Andrew Nembhard scored 23 points and Tyrese Haliburton had 22 points, 13 assists and three blocked shots as the Indiana Pacers pulled away for a 121-112 road win over the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Sunday night.
Pascal Siakam and Aaron Nesmith each scored 17 points, and Myles Turner had 13 points, 11 rebounds, three steals and two blocks for fourth-seeded Indiana, which handed the Cavaliers their first loss of the postseason.
“We’re definitely the heavy underdog, but we’re trying to control what we can,” Haliburton said. “It gives us a lot of momentum for sure, but this is the best team in our conference. They don’t lose much.”
Haliburton’s 3-pointer with 6:21 left put the Pacers ahead for good at 104-102.
“Being the point guard is like being the mom, trying to take care of everybody,” Haliburton said. “I guess if we win the game, it means I’m a good mom.”
Cleveland shooting guard Donovan Mitchell scored 33 points, but he shot just 13 of 30 from the field and 1 of 11 on 3-point attempts. The six-time All-Star broke Michael Jordan’s NBA record with his eighth straight 30-point game in a playoff series opener.
“It’s always good to be in great company, but we lost and I shot 30 times. Jordan won Game 1 and I didn’t,” Mitchell said. “We didn’t play our best basketball. We’ve got to play better. We missed a lot of open looks, yeah, but we’ve still got to find a way to win.”
Ty Jerome had 21 points and eight assists, and Evan Mobley posted 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Cavaliers. Cleveland played its third straight game without All-Star guard Darius Garland, who sprained his left big toe against the Miami Heat on April 23.
Cleveland was sluggish from the tip in its first game in six days, falling behind by 11 in the first quarter and 12 in the second.
“We did a good job trying to make it tough, flying around,” Nembhard said.
Nesmith had three 3-pointers in the first five minutes of the third period, extending Indiana’s lead to 80-68. The Cavaliers responded moments later with a 13-0 run fueled by nine points from Mitchell. Turner’s 3-pointer at the horn put the Pacers back in front 92-90.
“They threw a major haymaker in the second part of the third quarter, so Myles’ three was big because it gave us the lead going into the fourth,” Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said. “In the fourth, we did a lot of good things.”
Indiana’s advantage swelled to 45-33 on Bennedict Mathurin’s hoop early in the second, but the Cavaliers closed within 64-58 at intermission. Mitchell had 15 points on 7-of-16 shooting in the half, while Siakam scored 13 and Nembhard had 12 for the Pacers.
“They do a good job moving the ball, so we’ve got to guard our yard a little better,” Cleveland’s Mobley said.
Cleveland completed the only sweep in the East on April 28 in Miami, setting a league record with a 122-point combined margin of victory in a four-game sweep. The Cavaliers are competing in back-to-back conference semifinals for the first time since 2017-18.
Fourth-seeded Indiana eliminated Milwaukee in five games in the opening round. The Pacers reached the 2024 East final, losing to eventual champion Boston in four games.
–Field Level Media
