All-NBA guard Donovan Mitchell scored 38 points and recorded six assists and six rebounds to lead the short-handed Cavaliers to a 117-108 win over the even more short-handed Pacers on Sunday at the Rocket Center in Cleveland.
The Pacers — who had nine players listed as out including all five of next year’s likely starters — fell to 18-60, losing 60 games for the first time since the 1984-85 season and just the third time in franchise history. They have the second-worst record in the NBA. With four games remaining, they can win two and still finish in the NBA’s bottom three and get the best possible lottery odds. The Cavaliers improved to 49-29 and sit in fourth in the Eastern Conference.
Former MVP James Harden added 28 points and seven assists for the Cavaliers. Former Pacers and Indiana University center Thomas Bryant posted 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Cavaliers and guard Keon Ellis scored 13 points. Pacers center Micah Potter scored 21 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and dished out four assists. Forward Obi Toppin had 21 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Forward Jalen Slawson had a career-high 19 points, six rebounds and two assists. Guard Quenton Jackson had 15 points, five rebounds and four assists. Forward Kobe Brown had 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Here are three observations.
Donovan Mitchell and James Harden were too much
The Pacers and Cavaliers were both severely short-handed with the Pacers missing nine players and the Cavaliers missing five. However, the Pacers were missing both of their All-Stars in Tyrese Haliburton (out for the season) and Pascal Siakam. The Cavs were missing two of theirs in big men Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, but still had two more left and those two were way too much for the Pacers to handle, especially in the fourth quarter.
Along with their All-Stars, the Pacers were also missing several of their best defenders in Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, T.J. McConnell and Pascal Siakam so they had to use usual bench players such as Quenton Jackson, Kobe Brown, Ethan Thompson and Taelon Peter to guard Donovan Mitchell and James Harden. Mitchell and Harden have 18 All-Star and 10 All-NBA nods between them.
The Pacers couldn’t keep Mitchell away from the paint as he scored 38 points on 16 of 27 shooting. He was 2 of 7 from 3-point range, but the majority of his scoring game in or close to the restricted area of the paint as he was 14 of 20 from 2 with all of those 2-pointers coming in the paint. He scored 23 points on 9 of 12 shooting in the second half including 12 points on 5 of 5 shooting in the fourth quarter when the Cavs outscored the Pacers 27-17.
Harden scored 19 of his points in the first half to keep the Cavs in it and scored seven in the fourth quarter to finish with 28 points on 8 of 17 shooting. Those two combined for 24 out of the Cavs’ 43 field goals and 66 of the Cavs 117 points.
The Cavs were 10 of 20 from the floor in the fourth quarter while the Pacers were 6 of 21. The Pacers led by as many as 12 points in the first half and had a lead going into the fourth quarter but the charge from Harden and Mitchell created a double figure Cavs lead.
“All in all, I’m proud of the group,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said in comments broadcast on FanDuel Sports Network Indiana. “To compete the way we did for three full quarters and good chunk of the fourth, to have a lead and to carry a lead for a long time with the group that was available was a great effort by them. … I just really thought the effort was terrific.”
Micah Potter shows out on day of gender reveal
The most interesting pre-game storyline Sunday involved Micah Potter’s shoes. The Pacers center and native of Mentor, Ohio, a Cleveland suburb, used the game Easter Sunday as an opportunity for a gender reveal for his and his wife’s baby, which is due in September.
Potter got the start at center with the Pacers shorthanded and he stuck with neutral colors through pre-game warm-ups, but when tip-off approached he put on a pair of blue sneakers to signify that they’re having a boy.
“Congratulations to the Potters,” Carlisle said. “It’s a boy as we saw. He kept the drama going right up until the jump with two pairs of sneakers there.”
Potter seemed energized by revealing that news — he and his wife have known for some time — and he was one of the Pacers’ most productive players out of the gate. He scored the game’s first two points on two free throws, then he hit a pair of early 3-pointers to post eight points in the first quarter. By halftime he was tied for the team lead with 14 points on 4 of 6 shooting including 3 of 4 from 3-point range and he also had seven rebounds.
Potter kept going in the second half and finished with 21 points on 6 of 10 shooting including 3 of 5 from 3-point range, 12 rebounds and four assists.
It was Potter’s fourth start with the Pacers and his first since Feb. 10, but Carlisle thought putting him in for this occasion was an obvious move.
“I decided tonight to make the switch because this is a big deal,” Carlisle said. “It’s really a momentous thing having your first child. This is a little unusual way to announce it, but if we can help light up one of our guys and make it even more special, why not do it?”
Jalen Slawson hits new career high
With Pascal Siakam, Aaron Nesmith and Jarace Walker all out the Pacers needed somebody to step up at the forward spots and they got another impressive performance from their most recent addition.
Forward Jalen Slawson — who the Pacers promoted from the Noblesville Boom and gave a two-way contract on Feb. 28 when guard Quenton Jackson’s two way deal was converted to a standard contract — has had a series of impressive performances in contractually limited games with the Pacers and Sunday’s was one of his best. He scored a career high 19 points on 7 of 11 shooting including 5 of 7 shooting from 3-point range. He also had six rebounds, two assists and two steals. He didn’t get credit for any blocks because he was called for several goaltends including one on the offensive end when he had a putback wiped away for basket interference.
“He’s doing a lot of good things,” Carlisle said. “I think he set a career-high for goaltends as well. But it speaks to his activity. A couple of those, I’m not sure of. There was one on the baseline with Harden. I think that might have been on the way up. But these things happen so fast, it’s like crazy. But Slawson is doing well. He’s been working on his shooting. That’s been pretty obvious. Getting into a good rhythm there.”
Slawson had scored a total of eight points in 12 NBA games prior to his promotion. Sunday’s game was the third time since he’s joined the Pacers that he scored in double figures and the fifth time he’s scored at least eight points.
Dustin Dopirak covers the Pacers all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Pacers Insider newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Shorthanded Cavs beat even more shorthanded Pacers, 117-108
Reporting by Dustin Dopirak, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
