Indiana Pacers: 3 takeaways from Game 3 vs. Cavaliers

2. The best is yet to come?

On one hand, the Pacers have every reason to feel great heading into Game 4. They’re still at home, where they’ve been tough to play all year. Moreover, their best player — the engine of the well-oiled machine that has been surprising everyone for months — couldn’t have had a worse game than he just did.

Victor Oladipo played the first half as if the ball were covered in some fancy bath oil from one of those gift sets you get when you can’t think of anything else to buy for your aunt at Christmas. Oladipo had almost as many turnovers (four) as points (five), and was -17 in a game the Pacers trailed by exactly that total after 24 minutes.

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He recovered to post a decent stat line of 18 points, seven dimes, six boards and three steals (to go with only one second half turnover), but he only converted 1-of-8 looks from downtown. Overall, it was one of his worst performances of the season.

This figured to be a case of the jitters, playing his first ever playoff game in front of the fans of the team he’s been waiting to suit up for his whole life. It would be shocking if he wasn’t better on Sunday.

The same goes for most of the Pacers, who other than Bojan, shot just 39.6 percent from the field.

Then there’s the downside. The Cavs showed that they have it in them to blitz Indiana at both ends when they put their minds to it. The Pacers’ current starting lineup really has no answer for Kevin Love. That Love took only two shots in the second half is certainly due in part to some Indiana adjustments, but his first half performance (16 points on 6-of-11 shooting) almost put the game out of reach.

Then there was the defense. The Pacers couldn’t do much against the Cavs when Cleveland was fully engaged. With their backs against the wall, one would figure to see 48 minutes worth of peak-effort Cavaliers on Sunday night. Speaking of which…