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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Basketball devider Pacers rip Cavs for 3-1 lead; OKC ties series

Pacers rip Cavs for 3-1 lead; OKC ties series

Published May 12, 2025 05:17 pm
Indiana Pacers forward Pascal Siakam goes to the basket against Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen (31) in the second half of Game 4 in the Eastern Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs in Indianapolis, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Indiana Pacers forward Pascal Siakam goes to the basket against Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen (31) in the second half of Game 4 in the Eastern Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs in Indianapolis, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indiana Pacers spent two days looking for solutions against top-seeded Cleveland.

On Sunday, May 11, they delivered an emphatic answer.

Pascal Siakam scored 21 points, Myles Turner and Obi Toppin each scored 20 and the Pacers tied an NBA playoff record with a 41-point halftime lead before blowing out the Cavs 129-109 to take a 3-1 series lead.

The No. 4-seeded Pacers can close it out Tuesday in Cleveland, where they’ve already won twice.

The Pacers certainly showed some resolve two days after an embarrassing 22-point loss on their home court, a game in which Cleveland dominated the glass and held two-time All-Star Tyrese Haliburton to four points and five assists.

This time, the towel-waving home crowd helped spur Indiana, right from the start of a physical, sometimes chippy game.

The Pacers built a 44-point lead before settling for an 80-39 halftime margin that matched the league’s previous best since detailed play-by-play was kept, set by the Cavs in Game 2 of the 2017 Eastern Conference finals against Boston.

Indiana did much of its damage without Bennedict Mathurin, one of its best scorers, who was ejected for a Flagrant 2 foul just 7 1/2 minutes into the game. And with Donovan Mitchell missing the second half because of an injured left ankle, the Cavs had no chance.

Darius Garland led the Cavs with 21 points in his second game back from an injured toe. Mitchell finished with 12. Coach Kenny Atkinson said Mitchell would have an MRI exam Monday.

Meanwhile, the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Denver Nuggets at their own game.

The NBA's youngest team made all the clutch plays in crunch time against an experienced squad teeming with a championship pedigree, knotting the second-round series with a 92-87 win in Game 4.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored nine of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, pulling the top-seeded Thunder from the brink of a 3-1 deficit against a Denver team known for closing out games while winning six of its last seven playoff series — and the two tight games earlier in this series that resumes Tuesday night in Oklahoma City.

About 36 hours after an exhausting overtime Game 3 Friday night, the early Mother’s Day tip-off produced an ugly first half that featured a combined 25 points in the first quarter and ended with OKC up 42-36 at the break.

Down by eight points early in the fourth quarter, the Thunder used an 11-0 run fueled by reserves Cason Wallace, who had a pair of 3-pointers, and Aaron Wiggins, who added another, to wrest control.

Wallace's second 3-pointer put Oklahoma City ahead for good at 75-73.

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