The Indiana Pacers Are One Win Away From the Eastern Conference Finals | HOOPS Daily, 5/12/2025
Indiana dominates Cleveland in Game 4 to take 3-1 series lead, winners & losers from the weekend, and more.
The Tip-Off: Question of the Day
Winners & Losers From the Weekend
Winners
Payton Pritchard
Boston finally took a game from the Knicks, winning in dominant fashion Saturday night at what was the most expensive Knicks game in history.1 A large part of that was Sixth Man of the Year Pritchard finally breaking out a bit, he led the team with 23pts and knocked in five of the team’s 20 made threes. As Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown continue to struggle with efficiency, someone like Pritchard is immeasurably valuable so him turning the corner Saturday could be huge for them moving forward with the rest of the series.
Julius Randle
Julius Randle is such an interesting player because at some points, you want to scream at your tv because you can’t believe the ball stopping and bad decision making you’re seeing, and then there’s games like Minnesota’s Game 3 win in Golden State where he put up a 24pt/12a/10r triple-double and also chipped in three steals. It was inefficient as hell (10-23 FG, 1-6 from 3) but when he’s aggressive and looking to get into the paint and not settle for outside shots, he gives Minnesota the perfect piece to compliment Anthony Edwards’ elite athleticism without crowding the paint with Rudy Gobert.
Aaron Gordon
Mr. Nugget may be the perfect nickname for Gordon who may even get a statue built outside their arena by the time his time in Denver is done. On Friday he hit the game-tying shot to force OT (not to mention his Game 1 winner and his round one dunk at the buzzer to win vs. the Clippers) in the Nuggets’ eventual Game 3 win. Sunday, Denver wasn’t able to get the win but Gordon was a huge part of the turnaround Denver had to get back into the game after starting with just eight points in the first quarter and dropping behind quick. He just fits so perfect in this offense and plays his role so well. He knows exactly where to be and more times than not, he’s making the right decisions every single time. He’s someone I legit go back and watch Nuggets’ highlights just to focus on him and what he’s doing. It’s so much fun to watch him play.
Losers
Nikola Jokic
In Game 1 of this series vs. the Thunder, Nikola Jokic put up 42pts/22r/6a.
Since then though, his efficiency has dropped off a cliff. He’s shooting 33% from the field, 18% from three, and is averaging more turnovers per game than assists.2 I don’t know if this is a Jokic slump or OKC’s defense figuring something out but it has drastically swung the look of this series because Denver doesn’t have the depth to survive with an underachieving Jokic. Denver’s bench Sunday had just 8pts, compared to 33 for the Thunder. Jokic not shooting well or generating good shots for teammates like usual (Michael Porter Jr. had just 3pts on 1-7 shooting in 34 minutes)
Donovan Mitchell
Mitchell was forced out of the Cavs’ Game 4 blowout loss with an ankle injury before the start of the second half. It’s unlikely he would’ve done much to help the Cavs come back in that game (they were already down 41pts at halftime), but the reason I have Mitchell here as a loser is because of how amazing his postseason performance has been. Here are his numbers for this series so far: 41 PPG, 6 RPG, 6 APG, 2 SPG.
If he’s forced to miss time with this injury then the Cavs, who are trailing 3-1, have little to no chance of getting back into this series at all and that’s a shame.3
Ty Jerome
Another Cavalier, Ty Jerome is having a rough round two that may legitimately be impacting his future contract negotiations this summer. All season long, Jerome was a true Sixth Man of the Year contender and one of the best bargain deals in the league. Him becoming a desired free agent this summer was all but guaranteed to happen and price him out of a potential Cavs return.
This series vs. Indiana though is threatening to undo all of that as Jerome has struggled mightily, looking like he’s lost all of the confident, aggressive decision making that made him so impactful for the regular season. He has games this series with 12.5% FG and 7.1% FG and has committed more fouls and turnovers than assists in three of the four games.
Tyrese Haliburton
This is purely on principal. You can’t hit the big balls celebration after hitting the game winner in Game 2 and then come out and take 8 shots in a Game 3 home loss.4
One Sentence Series Summaries
West Conference Semifinals
OKC Thunder vs 4. Denver Nuggets (Series Tied 2-2)
This should be a battle between the two best players in the league but instead it’s been a FT contest between them and a chance for supporting players to shine.
Minnesota Timberwolves vs. 7. Golden State Warriors (MIN Leads 2-1)
Golden State needs Steph Curry back immediately and Minnesota needs to stop goofing around with bad three-point attempts and end this before it gets to the point Steph can return.
East Conference Semifinals
Cleveland Cavaliers vs. 4. Indiana Pacers (IND Leads 3-1)
Injuries and soft interior offense and defense have plagued Cleveland while Indiana’s role players continue to elevate alongside elite PG play from Tyrese Haliburton.Boston Celtics vs. 3. New York Knicks (NY Leads 2-1)
Boston’s poor shooting and tendency to settle for threes5 has caused them to choke multiple leads away to a Knicks team that has no fear in their opponent and supreme confidence that nothing can stop Jalen Brunson when the 4th quarter starts.
At the Buzzer
- Cavs’ Donovan Mitchell to have MRI Monday after leaving Game 4 loss early
- Thunder, Nuggets tied record for fewest points in a first quarter in playoffs history6
Pivotal Game 4s Tonight
Celtics at Knicks (NY leads series 2-1)
Timberwolves at Warriors (MIN leads series 2-1)
I hope everyone had a good weekend and enjoyed some basketball or some time doing the things you love. I hope all the moms out there had a nice Mother’s Day and I hope everyone reading this has a good Monday to start the week off right. Take care.
That’s such a bummer to spend THAT much on tickets and then it’s a 20pt blowout almost the whole time.
5.3 TOV per game, 5 AST per game
I’m seeing a lot of 2015 Atlanta Hawks memes about this year’s Cavs team and their underwhelming performance in round two but I just need to make it known… that Hawks team did make the Eastern Conference Finals.
He had 8 shots again Sunday in Game 4 but they blew the doors off the Cavs so that doesn’t matter quite as much I know
In one quarter this series Boston had 20 shot attempts, 19 were 3s.
OKC led 17-8 after the first quarter Sunday.