Pacers Crush Cavs 129-109 With Historic Halftime Lead/ Newslooks/ WASHINGTON/ J. Mansour/ Morning Edition/ The Indiana Pacers built a record-tying 41-point halftime lead and cruised to a 129-109 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 4. With the win, Indiana takes a commanding 3-1 lead in the first-round playoff series. The Pacers can clinch the series Tuesday in Cleveland.
Pacers Dominate Cavs With 41-Point Halftime Lead – Quick Looks
- Pacers lead Cavs 80-39 at halftime, tying NBA playoff record.
- Pascal Siakam scores 21; Turner, Toppin add 20 each.
- Indiana now leads series 3-1 and can close it Tuesday.
- Bennedict Mathurin ejected early, but Pacers rally without him.
- Cavs’ Donovan Mitchell injured, misses second half.
- Darius Garland leads Cavs with 21 points; Mitchell scores 12.
- Indiana avenges 22-point Game 3 home loss with dominant start.
- Haliburton contributes 11 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists in bounce-back game.
Pacers Crush Cavs 129-109 With Historic Halftime Lead
Deep Look
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — After two days of regrouping, the Indiana Pacers answered back in emphatic fashion. On Sunday night, they exploded out of the gates and never looked back, overwhelming the Cleveland Cavaliers 129-109 to grab a 3-1 lead in their opening-round playoff series.
The No. 4-seeded Pacers now sit just one win away from advancing, with a chance to close out the top-seeded Cavaliers on Tuesday — in Cleveland, where Indiana has already won twice this series.
The tone was set early, and ruthlessly. Behind an avalanche of scoring and energy from the home crowd, Indiana sprinted to an 80-39 halftime lead, matching the largest halftime margin in NBA playoff history, a record set by the Cavaliers themselves in 2017.
Pascal Siakam led the way with 21 points, while Myles Turner and Obi Toppin added 20 apiece in a balanced offensive effort. The Pacers poured it on early with scoring runs of 11-2 and 13-0, quickly seizing a 48-23 lead before the second quarter had even reached its midway point.
They then closed the first half on a 19-2 burst, capped by Aaron Nesmith’s buzzer-beating jumper, making them just the 10th team in NBA history to score 80+ points in a playoff half.
And they did much of it without Bennedict Mathurin, who was ejected only 7½ minutes into the game for a Flagrant 2 foul. That setback didn’t matter, as Indiana rode its depth and defensive intensity to one of the most lopsided playoff halves ever.
“We felt the last game, they set the tone from a physical standpoint,” said Tyrese Haliburton, who finished with 11 points, five rebounds, and five assists. “Today, we came out and set the tone from the jump, really just rode that wave.”
Sunday’s performance was a stark contrast to Game 3, when the Cavaliers throttled the Pacers by 22 points in Indiana and held Haliburton to just four points. But in Game 4, the Pacers flipped the script — with a vengeance.
Donovan Mitchell’s absence in the second half, due to a left ankle injury, compounded the Cavs’ woes. Head coach Kenny Atkinson said Mitchell would undergo an MRI on Monday. Mitchell had just 12 points before exiting, while Darius Garland led Cleveland with 21 points in his second game back from a toe injury.
“Complete domination by them,” Atkinson admitted. “They dominated us in every facet of the game.”
Indiana’s barrage included perfect 3-point shooting from Myles Turner, who went 4-for-4 from beyond the arc in front of a star-studded crowd that included Indy 500 legends Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon, WNBA stars Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston, and Colts icon Reggie Wayne.
With the win, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle earned his 33rd playoff victory with Indiana, surpassing Larry Bird for the most in franchise history. Still, Carlisle was quick to downplay the milestone.
“We haven’t done anything yet,” Carlisle said. “We’re going to keep approaching this like we have everything to prove.”
The Pacers are now on the brink of advancing, and if Sunday’s energy carries over, they’ll be hard to stop.
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