Tyreese Haliburton made a 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds remaining as the Pacers scored the final eight points in 47.9 seconds to stun the short-handed and top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers 120-119 on Tuesday night to take a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinals series.
Haliburton scored 11 of his 19 points in the final 12 minutes. After Andrew Nembhard stole an inbounds pass by Cleveland’s Max Strus with 27.5 seconds remaining, Indiana tried to find a potential tying 3-pointer before Haliburton drove inside and got fouled.
Donovan Mitchell scored 48 points for Cleveland, who were missing three key players, including two starters. NBA Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley (left ankle) and key reserve De’Andre Hunter (right thumb) were injured in Game 1, while Darius Garland (left big toe) missed his fourth straight postseason game.
“I feel like we outplayed them for the majority of the game and then towards the end we had our mental lapses. They capitalized on every single mistake that we made,” said Jarrett Allen, who had 22 points and 12 rebounds.
Mitchell scored 15 points in the third quarter as the Cavaliers built a 98-81 lead late in the period. But the Pacers rallied with a 17-6 run to get back in it.
Cleveland looked as though it got some breathing room with 1:06 remaining when Max Strus hit a 3-pointer off an assist by Mitchell to put them up 117-110.
But the Cavs couldn’t hold on again as they committed two turnovers and the Pacers had a pair of offensive rebounds that led to points in the final minute. It’s the first time Cleveland dropped its first two at home in the playoffs since 1996 in the first round against the Knicks.
