Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) celebrates in the first half of Game 4 against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs in Indianapolis, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
INDIANAPOLIS — Pascal Siakam scored 21 points and the Indiana Pacers tied an NBA playoff record by taking a 41-point halftime lead before routing the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers 129-109 on Sunday night for a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Pacers can earn a second straight trip to the East finals with a victory Tuesday in Cleveland, where they won the first two games.
READ: NBA: Donovan Mitchell scores 43, Cavs avoid 0-3 hole vs Pacers
PACERS TAKE 3-1 SERIES LEAD ON A DOMINANT PERFORMANCE AT HOME
Siakam: 21 PTS, 9-10 FGM, 6 REB
Turner: 20 PTS, 4-4 3PM, 7 REB
Toppin: 20 PTS, 9-14 FGM, 5 REB pic.twitter.com/B2wNary2fu— NBA (@NBA) May 12, 2025
Indiana jumped to an 80-39 lead at halftime and led by 44 points. The 41-point lead matched the margin Cleveland set in Game 2 of the 2017 Eastern Conference finals against Boston, according to Sportradar.
And Indiana did it mostly without Bennedict Mathurin, one of its top playoff scorers, who was ejected just 7 1/2 minutes into the game for a flagrant foul.
Darius Garland led the Cavs with 21 points and Donovan Mitchell had 12 despite not playing in the second half because of a left ankle injury. Coach Kenny Atkinson said his All-Star guard would have an MRI exam Monday.
For the Pacers, it was a redeeming moment in front of a towel-waving home crowd just two days after an embarrassing 22-point loss on its home court. The Cavs dominated the glass, held two-time All-Star Tyrese Haliburton to four points and five assists and fought harder than Indiana.
READ: NBA: Haliburton hits last second 3, Pacers take 2-0 lead over Cavs
This time, the Pacers left no doubt about who would be the aggressor.
Indiana took control quickly with early runs of 11-2 and 13-0 to build a commanding 48-23 lead with 9:24 left in the first half. They didn’t stop — or back down — there, either, closing the half on a 19-2 run.
Aaron Nesmith’s buzzer-beating midrange jumper put the Pacers in another exclusive club — the 10th team in playoff history and second this week to score 80 points in the first half of a playoff game. Oklahoma City scored 87 points in Game 2 against Denver.
Myles Turner made all four of his 3-point attempts and scored 20 points, as did Obi Toppin.
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