CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Pacers can’t stop Donovan Mitchell. Cavs fans can’t believe Mitchell’s at-rim acrobatics. And Cleveland’s star shooting guard can’t maintain this scoring pace. ... right? Welcome to the mind of a helpless fan base, where the only hope against greatness is the law of averages. Bad news, Indiana diehards: Mitchell’s formula for success, which included 43 points, nine rebounds and five assists, looked replicable during Cleveland’s 126-104 win over the Pacers on Friday. How do I know? Because he just did it the other day. Actually, Friday marked Cleveland’s third instance of consecutive 40-plus point performances in franchise history. Only one other Cav in history cracks the list. Pacers fans know him well: former Cavs forward LeBron James, who performed this feat twice, has eliminated Indiana five times over his 22-year career (twice with Cleveland). No one’s comparing Mitchell to James, but both stars can soothe and/or torture a fan base when a playoff game starts to turn. Depends on your perspective, really. Back in Cleveland, Cavs fans could relax knowing Mitchell wouldn’t let his team blow another big fourth-quarter lead. Indiana cut an 18-point lead a close as 11 during Friday’s fourth quarter. But Mitchell closed strong with 14 points in under seven fourth-quarter minutes. Pacers fans, on the other hand, didn’t have the same luxury. Indiana guard Tyrese Haliburton thrived on clutch moments in Games 1 and 2, but the two-time All-Star tallied just four points and five assists during Game 3. He only played four fourth-quarter minutes. No shade to the underrated All-Star, but greatness doesn’t get a day off. Just ask Mitchell. Ask the only other Cleveland player to perform like this in the playoffs. The Pacers know them both well. Four more takeaways from Game 3 of Cavs vs. Pacers: 2. Grade the injured guys on a curve Darius Garland shot poorly. Evan Mobley fumbled a couple passes. And De’Andre Hunter looked out of sync. What did you expect from a bunch of injured players? Don’t focus on what Garland (turf toe), Mobley (sprained ankle) and Hunter (dislocated thumb) can’t do as they return from injury and regain their rhythm in a fast-paced playoff series. Focus on what they gave the Cavs that couldn’t be replaced in their absence. In Garland’s case, Cleveland gained a crafty playmaker it sorely missed during the first two games of this series. Did Donovan Mitchell look fresher during Friday’s win? Wonder if it helped to have another offensive engine on the court. With Mobley back, the Pacers logged their lowest scoring total of the series. Different world with the Defensive Player of the Year on the court. Mobley finished with three blocks and three steals to go with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Hunter added five rebounds, extra length to Cleveland’s zone defense and a shooter the Pacers had to account for on the perimeter (even if he didn’t make any 3-pointers). Isaac Okoro and Dean Wade can guard, but defenses can relax against them. Not anymore. The Cavs are healthy(-ish) again. And their returners give Cleveland new life, even while gimping. 3. Max Strus lives up to his nickname Strus will hate to hear this, but his second straight 20-point performance embodies every reason that Mitchell has nicknamed him “Heat Culture.” Strus filled a scoring role, but his game runs deeper than that. His full-court pressure against Haliburton set a defensive standard and slowed Haliburton’s stamina. His five assists highlighted his hoops intellect. And his seven rebounds reminded of his hard-nosed Heat roots. Strus doesn’t like talking about his former team, but Mitchell can’t help it. During games like Friday’s, you can’t help but notice the habits he brought here. 4. A tough conversation about Ty Jerome Ty Jerome is one of this season’s best development stories. He finished third in the race for the NBA’s best sixth man. But he might not be the best big-minute option for the Cavs in this series. Jerome struggled again in Cleveland’s Game 3 win over Indiana, during which he scored two points on 1-of-8 shooting. Through three games of this series, Jerome has made 10 of 42 shots. And lest we forget: He played a role in three key parts of Cleveland’s Game 2 collapse. On the stolen inbound pass, Max Strus was trying to find Jerome in the backcourt. On Tyrese Haliburton’s offensive rebound, Jerome missed a box-out. And on Haliburton’s game-winning shot, Jerome was the primary defender. The Cavs have moved past their ugly loss, but Jerome’s job is to score and facilitate. He’s not performing either part well enough right now. And the playoff stage is no place for a sixth man shooting himself out of a slump. It might be time to shorten Jerome’s leash, at least for a game or two. No need to bench him and hurt his confidence. But Cleveland has almost no room for error after dropping Games 1 and 2. Tough conversations are required, even for fan (and locker room) favorites like Jerome. 5. Atkinson Coach of the Year company (or lack thereof) Atkinson joined Mike Brown and Bill Fitch this week as the only Cavs coaches to win NBA Coach of the Year honors. Excellent company. But check out the list of names with whom Atkinson still doesn’t share a trophy: Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, former Jazz coach Jerry Sloan (Hall of Famer) and former Atkinson boss Rick Adelman (10th all-time in coaching wins) are just a few coaching legends who have never won the award Cleveland’s coach just won. Voter error? Possibly. The award has historically been handed to the coach who best outperformed expectations. But the point remains: You don’t get many chances to be recognized as the best. Just ask some of the best coaches ever. So regardless of how Atkinson’s first season ends, his first COTY award is worth celebrating. “It’s one of those things, they can’t take it from you,” Atkinson said during Tuesday’s shootaround. “It’s etched forever. Really cool.”