Cavaliers Star Makes Shocking Admission About Loss to Pacers in Playoffs

The Indiana Pacers came up short in the worst possible way for their first-ever NBA title. The Pacers lost in seven games to the Oklahoma City Thunder, a loss that was particularly painful.

Not only did they lose the game, but they also lost their star guard, Tyrese Haliburton, in the contest. The Pacers were without their best player for most of the game, which might have altered the outcome.

One will never know, but it certainly hurts to know their best player was not available for the team's biggest game of the season.

Nonetheless, the Pacers put together an impressive playoff run, knocking off both the No. 1 and No. 3 seeds in the Eastern Conference. One of those upsets came against the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers, who entered the series as heavy favorites and were widely expected to make a deep Finals push.

But the Pacers had other plans — and made a loud statement in the process.

Beating the Cavaliers came as quite a surprise, and no one was more surprised than Cavaliers star guard Donovan Mitchell.

During a recent interview with Taylor Rooks, Cavaliers star guard Donovan Mitchell opened up about Cleveland getting eliminated by Indiana.

“I get paid a lot of money to play basketball, but what comes with that is the criticism of like, hey, can Donovan do it? Like that’s going to be the question because when we win, it’s that’s just how it works,” Mitchell said. “I think there’s a world where people are definitely excited to see you fail. I think that’s just sports. I don’t think that’s just I think it’s life, but also sports. I also know there’s a bunch of people in Cleveland and other cities I know rooting for it to happen. So for me not really getting consumed by that and understanding like, hey, you know, this loss definitely messed me up a little bit, you know what I mean?

“More so than most years. And that’s what it’s going to take for it to not happen again. And I made the joke after the end of the year like this could happen eight more times. I’m not going to stop.”

The Pacers defeated the Cavaliers in five games in the second round of the playoffs.

Indiana simply looked like the better team in the series, and they proved that in an unexpected short series.

More Pacers news: Pacers Insider Says Myles Turner Joining Bucks Isn't That 'Stunning'

Pacers Trying to Trade for Big Man From West Contender to Replace Myles Turner

Pacers Lowballed Myles Turner, Who Wanted to Stay Before Joining Bucks for $107 Million

For more news and notes on the Indiana Pacers, visit Indiana Pacers on SI.