cleveland tries to keep a steady dose of fast break offense.
• Kevin Love leads the game in scoring, but many others contribute.
• I think Cleveland plays better, but the Pacers are going to be a tough team to beat. My prediction is 111-104, Pacers win in a close one.

Pacers @ Cavaliers will air on FS-OH at 8:00 PM EST.

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