The Cleveland Cavaliers will face off against the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the 2017 NBA playoffs. This should be an entertaining series, led by a few of the NBA's most exciting players. Let's compare the matchups by positions between the two teams, which will give us a good understanding of the upcoming series between the number 2 seeded Cavaliers and the number 7 seeded Pacers.
Point Guard - Kyrie Irving vs Jeff Teague
We start at the point guard position, the most important position in basketball. This matchup features one of the best point guards in the league in Kyrie Irving and a solid star point guard in Jeff Teague.
Kyrie will most likely be able to get his way scoring wise, after having his best scoring season of his career at 25.2 points per game. Irving's ability to handle the ball and get points is second to none, and Jeff will likely be unable to slow him down. But Jeff Teague will use his passing ability to break down the Cavs defense, coming off of a season with 7.8 assists per game. He will be able to tally some points on the board, but for the most part his passing will be the most important.
But it's really not hard to see who wins this matchup, Kyrie was an all star starter this season while Jeff Teague did not make the team at all. Jeff is a solid point guard, but we will give the cake to Irving on this one.
Advantage: Cleveland
Shooting Guard - J.R. Smith vs Monta Ellis
A battle of the inefficient players it seems. Both JR and Monta are able to get hot and be huge scoring factors, but other times they will be liabilities on the offensive end. J.R. Smith will use his three point shot a lot this series, getting passes from Kyrie and LeBron, he should be able to knock down a high percentage of his looks.
While Ellis will look to use his speed and quickness to catch the Cavs defense off guard and score buckets. Monta may need to hold a large scoring load if Paul George is being tightly guarded.
A very close decision, it all depends on who's on or off this series. But we will take a hopeful plunge at Monta Ellis on this one.
Advantage: Indiana
Small Forward - LeBron James vs Paul George
The most exciting part about this series will be the duel between LeBron James and Paul George. They have faced off against eachother in the playoffs in the past, and it's been nothing short of entertaining. Both players will look to go at eachother, scoring baskets and setting up teammates. Just recently, they dropped 40+ on eachother in a regular season overtime contest. A game where LeBron finished with a triple double, and led his team to the victory.
Much like that regular season game, and the various times they've met in the playoffs. It should be a close battle, but LeBron should be able to handle business in his assignment.
Advantage: Cleveland
Power Forward - Kevin Love vs Thaddeus Young
This will be an interesting battle of the bigs in this series. Kevin Love will look to continue to be the scoring threat he's shown throughout his career, shooting threes and scoring baskets in the paint. While Young's defense is solid, he will be challenged with the likes of K-Love who is capable of dropping 34 points in one quarter, as seen earlier this season. Both players are capable of putting up double doubles each game in this series.
Thaddeus Young is capable of performing well in this series, but Kevin will likely destroy him in this head to head matchup.
Advantage: Cleveland
Center - Tristan Thompson vs Myles Turner
This will be a very physical battle in the paint.
Tristan will look to secure multiple offensive rebounds, getting the Cavaliers extra possessions each game. But it won't be an easy task with Myles Turner in the paint, boxing out and scrapping for the boards. Averaging over two blocks per game this season, the young Turner will be a terror down in the paint for Cavs offensive players. He will look to make his presence known by sending away shots. Both players will thrive at scoring points off passes from heavily defended teammates.
This will be a tough battle and could go either way, but we will give the edge to the young and dangerous Indiana Pacer big man.
Advantage: Indiana
Bench:
Statistics show the Pacers ranked above the Cavs in bench scoring, assists, rebounding and production this season.
Their is promise for Cleveland's bench, but they haven't shown it yet.
Advantage: Indiana
Final Prediction:
This should be a fun and exciting series for the first round, Paul George and LeBron James will likely lead their teams in an exciting show for the fans. We should expect these games to come down to the wire and possibly go to overtime as we saw in the recent regular season matchup. But the LeBron-led Cavs with Kyrie and Kevin should be able to handle the young Indiana group, and settle this series with their experience.
Cavaliers 4-1 Pacers
