INDIANAPOLIS — With their normal rotation healthy for the first time during the second round, the Cleveland Cavaliers put together a statement win in Game 3 on Friday night, a 126-104 victory over the Indiana Pacers to get their first victory of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and De’Andre Hunter — the three Cavaliers players who sat out Game 2 of their second-round series because of injuries — were back in the lineup, and their presence, along with 43 points from Donovan Mitchell, sparked the Cavs’ victory.
“It’s great to have those guys back,” Mitchell said after the game. “They bring us a huge boost, bring me a huge boost. I go to war with these guys. I trust everybody in this locker room. And you saw it tonight, but ultimately we got to do it again.”
Cleveland’s victory cut its series deficit to 2-1, with Game 4 on Sunday night in Indianapolis.
Garland and Mobley were back in their usual spots in the starting lineup, with Garland scoring 10 points in 25 minutes and Mobley posting 18 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks. Hunter added eight points and five rebounds off the bench.
The Cavs saw the benefits of having their normal starting five together. Cleveland was plus-27 in 14 minutes with Garland, Mitchell, Strus, Mobley and Allen all on the floor in Game 3, according to ESPN Research.
Coach Kenny Atkinson said the Cavs are a “different team” with Garland, Mobley and Hunter, adding that he wasn’t sure until less than an hour before game time whether they would play.
Atkinson wanted to see how all three players came out of a pregame workout on the court before the Cavs made a decision, but with the team facing a 2-0 hole entering the game, they knew they were running out of time.
“It was kind of now or never,” Atkinson said. “You’re banged up and you’re hurting. … They showed a lot of fortitude.”
Garland made his first appearance in the series and played in his first game since April 23. A sprained left toe had kept him out of the team’s previous four playoff games, and Garland was clearly playing through some discomfort Friday night. Atkinson said there would be “a lot that goes into” getting Garland ready to play another game.
“He’s kind of taking one for the team here,” Atkinson said. “He had to push through a lot tonight.”
Mitchell said he was happy to have Garland out on the court, even if he wasn’t fully healthy.
“I told him, 20% of you, 30% of you is all what we need, man,” Mitchell said. “He’s fighting and gutting it out. A lot of respect for him.”
Garland, when asked what it took for him to play Friday night, responded: “Being down 0-2.”
“We’re trying to get to play another series,” he said. “So everybody put their bodies and their injuries on the line.”
Garland played 25 minutes, but Atkinson and Mitchell said his ability as a secondary ball handler helped take some pressure off Mitchell and allow him to be effective in the fourth quarter.
Mitchell scored 40-plus points for the second straight game, which prompted Atkinson to say it was the best game he’d seen from his star all season.
“I thought he was masterful,” Atkinson said. “I don’t use that word hardly ever. He was masterful in the way he controlled the game — passing, making the right decision, defending. Probably, for me, best performance of the year.”
Mitchell’s performance was complemented by Mobley, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, on both ends of the floor. Mobley admitted he couldn’t put any weight on his sprained left ankle before Game 2 earlier this week and said he wore a walking boot before he started feeling better over the past few days leading up to Game 3.
“I really wanted to play [Game 2], but definitely couldn’t,” Mobley said. “But after that loss I wanted to get back as soon as possible and get out there. So, I was just basically day to day seeing how it felt, how quickly I heal. Normally heal pretty quick, and from there just played it by ear.”
The Cavs also benefitted from Hunter’s presence off the bench in his return from a right thumb injury. Along with Max Strus, Hunter and Mobley contributed to a stifling defensive effort that held Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton to four points on 2-for-8 shooting with five assists and three turnovers.
With their full team intact, Atkinson said the Cavs played like the top seed in the East that won 64 regular-season games. However, Mitchell wasn’t ready to use one game as evidence that they were all the way back in the series, and he wanted to keep the team’s focus on evening the series Sunday.
“We haven’t done anything,” Mitchell said. “I mean, we won one game. We got to do it again. It’s been my message. We’re not celebrating, we’re not smiling. We came here to take two games, and we did one.
“Understanding that the next one’s going to be the hardest game of the series. … So take it for what it is and understand that, hey, we did a job and we got to keep going.”
