The Cleveland crowd was chanting “overrated” whenever Tyrese Haliburton held the ball or shot from the free throw line. The Cavaliers were up by 20 – and it did seem to be right to poke the Indiana Pacers for their lackluster performance against a Cavs team that didn’t have Evan Mobley, Darius Garland, and De’Andre Hunter.

That was until Tyrese Haliburton stole the show.

He was being out-starred by Donovan Mitchell for the whole game, with the latter finishing with 48 points in Game 2. Aaron Nesmith played well in the fourth to keep the team within striking distance. What was a 20-point lead eventually was cut down to 14 points in the fourth, before it was then a three-point game with 27 seconds left to play.

Haliburton went up to shoot two free throws, made the first one before missing the second. But what was insane is that he grabbed the offensive rebound before creating space from Ty Jerome and then dropped the game-winner. And just like that, the Cavaliers found themselves down in an unfortunate 0-2 hole – which is definitely something that fans would not have wanted to see at this point.

For Haliburton and the Pacers, this is a chance to secure an ECF berth for the second playoff run in a row.

The Cavaliers Dilemma

The Cavaliers are one of the three 60-win teams to crumble in the clutch in the second round so far, and they are the only one to do it twice so far. Apparently, they have one of the deepest benches in the NBA, and it was evident in the first three quarters before they actually came up with a choke job in the fourth.

At this point, it is clear that the Cavs cannot afford players to miss more games. Cleveland has never experienced to see upsets so far in the postseason, and it all means that the expectations set before them are going to be challenged well at this point as the series now shifts to Indiana, where it has been quite tough for opponents to win in so far this postseason.

The Cavaliers have no excuses, not when they didn’t have their second-leading scorer in Darius Garland, or the reigning Defensive Player of the Year in Evan Mobley – or even De’Andre Hunter, who finished fourth overall in the 6MOTY voting. Whoever’s available has to step up.

The Chance for Indiana

Now up 2-0, it seems that the Indiana Pacers are definitely poised to win big in the coming games. The squad has been elite in the comeback so far, and the whole series has seen the odds shifting in their favor at this point, especially with the injuries that the Cavs have logged into the paper.

This is a prime chance to sweep a 60-win team – something that has never happened in the history of the playoffs. Only five teams in the history of the NBA have managed to come back and win a series after dropping the first two games. This is the first time that the Cavaliers have faced adversity in its historic 2024-25 campaign.

With the Pacers seeking to clinch this series right away, the Cavs have to rely on its success. They started 15-0, then a 16-game winning streak and another 12-game winning run. All of those massive achievements in the regular season don’t matter now. If they cannot tie the series by the next two games, then their wonder campaign is coming to an end.