Pacers 129-109 Cavaliers (12 May, 2025) Game Recap

INDIANAPOLIS — — The Indiana Pacers spent two days searching for options in opposition to top-seeded Cleveland.

On Sunday, they delivered an emphatic reply.

Pascal Siakam scored 21 factors, Myles Turner and Obi Toppin every scored 20 and the Pacers tied an NBA playoff record with a 41-point halftime lead earlier than blowing out the Cavs 129-109 to take a 3-1 collection lead.

The No. 4-seeded Pacers can shut it out Tuesday in Cleveland, the place they’ve already received twice.

“We haven’t done anything yet,” coach Rick Carlisle stated after incomes his thirty third playoff win with Indiana, passing Larry Chook for essentially the most within the franchise’s NBA historical past. “We’re going to keep approaching this like we have everything to prove. We know people don’t believe in us, so we’re just going to stay in the fight and keep fighting.”

The Pacers certainly showed some resolve two days after an embarrassing 22-point loss on their residence court docket, a sport through which Cleveland dominated the glass and held two-time All-Star Tyrese Haliburton to 4 factors and 5 assists.

This time, the towel-waving residence crowd helped spur Indiana, proper from the beginning of a bodily, typically chippy sport.

The Pacers constructed a 44-point lead earlier than settling for an 80-39 halftime margin that matched the league’s earlier greatest since detailed play-by-play was stored, set by the Cavs in Sport 2 of the 2017 Jap Convention finals in opposition to Boston.

Indiana did a lot of its injury with out Bennedict Mathurin, considered one of its greatest scorers, who was ejected for a Flagrant 2 foul simply 7 1/2 minutes into the sport. And with Donovan Mitchell lacking the second half due to an injured left ankle, the Cavs had no likelihood.

Darius Garland led the Cavs with 21 factors in his second sport again from an injured toe. Mitchell completed with 12. Coach Kenny Atkinson stated Mitchell would have an MRI examination Monday.

“Complete domination by them,” Atkinson stated briefly, earlier than explaining a minimum of the Cavs have two of the ultimate three video games on their residence court docket. “They dominated us in every facet of the game.”

Indiana wasted no time taking management shortly with early runs of 11-2 and 13-0 to construct a commanding 48-23 lead with 9:24 left within the first half. They didn’t cease — or again down — there, both, closing the half on a 19-2 run

Aaron Nesmith’s buzzer-beating midrange jumper put the Pacers in one other unique membership — the tenth group in playoff historical past and second this week to attain 80 factors within the first half of a playoff sport. Oklahoma Metropolis scored 87 factors in Sport 2 in opposition to Denver.

Turner made all 4 of his 3-point makes an attempt with Indianapolis 500 winners Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon, WNBA Rookies of the Yr Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston, and former NFL star Reggie Wayne within the crowd.

“We felt the last game, they set the tone from a physical standpoint,” Haliburton stated after ending with 11 factors, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. “Today, we came out and set the tone from the jump, really just rode that wave.”

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