NBA Playoffs Cavaliers beat Pacers in Game 3 to take lead

Transcript

00:00The Cleveland Cavaliers finally looked like the Eastern Conference's top team on Friday.

00:06After getting stunned in the first two games of their Eastern Conference semi-final series against

00:10the Indiana Pacers, the Cavaliers took care of business with a 126-104 win in Game 3 in front

00:17of a hostile Gainbridge Fieldhouse crowd. The Pacers still lead the series 2-1.

00:24Donovan Mitchell posted his second straight 40-point game to get Cleveland there,

00:28finishing with 43 points on 14-of-29 shooting, plus 9 rebounds and 5 assists.

00:35A pivotal Game 4 is scheduled for Sunday at 8 p.m. ET in Indiana, TNT-MAX.

00:43Cavaliers get healthy, and off to a strong start. As it turns out, a team getting back the NBA

00:49Defensive Player of the Year, its starting point guard and its top bench scorer is something of a

00:55boost. The Cavaliers were without Evan Mobley, Darius Garland and DeAndre Hunter for Game 2 due to

01:01injuries, leaving them without three of their top four scorers. The team responded by leaning on

01:08Mitchell more than ever, which resulted in him posting a 48-point night, and looking absolutely

01:13gassed in the disastrous final minutes. All three were ready to go for Game 3 and helped Cleveland

01:19open the game on a tone-setting 11-0 run. The Pacers bounced back to tie the game at the end of the

01:26first quarter, but another run put the Cavaliers up double digits.