Donovan Mitchell, Cavaliers DOMINATE Pacers to earn 1st win of series | East Semifinals Game 3 Recap

Donovan Mitchell, Cavaliers DOMINATE Pacers to earn 1st win of series | East Semifinals Game 3 Recap

for more on game three, we bring in CBS sports NBA analyst John Gonzalez. And John, there was a moment there right in the fourth quarter Pascal Siakam hits that three in the corner. They cut the lead to 11 I’m thinking yo the Pacers are the epitome of a flying a fly right. That just never goes away. You think it’s gone five minutes and then it comes back. But on this night Donovan Mitchell played the role of Superman. And it wasn’t just the scoring. But of course that’s what gets the news. What did you see that made him so spectacular in this game where they had to have the W. He was spectacular. This entire series, right. I mean, he’s coming off of that 48 point game two masterpiece that got wasted because they blew that seven point lead late in the fourth quarter. And all of a sudden Tyrese Haliburton, who had a dud tonight, he was fantastic in that previous game. But yeah, Donovan Mitchell has given them everything the Cavaliers could ask for and more. 43 points again tonight nine rebounds five assists. He had a steal. He plays great defense. I mean this guy I think sometimes people forget about how good Donovan Mitchell is. Because this season because the Cavs were so good as a team, his lift wasn’t as heavy. So his stats weren’t as gaudy. Chris. But don’t forget this. He’s going to get some votes for first team all NBA. If he doesn’t make it he’ll be second team. He’s going to get some votes for fifth place in the MVP voting. If he doesn’t make it, he’ll be just on the outside. That’s how good Donovan Mitchell has been all season long. And he’s really stepped it up in the playoffs. And they needed him tonight because as you know Chris they come into this game tonight down two zero. If you go down three zero it’s a wrap. So now they’re back into this thing. And if you’re the Pacers not your best night from start to finish. And the Cavaliers are right back in it. And Mitchell is the first Cavs player to have 90 points in a two game playoff span. Not even LeBron James did that which is crazy to think about right? Because of all the success he had with the Cavaliers and his dominance during his days with Cleveland. Now somebody else who was really impactful, Evan Mobley, we saw how much of a difference he made, not just with his scoring but his defense. What did you like about his ability to impact the game against the Pacers and make things really difficult, especially when they’re going up against him on offense? Yeah. Everything. I mean he was fantastic tonight coming off of the he had the ankle and you weren’t sure what kind of Evan Mobley you were going to get. Well guess what you got Evan Mobley the guy who won Defensive player of the year. He had three steals and three blocks. You also got a double double out of Evan Mobley. The Evan Mobley who’s going to make all NBA this season. He’s been absolutely fantastic all season long. And man what amazing how different the Cavs look right when you have Evan Mobley and Donovan Mitchell out there together. And Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen patrolling the paint and grabbing rebounds I mean the Cavs absolutely dominated the boards tonight. They also won the points in the paint. And this is the Cavs team Chris that was number one in offense all season long. This is the Cavs team. That was number eight in the defensive rating that had two not one but two separate 15 game winning streaks. They didn’t look like that Cavs team to start the series. When they dropped the first two games at home against the Cavs or against the Pacers. But all of a sudden you get Evan Mobley back. Look, Darius Garland didn’t look right DeAndre Hunter didn’t. He was fine. But he you know he wasn’t the score. Everything off the bench guy that they that they added at the trade deadline Evan Mobley and Donovan Mitchell make that team go. And they did tonight. Yeah. And like you said the second chance points. The rebounding is really where the difference was made. Cavaliers just applied their will against the Patriots. Every time Indiana made a run Cleveland answered with one of their own. Now on the other side right Bennedict Mathurin he was great for the Pacers off the bench. Really helped them when they needed to come back. But Tyrese Haliburton, how do you explain his performance, especially after what we saw in game two, where I know he wasn’t great through stretches of that game until the fourth quarter, but are you surprised that he basically was a no show? Yeah, I am, it was surprising. It was. It was a surprising effort from the Pacers all over because the Pacers are really good at home. They’re one of the best teams at home in the NBA. I expected them to put significant pressure on the Cavs tonight and really threaten to go up three zero. Instead, they were really never in this except for a couple of moments there in the in the fourth quarter, as you noted, where it looked like maybe they were going to climb back into it because they don’t really have any quit in them. But Haliburton just didn’t have it tonight. He was fantastic in the fourth quarter of game two. He just was basically a no show tonight. I thought Mathurin was really good and outside of that, Myles Turner has had a really good, has had a really good playoffs and a really good series. But you need more from Haliburton. You can’t have a no show from Tyrese Haliburton. Yeah you hit the game winner in game two. Fantastic. You put that team up two zero and teams that start up two zero on the road are 38 and five all time in the playoffs. So the Pacers still a little bit in the driver’s seat here. But you had a chance there to really put the Cavs up against the wall. And instead you let them climb back into it. And one more thing here Pascal Siakam he had 18 points and four rebounds and three assists. That tonight basically works out to his best game of these playoffs or at least this series Pascal Siakam absolutely. In addition to Haliburton needing to be better tonight Siakam has to be better across the board. Hey man you’re preaching to the choir right there. We’ll see if the Pacers specifically Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam are able to get their act together for game four. As of now, no home team has won on their floor. John Gonzalez, thanks so much for the time, man. And here’s a look in NBA playoff history. They’ve won best of seven series after losing the first two games at home. Cavaliers seeking to join this list C Clippers 2021 against Dallas. Boston 2017. You remember that zero five series between Dallas and Houston. The Cavaliers now trying to get back in the

John Gonzalez joins CBS Sports HQ to recap Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Indiana Pacers.

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