THE Indiana Pacers delivered a dominant team performance to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 114-105 on Tuesday night (Wednesday, May 14, 2025, PH time), winning the series in five games and advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second consecutive year.
Tyrese Haliburton scored 31 points and Pascal Siakam added 21 for the Pacers.
Donovan Mitchell, who missed the second half of Sunday’s game due to a sprained left ankle, led Cleveland with 35 points. Evan Mobley added 24 points and 11 rebounds.
The fourth-seeded Pacers will now await the winner of the matchup between the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks. New York has a 3-1 advantage in the series with Game 5 on Wednesday night in Boston.
The Celtics swept the Pacers last year in the East finals.
Indiana rallied from a 19-point deficit in the first half and took control after halftime as it won all three games at Cleveland’s Rocket Arena.
It is the first time since a 2005 first-round series against Boston that the Pacers won three road games in a playoff series.
The Cavs dropped three home games in a postseason series for the first time.
Cleveland stormed out to a 44-25 lead with 8:10 remaining in the second quarter before Indiana rallied.
The Pacers got within 56-52 at halftime and then shot 14 of 22 from the field in the third quarter — including four three-pointers — to go up 85-76 going into the final 12 minutes.
Indiana seized control with a 17-2 run over a five-minute span in the third when Siakam had eight points and Haliburton five. That was part of a 29-8 spurt that saw the Pacers take a 12-point lead late in the third.
Cleveland was just 7 of 26 from the field in the quarter.
Mitchell’s three-pointer got the Cavs within 106-103 with 1:27 remaining, but Indiana closed it out by scoring eight of the final 10 points.
Thunder lead 3-2
The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Denver Nuggets 112-105 to take a 3-2 lead in their Western Conference semifinal series.
Oklahoma City can clinch the series on Thursday in Denver.
The Thunder overcame a dominant 44-point, 15-rebound performance from Denver’s Nikola Jokic with a strong team effort.
Oklahoma City jumped out to an early 12-2 lead, reminiscent of their blowout victory in Game 2.
Denver rallied to lead by 11 in the second quarter, but Oklahoma City closed the half strong, trailing 56-54 at halftime.
Denver took control early in the third quarter, with Jamal Murray scoring 13 points and Jokic adding 12, to give the Nuggets an 86-78 lead going into the fourth.
Oklahoma City’s Lu Dort hit three three-pointers in a two-minute span to cut Denver’s lead to 92-90 midway through the fourth.
Jokic hit a deep fadeaway three-pointer to tie the game at 103 before Oklahoma City closed it out with key baskets from Jalen Williams and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. / From the wires