NBA playoffs: Tyrese Haliburton, Pacers hold on late to close out Cavaliers and advance to Eastern Conference finals

The Indiana Pacers are heading back to the Eastern Conference finals.

Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers held on Tuesday night to grab a 114-105 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Arena in Game 5. That gave the Pacers the 4-1 series win and punched their ticket to a second consecutive conference finals, where they’ll face the winner of the New York Knicks-Boston Celtics series.

It also sent the top-ranked team in the Eastern Conference home early. Cleveland won 15 straight games to start the year and 64 games in the regular season, the second most in franchise history. The Cavaliers haven’t been back to the NBA Finals since 2018, which was the end of the LeBron James era.

Pacers rally out of early 19-point hole

The Cavaliers came out ready to go on Tuesday and broke open a 12-point lead in the first quarter, thanks to 13 quick points from Donovan Mitchell. That came despite Cleveland going 0 of 5 from deep.

But just like that, after falling down by as many as 19, the Pacers turned it on and completely flipped the game before halftime. They mounted a long 27-9 run and cut the deficit to four points at the break. Haliburton hit three 3-pointers in less than a minute, including one from just inside the Cleveland half-court logo.

Haliburton dropped 17 points in the first half and hit five 3-pointers, all of which came in the second quarter. Mitchell had 16 points but shot 3 of 11 from the field and 0 of 5 from behind the arc.

It took them a few minutes in the third quarter — and head coach Rick Carlisle called a timeout just a minute in after they gave up two quick buckets — but the Pacers finally took the lead after a Pascal Siakam 3-pointer just a few minutes later. That capped a mini 11-0 run that spanned less than two full minutes.

The Cavaliers’ offense shut down for most of the rest of the quarter, which only became worse after Mitchell limped off the floor around the five-minute mark. Mitchell left Game 4 early, too, after he tweaked his ankle just before halftime. Mitchell didn’t appear to do anything specifically, but he appeared to be in more and more pain as the quarter went on.

By the end of the period, the Pacers had built a nine-point lead that felt like it was 20 or more. They ended the quarter on a 31-13 run. The Cavaliers shot 7-of-24 in the period, and went more than seven minutes without a made field goal during the worst of it. Mitchell made it back onto the floor by the end of the period, however, and he immediately converted an and-one.

Though the Cavaliers used a quick 10-2 burst to cut Indiana’s lead to a single point, that was as close as they got. Haliburton responded with a dunk right away, which seemed to reset Indiana. The Pacers then responded to every push the Cavaliers made the rest of the way — including back-to-back 3-pointers from Mitchell and another one with about 90 seconds left to keep it a one-possession game. But Andrew Nembhard converted an and-one on the other end after hitting a short bucket through Darius Garland. That allowed the Pacers the space they needed to cruise to the nine-point win in the final minute and officially wrap up the series.

Mitchell led Cleveland with 35 points and nine rebounds. Evan Mobley finished with 24 points and 11 rebounds, and De’Andre Hunter put up 12 points off the bench. The Cavaliers, who went just 9 of 35 from behind the arc, missed four straight free throws to end the game, too.

Haliburton led the way with 31 points and eight assists for the Pacers. He shot 10 of 15 from the field with six 3-pointers. Siakam added 21 points and eight rebounds, and Nembhard finished with 18 points.

The Pacers will now turn their attention to the Knicks-Celtics series. The Knicks hold a 3-1 lead over the Celtics, who just lost star Jayson Tatum to a ruptured Achilles, heading into their Game 5 on Wednesday night. If the Knicks can win, they’ll make it to their first conference finals since 1999.

While they still have a ways to go to pull it off, Haliburton and the Pacers are now just four wins away from making the franchise’s first Finals appearance in 25 years. After going 8-2 so far in the postseason and seeing the defending champions on the ropes, this may be the best opportunity the Pacers will have to finally end that dry spell.