Analyst Believes Cavs Deserve Criticism For Pacers Series Effort

The Cleveland Cavaliers were supposed to make it to the Eastern Conference Finals at the very least.

They were the best team in the East from start to finish in the regular season and had the second-best record in the entire NBA.

That’s why analyst Tyvis Powell was so disappointed to see their lack of competitiveness against the Indiana Pacers in the second round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs.

In a recent edition of the “Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show,” Powell said the Cavaliers deserved criticism, but he also tipped his hat to the Pacers.

“I just wish it was more competitive [between the Cavs and the Pacers]. I think that’s the thing that bothers me the most. It should’ve been more competitive. There was too many times that it looked like the Cavs just completely folded towards the Pacers. I think the Cavs deserve the criticism that they got, but you can’t deny the fact that the Pacers are playing absolutely head and shoulders above everybody right now,” Powell said.

The #Cavs deserve all the criticism they're taking for coming up short – but you can't deny how well the #Pacers are playing right now against anybody! @1Tyvis

▶️: https://t.co/MnVXrAErqT pic.twitter.com/hkFsc6cF4r

— Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show (@ultCLEsports) May 27, 2025

To be fair, the Pacers do deserve a lot of credit.

They were never considered a legitimate threat to go the distance, despite reaching this same stage last season.

They’ve lost a total of three games during this playoff run, and they’ve had some epic comebacks and dominant outings.

Then again, it’s not like the Cavs couldn’t win their series.

This is the NBA playoffs, and anybody can beat anybody on any given night.

What bothered fans was the fact that the Cavs never seemed to be truly engaged and locked in.

They were outhustled, outworked and outcoached from start to finish in the five-game loss.

Granted, things could’ve been a whole lot different if Tyrese Haliburton hadn’t knocked down that game-winning 3-pointer in Game 2, but some physicality and a strong box out would’ve prevented that from happening.

Cavs executive Koby Altman pointed to the team’s lack of mental toughness as one reason for its elimination, and they will have to address that issue this offseason.