Darius Garland On Cavs Overcoming 3-1 Deficit: ‘This Group Can Do It’

It’s time for another winning streak. In fact, the Cavaliers don’t have a choice. They either beat the Indiana Pacers three straight times … or it’s season over.

As you know, the Cavs ran off winning streaks of 15 games, 12 games, and 16 games during the regular season. They finished 64-18 and with the top seed in the Eastern Conference.

But they currently trail the Pacers by a 3-1 count in the Eastern Conference semifinals, with Game 5 set for Tuesday in Cleveland. So, yeah, it will take a basketball miracle.

The Cavs, though, insist they believe.

“This franchise has been down 3-1 before (in the 2016 NBA Finals),” All-Star point guard Darius Garland told reporters. “This group can do it. We got the talent, we got the skillset. The camaraderie is always there. … Just play our brand of basketball.”

Garland isn’t disrespecting the Pacers as much as he is echoing a sentiment that many around the NBA believe. It says that if the Cavs can win Game 5, then suddenly, the pressure will shift back to the Pacers for Game 6 in Indiana.

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

If the Cavs can get that one, too, a deciding Game 7 would be back in Cleveland.

That said, there’s a long way to go to get there from here. And the Cavs can’t focus on anything but Game 5 — and giving a considerably better showing than they did the last time out.

As reserve guard Ty Jerome suggested after the Game 4 loss, all the Cavs can do is focus on getting the next one. Then the one after that, and so on and so on.