Charles Barkley: If Cavs Win Game 5, Pacers Will Be Feeling The Heat: ‘They’re Not Getting Game 7’

NBA legend Charles Barkley saw what the Pacers did to the Cavaliers in Game 4, with Indiana breezing to a 41-point halftime lead. It was a display of utter domination.

But the Pacers had better do something similar in Game 5, or it could spell trouble.

“If the Cavs can win the next game, Game 6 in Indiana (the Pacers) will be feeling the heat,” Barkley said on TNT’s Inside the NBA. “The Pacers aren’t gonna go get Game 7 back in Cleveland.”

I wrote something similar in my postgame Dribbles. Let’s say the Cavs win Game 5 in Cleveland on Tuesday. That cuts the series deficit to 3-2.

Then, Game 6 is in Indiana. The Cavs won Game 3 in that very building. It was a must-win after losing the first two at home — and they got it, in convincing fashion.

Yes, Game 4 was Blowout City. So what? In two games in Indiana, the Cavs blew out the Pacers and the Pacers blew out the Cavs.

Neither victory carried over.

This isn’t to downplay the mountain of a hill that the Cavs must climb. There’s little margin for error.

But Barkley has pointed out a very doable way for the Cavs to keep their season alive. And the Cavs, for starters, say they believe.

“This group can come back down 3-1,” star point guard Darius Garland told reporters. “We got the talent and skill set. The camaraderie is always there. Just play our brand of basketball.”

For the record, 13 NBA teams have overcome 3-1 deficits. Cleveland did it in the 2016 Finals. At the time, Finals teams had an 0-32 record when trailing 3-1 in the Finals. And that Game 7 was on the road. This one, if the Cavs can get there, would be at home.