Just when it seemed all hope was lost, the Cleveland Cavaliers turned things around and claimed a 117-108 victory on Sunday night. The duo of Donovan Mitchell and James Harden combined for 66 points in the home bout. Center Micah Potter barely took point for the Pacers with 21 points and 12 rebounds.
Cleveland’s small-ball run continued as its pair of near-literal big-time starters in Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley sat out with a right knee and left calf injury, respectively. Thomas Bryant earned his first start of the season as Allen’s understudy, while Max Strus took the four spot. Strus, who spread his basketball wings in Chicago with the Bulls and DePaul Blue Demons, has earned a sizable chunk of his season minutes at the power forward spot after making his mark as a wing for the Cavaliers and Miami Heat. The 3rd-year Cavalier would end the night with four points, seven rebounds and five assists in about 31 minutes of play.
Indiana’s bench depth would carve away at a 4-man show for the Cavs with 37 points. Cleveland, which ranks near the bottom of the league in bench points per contest, would respond to an active outing from the Pacers’ bench with 20 bench points. Forward Obi Toppin led the way for Indiana as a reserve with 21 points, a season-high for the former Dayton Flyer.
Still, all it took was a quartet of Cavaliers heroes to stop a gut-punch upset from the East’s 2nd-lowest ranked squad.
Bryant tried to be the glue that held the Cavaliers together in the first quarter as the Pacers jumped out to a decent lead in the opening minutes, but it wouldn’t be enough to stop Indiana from raining down 3-pointers to drive their offense. The Pacers, who rank near the middle of the league in 3-point attempts and percentage, all but forgot how to miss from long range on their way to eight early 3-pointers. Cleveland’s next-state neighbor finished things off with 17 makes on 44 tries from beyond the arc, which slowed down their electric run from long range that lasted a full 10 games.
The Pacers faced death by 1,000 finger rolls as Mitchell slashed his way to 11 1st-quarter points, a much-needed boost for the faltering Cavaliers as they fought to stay on pace with the Midwestern foe. Cleveland’s human highlight reel took turns playing hero for the Cavaliers with Harden, who added 19 of his own in the first half of the Sunday showdown. Cleveland’s continued game of tug of war with a potential lead finally gave way as Harden and Bryant took it upon themselves to fix its woes from the 3-point line, which was left at a small disadvantage to the Pacers by game’s end. Keon Ellis added three of his own to pair with 13 points and five rebounds, while Strus added one on nine attempts.
The victory finalized a season sweep over the once Finals-bound Pacers, who tumbled from the top of the NBA mountain to being eliminated from playoff contention nearly a month ago. Indiana, sans star guard Tyrese Haliburton, only has a handful of games to steer clear of their worst win percentage in franchise history. While they’ve found some consistency in their spring schedule with wins over a few East opponents, they have yet to recover from a number of lengthy losing streaks in their 2025-26 campaign, including a month-long losing streak that lasted until a razor-thin win over the Orlando Magic in late March.
The Cavaliers are right on the heels of the New York Knicks for the third spot in the Eastern Conference following the division win. Three of Cleveland’s division rivals have been eliminated from postseason contention, while the Detroit Pistons sit atop the Eastern standings with 57 wins. The Pistons were crowned the Central Division kings for the first time since their dominant runs in the 2000s, when they claimed six division titles in seven seasons while only being interrupted by a star-powered Pacers squad.
The Cavs saw the return of King James, his two departures for big-name beach states and plenty of highs of their own since Detroit’s last peek at the peak of Midwestern play, but will need to gear up for what can be their most defining playoff run in recent memory.
A Memphis matchup against the Grizzlies will be crucial in fueling Cleveland’s final push for the third seed in the East, one that will include two litmus tests for a potential 5th-seed matchup in the Atlanta Hawks. The Grizzlies descended into the murkier depths of the Western Conference standings after inching to within one game of .500 with a December win over the Milwaukee Bucks. Memphis has earned just 10 wins since while stacking on 37 losses, which put them far out of range of Play-In contention and their fifth playoff run in six seasons. The Toronto Raptors, who the Cavaliers have fallen to three times during the regular season, have barely descended into the depths of the Play-In as they are on par with the Philadelphia 76ers at 14 games behind the Detroit Pistons in the East standings. Cleveland has split its last two matchups with Atlanta, but the Hawks have gained some tailwinds towards season’s end as they’ve fallen in just three of their last 22 matchups.
The Cavs will tip off against the Grizzlies at 8 p.m. EDT on Monday in FedExForum. The game will be broadcast on FanDuel Sports Network – Ohio.
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