Dribbles: Cavs Keeping The Faith After Game 1 Loss. ‘This is Nothing to Freak Out About’

CLEVELAND — Random dribbles from the Cavaliers’ 121-112 home loss to the Indiana Pacers in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series. …

1. Right away, the Cavs could tell they were in for a very different series. Indiana moved the ball remarkably well and shot even better.

2. Bam. Cavs down 36-25 after the first quarter — when the Pacers went 6-of-9 on 3-pointers. Cleveland was just 3-of-12, and that was the start of the night to come.

3. Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson: “I think we finally figured it out, but in the beginning, they had us in a blender. Their shot-making was otherworldly, so give them credit.”

4. That’s just the Pacer way. They’re incredibly streaky. On this night, that streak could best be described as “super hot.”

5. The Cavs’ early confusion played a role in that. The Pacers continuing to drill threes late was an even bigger reason. Now, the Cavs are in a 1-0 series hole.

6. If you saw the game, you know what I mean. The Cavs put together a big run to take a small lead, and did so on several occasions. But without Darius Garland, the offense too often stalled. And you can’t keep giving the Pacers opportunities.

6. Garland is an All-Star and is having a career season. Any suggestion that the Cavs are just as good without him sure was silenced on this night. From the sounds of things, he will just have to play on that sprained big toe. It’s not likely to go away anytime soon.

7. For the third straight game, he was a game-time decision. For the third straight game, we don’t know if he’s any closer to a return. But the Cavs weren’t focused on what they didn’t have. They weren’t too big on looking behind, either.

8. Instead, it’s all about cleaning things up, building off what did work, and getting the next one. “We’ll bounce back,” Atkinson said. “Gotta win four (to win a series).”

9. Donovan Mitchell was brilliant and almost single-handedly willed his team to victory, finishing with 33 points. He was beat up and worn out. Nonetheless, he set an NBA record with eight straight Game 1s with at least 30 points, surpassing Michael Jordan in the process.

10. But Mitchell was in no mood to celebrate the achievement. “Jordan won those games,” he said.

11. That said, while the locker room was quiet, spirits were fairly high, according to Atkinson.

12. More Mitchell: “It’d been great to sweep these guys, too. But that’s not how it works. This is an experienced basketball team; they’ve been here before. For us, it’s one game. They hit first, and now we gotta respond.”

13. Mitchell mostly talked about missed shots and so-so transition play as reasons for defeat. “We missed a lot of good looks,” he said. “I was 1-of-11 from three; for a lot of them I was wide open, too.”

14. Ty Jerome scored 21 in reserve, and Evan Mobley recorded a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Jarrett Allen went for 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting. De’Andre Hunter scored 11 on 4-of-8. Yet offensively, the Cavs never really got into a consistent rhythm. They will tell you the uneven offense impacted the defense.

15. Indiana was a sizzling 19-of-36 shooting on threes; the Cavs were an ice-cold 9-of-38. The Pacers miss two more and the Cavs make two more, and we might be having a different conversation.

16. Jerome offered one example that the Cavs remain confident. “Gonna be a fun series,” he said, before repeating himself for the sake of emphasis. “Gonna be a real fun series.”

17. Mitchell and the rest were hardly hanging their heads, either. “This is nothing to freak out about,” Mitchell said. “We found some things that we can be better at and we will be better. That’s the team we’ve shown to be. It’s one game.”

18. Atkinson echoed those positive vibes. “I don’t feel like we had the rhythm of the game. But we’ve got to move forward,” he said. “We’ll figure out the 3-point shooting. If you contest well enough … that’s a big part of it.”

19. Figuring out how to slow down Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton would certainly help, too. He scored 22 points and passed for 13 assists, often getting into the lane and kicking it back out. Andrew Nembhard (23 points) was usually the beneficiary, drilling five of his six threes. Some of them were way, way out. But again, that’s the Indiana Way.

20. Anyway, Mitchell is right. The Pacers have been here before, with their current core advancing to the East finals last season. They’ve been one of the top four teams in the league, record-wise, since the start of 2025. There is very little margin for error. The Cavs made too many of those errors in Game 1.

21. Mitchell with the final word: “We figured out some things that worked. It’s on us to make the adjustments.”

• Box Score | Pacers 121, Cavs 112
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