Indiana Pacers 114 – Cleveland Cavaliers 105 (May 13th, 2025)

(INDIANAPOLIS, IN) – For the tenth time in franchise history, the Indiana Pacers are heading to the Eastern Conference Finals with another road victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

1. First Quarter

For the tenth consecutive playoff game, the Indiana Pacers started Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam, and Myles Turner. Tonight marked the third consecutive game for the Cleveland Cavaliers starting Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Max Strus, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen. The only player out tonight was Sam Merrill for Cleveland with a strained neck. Both teams struggled scoring the basketball early in the game tonight. Through the first five minutes of the game, Cleveland’s lead was 9-6 after Mitchell completed a three-point play that broke a 6-6 tie. Bennedict Mathurin would make it a 13-12 ballgame when he converted a contested floater with 5:01 left in the quarter. Indiana’s offense would stall out for the next four minutes. That allowed the Cavs to take the first double digit lead at 25-14 when Mitchell got to the goal and converted a layup. Cleveland’s largest lead in the quarter was fourteen points, and after twelve minutes of play, they led 31-19. Mitchell was the leading scorer in the quarter with 13 points. Mobley chipped in with another 10 points for the Cavs. As for Indiana, it was Nembhard leading the team in scoring with 6 points. The Pacers shot 7/22 (31.8%) from the field and 1/8 (12.5%) from three-point range. Cleveland was 0/5 from downtown but made up for it by going 11/12 at the foul line.

2. Second Quarter

In the first quarter, Haliburton was pretty much non-existent. He picked up two fouls, scored two points, and did not record an assist. He was the difference in the second quarter for Indiana. The Pacers were looking for offense through the first four minutes of the second quarter as they found themselves down a game high nineteen points. Haliburton started the comeback with hitting a three and then followed it up by setting up Nesmith for a three-pointer to cut the Cleveland lead to thirteen points. With 5:44 left in the half, Siakam made it a ten-point game after successfully converting two foul shots. On the next three possessions for Indiana, Haliburton hit three consecutive thirty-foot triples to make it a 52-47 contest. He cut the Cleveland lead down to a point when he took a triple two steps after crossing the timeline and put it straight through the cylinder. Cleveland scored the final four points of the half to take a 56-52 advantage into halftime. Haliburton finished the second quarter with 15 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists on 5/5 shooting. As for Cleveland, De’Andre Hunter led the team with 7 points off the bench. Mitchell and Garland combined to score 5 points on 1/9 shooting. Leading all players in scoring was Haliburton with 17 points, followed by Mitchell with 16 points and Mobley with 14 points. Nesmith, Siakam, and Nembhard all had 9 points at the break. The Pacers held the Cavs to 1/11 shooting from three-point range in the half.

3. Third Quarter

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The start to the third quarter would not match how the Pacers concluded the first half. Cleveland came out of the break looking refreshed and started the half with consecutive field goals to go ahead 60-52. Rick Carlisle called a timeout to get things back on track. It took Indiana two minutes to make their first field goal, which was the first basket of the game for Turner. Cleveland pushed the lead back to nine points on the following possession with a three from Mobley. Indiana would hold Cleveland to 13 points the rest of the quarter and take control of the game. Siakam knocked down a three-pointer in front of the Pacers bench to give them their first lead of the game. The run for Indiana after going down by nine points was 26-5 and the Pacers were ahead 80-68 after a three-point play from Toppin. That was the largest lead in the quarter, and game, for the Pacers. Cleveland closed the quarter by outscoring Indiana by three points to trail 85-76. Leading the Pacers in scoring off the bench was Thomas Bryant with 9 points in the quarter. The Cavaliers shot 7/26 (26.9%) in the quarter from the field and 3/10 from the three-point line. As for Indiana, they shot 14/22 (63.6%) from the field and 4/8 from downtown. Leading all players in scoring through three periods was Haliburton with 24 points. Mobley was leading Cleveland in scoring with 20 points after three quarters.

4. Fourth Quarter

With their backs against the wall, you knew the Cleveland Cavaliers would dig deep to keep their season alive. They started the final quarter of the game by slowly chipping away at the Pacers lead. With 9:24 left in the game, Garland got to the goal and converted a layup to make it an 87-86 game. Cleveland drew within two points on four different occasions in the final 9:24 but never got over the hump to take the lead. Indiana had an answer every single time. It was Haliburton, Turner, Nesmith, and Nembhard all with buckets. The triple from Nembhard with 4:39 left in the game started an 8-0 run to push the Pacers lead out to 106-97 with 2:38 remaining. Mitchell had a chance to cut the Pacers lead in half with three free throws, but he missed ALL of them. He would come back and do it the conventional way with a three-ball after a missed shot by Siakam and Haliburton. Nembhard countered with a three-point play after finishing through the contact applied by Darland. Cleveland was still lingering with 43.7 seconds left when Mobley tipped in a missed shot by Hunter. Indiana came back the other way and delivered the dagger with a three-pointer from Turner. Those three points were the final points scored in the game. Indiana advances to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second consecutive season with a 114-105 win.

5. Top Performers

Tyrese Haliburton (31p, 8a, 6r, 1b, 1s), Pascal Siakam (21p, 8r, 5a, 1b, 1s), Andrew Nembhard (18p, 6a), Aaron Nesmith (13p, 13r, 2a, 2s), and Myles Turner (10p, 7r, 4b), For Cleveland, Donovan Mitchell (35p, 9r, 4s), Evan Mobley (24p, 11r), De’Andre Hunter (12p, 5r), and Darius Garland (11p, 4r, 3a). For tonight’s full box score, click here.

6. Notes

• Indiana is now 4-1 in closeout games between last year and this year
• Indiana advances to the ECF for the 10th time in franchise history
  • Ties 6th most appearances in NBA history
• Indiana was 5-0 in Cleveland this year, the rest of the NBA is 5-36
• Indiana is 29-3 this season when Tyrese Haliburton scored 20+ points
• Cleveland Cavaliers are the 28 team to win 64+ games and just the 4th team to not make the conference finals
• Cleveland’s 10 assists marked a season low – fewest in a game since 2016
• Aaron Nesmith’s 13 rebounds ties the 2nd most in a game by a guard in franchise history (Oladipo in ’18)
  • Career high for rebounds in a game and only his fourth career double-double
    • 2nd double-double during the playoffs
  • Andrew Nembhard has hit 3+ threes in 5 playoff games this playoff run (5-0)
  • Andrew Nembhard has scored 15+ points in 6 playoff games this playoff run (6-0)
  • Donovan Mitchell scored 30+ points in 4 of the 5 games against Indiana
    • Mitchell scored 30+ points in 6 of the 9 playoff games for the Cavaliers
  • Donovan Mitchell finished the series shooting 12/49 (23.5%) from three-point range
  • Evan Mobley scored 20+ points in 3 playoff games
    • Marked 5th career playoff game with 20+ points
  • Pascal Siakam has scored 20+ points in 5 playoff games during this run (4-1)
    • Marks 33rd career playoff game with 20+ points
  • Tyrese Haliburton’s 31 points are the most in a playoff game during this run
    • Haliburton’s 3rd playoff game with 30+ points
    • Haliburton’s 10th playoff game with 20+ points

7. Next Up

Indiana will either face the Boston Celtics or New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals, NYK currently holds a 3-1 advantage in the series with the series shifting back to Boston. These are the potential start dates:

• Monday, May 19th if NYK wins tomorrow night
• Wednesday, May 21st if BOS wins tomorrow night

Regardless of whichever date the series starts, the first home game will be on the same day as the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500, Sunday, May 25th.