• Game 4: Pacers' Cavaliers, Sunday 8 pm; TV: TNT

Indianapolis - The Pacers' locker room was in a bit cold after losing 3 to the Cleveland Cavaliers 126-104 games on Friday.

The way Aaron Nesmith saw, there was only one way to assess the loss.

"They worked harder than we did," Nesmith said of the Cavaliers. "We can only meet the intensity. We have to come out from the start of the game (Sunday) and try to play for 48 minutes. That's it."

Nesmith has few questions about strength, and he has the same answer to the other three questions before he exits the locker room. One of Nesmith's lockers, TJ McConnell, agreed with his teammates' dismay on Friday night, which was the Cavaliers' second quarter turn 34-13.

The Pacers had a chance to take a 3-0 lead with a 3-0 lead and will now be designed to prevent the Cavaliers from tying up the series on Sunday night and bringing Homecourt Advantage back to Cleveland.

“We need to show some battle,” McConnell said. “Honestly, I didn’t show a lot tonight.”

The Cavaliers welcomed Evan Mobley, Darius Garland and De'andre Hunter to the roster, making Cleveland go all out for the first time in the series. The Cavaliers also threw a 3-2 zone in the Pacers, falling into a longer offense for the first time in the playoffs.

6-11 Mobley and 6-8 Hunter take turns at the top of the area. In the second quarter's four-minute extension, the Pacers didn't score as the Cavaliers led from four to 13 points.

"Throwing at us is a nice curve ball," McConnell said. "The Hunter is at the top, Mobley covers a lot of space behind and they know they have people to do.

Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle talks about Game 3 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers

Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle spoke to the media after the team lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers 126-104.

Cleveland suffered a push from the Pacers later in the third quarter and early in the fourth quarter. Pascal Siakam narrowed it down to 11 points with a 21-point half-time lead on three-pointers with an 8-26 score. However, the Cavaliers quickly pushed it toward Donovan Mitchell and Max Strus and headed toward the finish line.

“I don’t think they expect it,” Mobley said of the Cavaliers defense. "It's also a defense, we didn't really run that much. I feel like it throws them away. They have to adjust and see where they can score from, and by then they've adjusted, it's too late."

Mobley said the Cavaliers felt they had a great performance in the last two games - except for the end of the second game. Entering Game 4, Mobley said the Cavaliers were "very confident".

"I feel like we played two great games," he said. "We just need to aggravate it, make it two-thirds and end it strong. That's the main thing."

Mitchell scored 43 points and he was once again the Pacers' sting and will likely continue to be the rest of the series.

"We're not going to shut him down," McConnell said. "We just need to keep working hard to make things difficult. We need to get better within coverage, talk and try to get physically with him."

On the other hand, second game hero Tyrese Haliburton scored four points and five assists on 2-8 shooting percentage in one of the worst nights in the playoffs. After the game, Pacers media relations did not allow Halliburton to interview.

“I think Max did a great job at Halliburton,” Mobley said. "All the guards did a great job of denied his ball, and when we scored, get into his body as soon as possible instead of having him touch it as much as possible. So far, it's the game plan and I think those guys have been doing well."

One of the few highlights of the Pacers on Friday was the play by Benedict Mathurin, who led by 23 points. But after two wins in Cleveland, the Pacers' crowd (prepared to be held on a beautiful Friday night) was succumbed to the Cavaliers in the final minutes of the game, and the Cavaliers were comfortable leading.

This is the first playoff defeat for the Pacers.

"It's not good," McConnell said. "It doesn't feel good. We'll make the necessary adjustments. Going so far and not losing the playoffs at home, I think it's just talking to our crowd. They're great tonight. I hope we can get them to join in more. But it doesn't do that."

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.