NEWNow you can listen to Pak Gazette articles!
The Cleveland Cavaliers entered this year’s playoffs as the best seed at the Eastern Conference and then went through a first round series with the Miami Heat.
After sweeping the heat, the cavs opened a second round series with the Indiana Pacers on Sunday.
The Pacers bother the CAVs in game 1 of the East semifinals, and Cleveland’s chief coach Kenny Atkinson, apparently disagreed with the Pacers’s game style.
CLICK HERE for more sports coverage at Foxnews.com
The coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Kenny Atkinson, reacts during the first half against the Indiana Pacers in game 1 of the second round of the NBA playoffs of 2025 in Rocket Arena in Cleveland on May 4, 2025. (Ken Blaze/Imagn images)
During his press conference after the game, Atkinson revealed that Evan Mobley aggravated an ankle during the game, while Deandre Hunter dislocated a thumb. While the coach said that the game did not intensify at the level of being “dirty”, he suggested that Indiana’s physicality contributed to the injuries.
Knicks erases the 20 -point deficit, Celtics shock with extra time gain in game 1
“I don’t think they were dirty play, but I think a line of physicality passed,” Atkinson said.
The Indiana Pacers striker, Pascal Siakam (43), defends the eaves of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Evan Mobley (4) during the second half in game 1 of the second round of the NBA playoffs of the NBA of 2025 in Rocket Arena in Cleveland on May 4, 2025. (Ken Blaze/Imagn images)
“That line that we have been talking about where it became excessive. So, number 1 was not the one that was not in the de’andre tray, which I do not know … I felt that it was absolutely erased and dislocated its thumb, so he will be questionable. And then evad, around the same time, I cannot remember if it was sooner or later (Myles) competitions of his two points, he feels low, clearly under him … he saw it. game.”
The coach of the Pacers, Rick Carlisle, responded to Atkinson’s statement, saying: “He is protecting his players.”
The coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Kenny Atkinson, reacts in the first quarter against the Indiana Pacers during game 2 of the second round of the NBA playoffs of 2025 in Rocket Arena Cleveland on May 6, 2025. (David Richard/Imagn images)
“And that is a large part of the coach’s work,” Carlisle added. “There are so many events in an NBA game. They became three plays in the League. When he becomes plays in the league, the other team must be notified of that, so they notified us … I do not want to tell him the number of Milwaukee plays, and we won four of five games. There are so many things in a series of heating plays with which he is in the series of plays with which he is in the series.
Carlisle said at least one of the plays was the result of a “lost call.”
“The work with (Jarrett) Allen … That was a lost call, clearly,” said Carlisle.
The NBA fined Carlisle $ 35,000 in May 2024 after he directed some criticisms of the referees who officiated the Pacers playoff series against the New York Knicks.
Shortly before game 2 had been Tuesday night, ESPN reported that Mobley and Hunter were discarded. Darius Garland, who was out of game 1 with an injury, was not available for game 2.
The cavs had an 81-67 advantage over the Pacers with 5:07 remaining in the third quarter of game 2 Tuesday night.
