Live Thread: Pacers @ Cavs

Good evening CtB!

First off apologies for the lack of recaps this past week, life is getting in the way but stay tuned for some retrospectives as soon as yours truly can kick this nasty cold virus. The Cavs welcome the Indiana Pacers to the shores of Lake Erie. The Pacers are one of the more surprising stories of this NBA season, with Rick Carlisle guiding his squad to an over .500 record in spite of all the speculation that they’d be tanking for Wemby or Scoot. They were able to snag Tyrese Haliburton and Buddy Hield from the Sacramento Kings, and drafted one of the more impressive rookies in this class in Bennedict Mathurin. The future is looking solid for the Hoosier State team, although they will have to make a decision about Myles Turner’s future with the team. The Pacers being 7-8 point underdogs seems very off as the Pacers have always given the Cavs a good test. Yours truly expects no different tonight.

This game will be a clash of styles as the Cavs will look to slow this game to a dirge and dominate the paint, whereas the Pacers want to run and launch threes… styles make fights so this should be a great test regarding whether the Cavs can impose their will (or not) on their opponent.

INJURY UPDATES:

#Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said that having the next six games at home will help a lot in regard to Ricky Rubio's recovery and return to the floor.

Bickerstaff said that the hope is for Rubio to practice with the team in some capacity on Tuesday.

— Evan Dammarell (@AmNotEvan) December 16, 2022

#Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff shared that Dean Wade is slowly progressing from his left shoulder injury.

— Evan Dammarell (@AmNotEvan) December 16, 2022

Tip off is scheduled for 7:30PM Eastern time and will be broadcasted live on Bally Sports Ohio/Great Lakes, GO CAVS!