Game 3 Observations: Another Mitchell Masterpiece, A New Zone Defense and Max Strus' Role

The Cleveland Cavaliers looked more like themselves on Friday night.

INDIANAPOLIS — Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson didn’t want to admit that Friday night’s Game 3 against the Indiana Pacers was a “must-win” game.

In the technical sense, it wasn’t. The Cavs could have lost this game, gone down 0-3 in the series and then won four straight games including a decisive Game 7 in Cleveland. That would have been possible, even if it hasn’t ever happened in NBA postseason history.

Atkinson’s messaging was different to the team. Rather than making this a must-win, he wanted the team to make it about themselves.

“I don't use that term, but the term I'm using is lean into our identity, who we are, who we've been all year,” Atkinson said before Friday’s game. “That's the key to the rest of the series.”

The Cavs wanted to double down on who they were, rather than worry about things outside of their control. That hasn’t been the entire problem during the two losses in this series, but the Cavs didn’t feel as if they were playing like the 64-win version of themselves that we saw during the regular season. That was clear in Game 1, and it was better for parts of Game 2, but the close to that game put a sour taste in everyone’s mouth.