"A Donovan Mitchell led team has never been to a Conference Finals," Perkins wrote on X following Cleveland's elimination from the postseason. "I don’t care how you slice it, but this season for the Cavs is a complete failure."

Indiana has reached the Eastern Conference Finals for consecutive years. That's not lucky, this team is for real.

Game 5 loss. Cleveland lost the best-of-seven series 4-1. With their backs against the wall, facing the most adversity of the season, the Cavs got off to a nervy start. So did Indiana. The two teams — each with a prolific offense — were a combined 4 of 19 from the field and 0 of 7 from 3-point range in the opening four-plus minutes.

The Indiana Pacers have the chance to return to the Eastern Conference finals on Tuesday night. The Pacers have a 3-1 lead in their second-round playoff series against the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers and can close it out in Game 5.