Indiana couldn't miss. Oklahoma City, Denver and Cleveland ... well, they missed.
In simple terms, that's how Sunday went in the NBA playoffs.
The Pacers are one game away from a return trip to the Eastern Conference Finals after building a 44-point lead and rolling past Cleveland. The top-seeded Cavaliers now trail the series 3-1 — and have star guard Donovan Mitchell, who didn't play in the second half on Sunday because of a left ankle injury, set for an MRI on Monday.
The top-seeded Thunder won in Denver to even that series at 2-2 after Game 4 started slowly — with only 25 combined points in the first quarter, matching the worst start to a playoff game in the shot-clock era that started in 1954. The teams combined to shoot 33.5% for the game, the lowest percentage in a playoff game since 2004.
On Monday, a pair of Game 4s are on the slate: New York will seek a 3-1 lead on Boston, and Golden State will try to avoid a 3-1 deficit when it plays host to Minnesota.
Monday's national TV schedule
All times Eastern
7:30 p.m. — Boston at New York (ESPN)
10 p.m. — Minnesota at Golden State (ESPN)
Tuesday's national TV schedule
All times Eastern
7 p.m. — Indiana at Cleveland (TNT/truTV/Max)
9:30 p.m. — Denver at Oklahoma City (TNT/truTV/Max)
Wednesday's national TV schedule
All times Eastern
7 p.m. — New York at Boston (TNT)
9:30 p.m. — Golden State at Minnesota (TNT)
Betting odds
Oklahoma City (+135) continues to be favored to win the NBA title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, followed by Boston (+225).
Minnesota (+800) is next, followed by Indiana (+1400), Cleveland (+1500), New York (+2000), Denver (+2000) and Golden State (+6600).
Cleveland's odds took a major hit after the loss Sunday to Indiana.
Award season
There's no word yet on when the NBA will announce this season's MVP. It'll be Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Denver's Nikola Jokic or Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Also coming in the next few weeks: the All-NBA, All-Rookie and All-Defensive teams.
Other awards so far:
— Oklahoma City's Sam Presti won executive of the year.
— Cleveland's Kenny Atkinson won coach of the year. He also won the same award from the National Basketball Coaches Association.
— Boston's Jrue Holiday won the social justice award and the sportsmanship award.
— Atlanta's Dyson Daniels won most improved player.
— San Antonio's Stephon Castle won rookie of the year.
— Golden State's Stephen Curry won the Twyman-Stokes teammate of the year award.
— Golden State's Draymond Green won the hustle award.
— Cleveland's Evan Mobley won defensive player of the year.
— New York's Jalen Brunson won clutch player of the year.
— Boston's Payton Pritchard won sixth man of the year.
Scoring leaders
The highest-scoring games by players so far in this year's playoffs:
48 — Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland vs. Indiana, May 6
43 — Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland vs. Indiana, May 9
43 — Jamal Murray, Denver vs. LA Clippers, April 29
43 — Anthony Edwards, Minnesota vs. LA Lakers, April 27
42 — Nikola Jokic, Denver at Oklahoma City, May 5
40 — Jalen Brunson, New York at Detroit, May 1
39 — Kawhi Leonard, LA Clippers at Denver, April 21
Key upcoming events
Monday — Draft lottery, Chicago.
May 18 or 20 — Game 1, Western Conference finals.
May 19 or 21 — Game 1, Eastern Conference finals.
June 2 — Last possible date for Game 7 of Eastern Conference finals.
June 3 — Last possible date for Game 7 of the Western Conference finals.
June 5 — Game 1, NBA Finals. (Other games: June 8, June 11, June 13, June 16, June 19 and Game 7, if necessary, will be June 22.)
June 25 — NBA draft, first round.
June 26 — NBA draft, second round.
Stories of note
— Preview of Monday's games: Celtics-Knicks, Timberwolves-Warriors
— The draft lottery: 14 ping-pong balls, one No. 1 pick
— Timberwolves say fan was ejected for conduct toward Draymond Green.
— Pat Riley speaks: On Heat future, on Jimmy Butler, on being 80
— Tyrese Haliburton was willing to pay a fine. The NBA warned him instead.
— These are the playoffs of the big comeback, where no 20-point lead is safe.
— Gregg Popovich's new job: 'El Jefe'
— Spurs coach Gregg Popovich steps down.
— Mitch Johnson takes over for Pop in San Antonio.
— Appreciation: Gregg Popovich changed the NBA.
— Grizzlies promote Iisalo to head coach, remove interim tag.
— A look inside the numbers of this season, headed into the playoffs
Comeback season
There have been five wins by teams that trailed by 20 points or more so far in these playoffs. That's the most in any postseason during the play-by-play era, which started with the 1997 playoffs.
The biggest deficits that were successfully overcome:
29 — Oklahoma City at Memphis, April 24 (Thunder won 114-108)
20 — Indiana vs. Milwaukee, April 29 (Pacers won 119-118)
20 — New York at Boston, May 5 (Knicks won 108-105)
20 — Indiana at Cleveland, May 6 (Pacers won 120-119)
20 — New York at Boston, May 7 (Knicks won 91-90)
Stats of the day
— The Knicks have faced deficits of 20 or more points in six games against Boston this season. Against the rest of the league, the Knicks have trailed by 20 or more six times combined.
— There have been 55 playoff games so far this year. Home teams won 28, road teams won 27.
— Julius Randle had a triple-double for Minnesota on Saturday. He's now the second player to have one in the playoffs for the Timberwolves; Kevin Garnett did it three times, most recently in 2004.
Quote of the day
“You've got to beat us four times. That’s what it comes down to. Not twice, not once, not three. You've got to win four games. So, it's a lot of basketball to be played.” — Boston's Jaylen Brown, after the Celtics closed within 2-1 of the Knicks with their win Saturday.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
Credit: AP
Credit: AP