Indiana Pacers: Essential Adjustments Going Into Game 3

The Indiana Pacers have been competitive, but find themselves down 2-0 in their first-round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Here are the adjustments Indiana must make to turn the tide against Cleveland.

The Indiana Pacers have lost two games to the Cleveland Cavaliers by a combined seven points in their first-round playoff series thus far.

While that may be somewhat encouraging to a No. 7 seed playing on the road against a No. 2 seed, improvements need to be made if the Pacers plan to do more than just make a good showing in defeat.

Here are the key areas that will determine whether or not Indiana can get back into this series and pose a real threat to LeBron James and the Cavs.

Pick-and-Roll Defense

Indiana has mostly been switching defensively on the pick-and-roll and that strategy has been disastrous for the Pacers.

The Cavaliers have done a good job of using this to exploit mismatches, perhaps the biggest being Jeff Teague getting switched onto LeBron James.

The Pacers either need to stop switching, or come with a double-team when these mismatches occur. Switching and then leaving someone like Teague on an island against LeBron is a horrible scenario for Indiana.

Help Defense

Another defensive issue for the Pacers has been the lack of execution in terms of team defense. Help in the paint is either coming far too late or not at all, and rotating and closing out on shooters has rarely been seen so far in this series.

Indiana Pacers

Cleveland is one of the best offensive teams in the NBA, and when you combine that with Indiana’s “matador” defense, that is a formula for a Cavs sweep.

The Pacers players know what to do, they simply aren’t doing it. Give help on drives and close out on shooters — it isn’t complicated, but it takes more focus and energy than Indiana is showing on that end of the floor so far.

Myles Turner

Going into the series against Cleveland, the only position in which the Pacers had an advantage was at center. After two games, however, it isn’t turning out that way.

Myles Turner has been timid and oftentimes invisible on the court. He has averaged 8.5 points and 6.5 rebounds through the first two contests, while his counterpart, Tristan Thompson, has gotten the better of the matchup so far (6.0 points and 11.5 rebounds per game).

Given that Turner represents Indiana’s only opportunity to dominate an individual matchup against the Cavs, he must step up if the Pacers are to have any chance at all in this series.

Kyrie Irving

Kyrie Irving has been stellar during the first two games in Cleveland, averaging 30 points per game and generally abusing Jeff Teague or anyone else who has tried to guard him.

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Kyrie Irving is a great player and is usually very productive, but the problem here is that Indiana is letting Irving get too comfortable — Irving is getting anywhere on the floor he wants to, and getting any shot he wants.

Irving now has even more confidence that he can create for himself or a teammate at will, so the Pacers have to put more pressure on him and make his life more difficult, or this series won’t last long.

Make Someone Else Beat You …

This is certainly easier said than done, but the Cavs’ Big Three is virtually beating Indiana by themselves after two games. In terms of scoring and assists, almost all the damage is being done by LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love.

As mentioned, Tristan Thompson has been a beast on the boards, but otherwise, it’s all been about Cleveland’s stars.

It’s a difficult task to force the opponent’s supporting cast to step up when they have three All-Stars, but Indiana must get James, Irving and Love out of their comfort zone.

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Those guys are going to post numbers, but the Pacers have to make them work much harder for what they get, or ideally, get the ball out of their hands and force someone else to make a play.