{"id":6146,"date":"2017-04-23T20:20:04","date_gmt":"2017-04-24T00:20:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/?p=6146"},"modified":"2017-04-23T20:20:04","modified_gmt":"2017-04-24T00:20:04","slug":"cleveland-cavaliers-sweep-indiana-pacers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2017\/04\/23\/cleveland-cavaliers-sweep-indiana-pacers\/","title":{"rendered":"Cleveland Cavaliers Sweep Indiana Pacers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Well, that did not last very long. The Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the\u00a0Indiana Pacers 106-102 on Sunday to complete a series sweep. The 2017 NBA playoff bracket suffered its first casualty. Indiana fought valiantly but ultimately died quickly. Cleveland sweeps the Pacers in four games and now moves on to the Eastern Conference semi-finals.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Cleveland Cavaliers Sweep Indiana Pacers<\/strong><\/h2>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cavs?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@cavs<\/a> (4-0) advance to the Eastern Conference Semifinals! <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NBAPlayoffs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#NBAPlayoffs<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/DefendTheLand?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#DefendTheLand<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ibn3hpamUm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/ibn3hpamUm<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBA\/status\/856230022604091398?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 23, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3><strong>The final series score can be deceiving\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The term sweep is used because in a 4-0 series, one team usually utterly dominates the other. This series <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/2017\/04\/14\/cleveland-cavaliers-vs-indiana-pacers-preview\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">was different<\/a>. The Pacers battled the Cavaliers in each contest, making comebacks each game \u2013 or in the case of Game Three, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/2017\/04\/21\/cleveland-cavaliers-on-the-verge-of-advancing\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">jumping out to a large lead<\/a>. Game Four was in the mold of games one and three, with the Cavaliers taking the lead late and holding it. The total margin of victory for the Cavaliers in the series was 16 points, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ESPNStatsInfo\/status\/856234036192321538?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&amp;ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indystar.com%2Fstory%2Fsports%2Fnba%2Fpacers%2F2017%2F04%2F23%2Flive-blog-pacers-vs-cavaliers-game-4%2F100814892%2F\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">which is tied for the lowest in history in a four-game sweep<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cavs?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@cavs<\/a> advance to the Eastern Conference Semis! <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/DefendtheLand?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#DefendtheLand<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>GAME FOUR FINAL &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cavs?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@cavs<\/a>: 106 <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Pacers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@Pacers<\/a>: 102<\/p>\n<p>LeBron &#8211; 33p\/10r<br \/>Kyrie &#8211; 28p <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/JOlreRdHOx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/JOlreRdHOx<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBA\/status\/856231544050110467?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 23, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Game\u00a0Four Recap<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Led by <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jamesle01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LeBron James<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/i\/irvinky01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kyrie Irving<\/a><\/strong>,<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>the Cavaliers held off a hard-charging Pacer team not quite ready to clean out their lockers. James once again showed why his nickname is King James, coming up with big plays to scuttle any resistance from the opposition. Irving has solidified his reputation as a &#8220;bucket-getter&#8221; in big games. James led all scorers with 33 points and 10 rebounds, and Irving had 28 points. Veteran and former All-Star point guard <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/willide01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Deron Williams<\/a><\/strong> came off the bench and scored 14 points on almost perfect shooting.<\/p>\n<p>James, in what is quickly becoming his\u00a0trademark in series-closing games, had yet another chase down block.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Another chase down block for LeBron. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/yK1H8kou5l\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/yK1H8kou5l<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; The Crossover (@TheCrossover) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheCrossover\/status\/856217114079895552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 23, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The Pacers were led by <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/stephla01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lance Stephenson<\/a><\/strong>, who scored a team-high 22 points.\u00a0<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/turnemy01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Myles Turner<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0also contributed in the loss, scoring 20 points and securing nine rebounds. Point guard <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/teaguje01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jeff Teague<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>scored 15 points and dished 10 assists. Team leader\u00a0<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/georgpa01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Paul George<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0fell flat, shooting just 5-for-21 from the field and scoring 15 points. George found it tough to get into a rhythm all game, as he was hounded by an army of defenders.<\/p>\n<p>After the game, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.espn.com\/blog\/cleveland-cavaliers\/post\/_\/id\/3998\/lebron-cavaliers-sweep-away-pacers-challenge\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">James said the following<\/a>:\u00a0&#8220;[The Pacers are a] tough team, we knew that coming into the series. We locked into our scheme. Our coaching staff gave us a great game plan going into every game \u2013 [we were] just trying to execute it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>What&#8217;s next for both teams?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>For the Indiana Pacers, many questions must\u00a0be answered. Do the Pacers keep or trade George? Is <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mcmilna01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nate McMillan<\/a><\/strong> really the coach that general manager\u00a0<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/birdla01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Larry Bird<\/a><\/strong> wants to continue leading this team? This is especially relevant as Bird wants the team to play faster. The <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/e\/ellismo01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Monta Ellis<\/a><\/strong> experience is now clearly over. Does that mean a permanent reunion with Stephenson? Teague is now a free agent \u2013\u00a0what is the plan for the point guard position?<\/p>\n<p>In the playoffs, there are no moral victories. However, the Pacers may\u00a0take some solace from this fact:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The Cavaliers 4 wins over the Pacers came by a combined 16 points, tied for the smallest margin of victory in 4-game sweep all-time. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/mBr9mZNj6A\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/mBr9mZNj6A<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; ESPN Stats &amp; Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ESPNStatsInfo\/status\/856234036192321538?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 23, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3><strong>On to the next round for Cleveland<\/strong><\/h3>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">LeBron James has now swept 10 Best-of-7 playoff series in his career, the most of any player in NBA history according to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/EliasSports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@EliasSports<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/d7bmhpMy54\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/d7bmhpMy54<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; ESPN Stats &amp; Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ESPNStatsInfo\/status\/856230371683422209?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 23, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/2017\/04\/11\/cavaliers-prove-theres-no-doubt-runs-east\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Many questions are left unanswered<\/a>\u00a0for the Cavaliers. When will the defense show up for extended periods? How long will the hot shooting streak last? Will <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/smithjr01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">J.R. Smith<\/a><\/strong> resist <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GreggDoyelStar\/status\/856229841712099328\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the urge to make boneheaded\u00a0plays<\/a>? Will the lack of big men eventually hurt the Cavaliers? Can the bench continue its fine form?<\/p>\n<p>The Cavaliers\u00a0now ensured themselves a week-long break before their next game. This is crucial for Cleveland, one of the oldest teams in the league \u2013 recovery time is vital. It is most noteworthy that while teams have had the injury blight cast upon them, the Cavaliers go into the next round with everyone healthy.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo:<\/p>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.ca\/detail\/579551574\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 66.666667% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/579551574?et=-RfrkcB6R_F4KKqqK6d4jQ&amp;tld=ca&amp;viewMoreLink=off&amp;sig=zF_bKWcfvVvJWD_-eXcAWCQ9K10U80p5X-rDbzAeRJI=&amp;caption=true\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p style=\"margin: 0;\">\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Cleveland Cavaliers sweep the Indiana Pacers in a quick four-game series and now move on to the Eastern Conference semi-finals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":466,"featured_media":6155,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,9,2,11],"tags":[39,49,227,406,248,38,637,605,596,50],"class_list":["post-6146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-cavaliers","category-featured","category-pacers","tag-cleveland-cavaliers","tag-indiana-pacers","tag-kevin-love","tag-kyrie-irving","tag-lance-stephenson","tag-lebron-james","tag-myles-turner","tag-nba-eastern-conference","tag-nba-playoffs","tag-paul-george"],"modified_by":"Lior Kozai (Managing Editor)","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/466"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6146"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6146\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}