1. First Quarter

Entering tonight, the Indiana Pacers magic number to clinch home court advantage in their first round series in the NBA Playoffs. They would have their typical five starters: Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam, and Myles Turner. As for the Cleveland Cavaliers, they were playing without Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Max Strus. The game started with Indiana scoring the first six points, a triple from Haliburton and a three-point play from Turner. The Cavs answered with a 10-2 run to take a 10-8 advantage following a field goal from De’Andre Hunter. Indiana countered with seven consecutive points to take a five-point lead, courtesy of a Bennedict Mathurin layup. He would give the Pacers their largest advantage of seven when he splashed a three-pointer with 3:35 left in the quarter. Indiana would lead 28-23 after the first quarter of play because Jarace Walker knocked down a three as time expired. The leading scorers in the first quarter were Ty Jerome and Obi Toppin with 7 points each. Indiana held Cleveland to 33.3% from the field and 25% from three-point range in the first quarter but were outrebounded by seven in the period.

2. Second Quarter

It did not go well for the Indiana Pacers. After falling behind by seven points, the Cleveland Cavaliers went on a 12-2 run to take a 35-32 lead when Isaac Okoro connected on a three. Indiana simply couldn’t knock down shots in the second quarter. Cleveland’s advantage reached a quarter high nine points with 3:07 left in the half when Dean Wade made his only three-pointer in the contest. Indiana did find some late half success to draw within two points, courtesy of a Turner dunk with sixty-four seconds left. The final basket in the game came from Craig Porter Jr., putting Cleveland on top 56-52 at halftime. Hunter, 10 points, and Jerome, 9 points, were the catalysts for Cleveland’s offense. Indiana was led by Nesmith with 7 points in the quarter. Leading all scorers at the break was Jerome with 16 points. Indiana’s leading scorer was Nesmith with a dozen. In the first half, Indiana was barely over 40% shooting from the field. Haliburton was relatively quiet, recording 5 points, 6 assists, and 3 rebounds.

3. Third Quarter

At halftime, Cleveland made the decision to not play Jarrett Allen for the rest of the contest as they try to avoid any injuries ahead of the playoffs. The third quarter started nearly like the third quarter. Cleveland threatened to take a double-digit lead, but Haliburton prevented that with a three-point play. With 8:23 left in the quarter, Indiana was down 64-56. The Pacers cut the Cavs advantage down to three when Nesmith converted a corner three pointer to make it 66-63 with 7:10 left in the period. Cleveland would call a timeout and then go on an 8-0 run to take its largest lead of the game with a Hunter triple. Indiana would call a timeout and would look like a totally different team. Rick Carlisle’s team went on an 18-4 run to take control of the game. T.J. McConnell broke a 76-76 tie with a layup, and then Mathurin knocked down a long two-point shot to put the Pacers on top 81-78 with 44.8 seconds left. However, Cleveland would close the quarter with four points to take an 82-81 lead into the fourth quarter. Haliburton really got going for Indiana, scoring 10 points and dishing out three assists in the period. Nesmith chipped in with another 7 points, to continue leading Indiana in scoring with 19 points through three quarters. Jerome was leading all scorers going into the final quarter with 24 points.

4. Fourth Quarter

Cleveland clearly had a plan tonight to avoid playing some of their key bench players major minutes ahead of the postseason. After already shutting down Allen, the Cavaliers elected to not play Jerome in the final 18 minutes of the contest. However, they found lightning in a bottle with Sam Merrill in the fourth quarter. He splashed three triples in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, but the Pacers were matching the scoring between Siakam, Mathurin, and Walker. With 7:13 left in the game, Hunter knocked down a three-pointer to extend Cleveland’s advantage to seven points. Indiana came roaring back after Turner and Walker knocked down back-to-back threes with 5:33 left. Haliburton then took over for Indiana, scoring eight straight points to put Indiana on top 113-107 with 3:08 remaining. Indiana’s offense would stall in the worst possible way after that. With 1:34 left, Cleveland made it 113-111 when Porter Jr. converted a three. With 34.5 seconds left, it was still a one-point game and Indiana had the ball. Haliburton missed a clutch three, but Turner secured the offensive rebound with 11 seconds left. Cleveland fouled Nesmith to send him to the line, but he only made one of the two attempts. The Cavaliers had a chance to tie, or take the lead, with 9.6 seconds left, but came up short on a two-point shot. Indiana clinches home court advantage with a 114-112 win.

5. Top Performers

Tyrese Haliburton (23p, 10a, 8r, 3b), Aaron Nesmith (22p, 6r), Jarace Walker (15p, 3r), Myles Turner (13p, 7r, 4b), Bennedict Mathurin (13p, 3r, 1s), Pascal Siakam (10p, 8r, 2a), and Obi Toppin (10p, 4r, 2b). For Cleveland, Ty Jerome (24p, 6a), De’Andre Hunter (23p, 11r, 2a, 2s, 1b), Craig Porter Jr. (16p, 3r, 3a), Sam Merrill (15p, 4a, 3r, 1s, 1b), and Isaac Okoro (13p). For tonight’s full box score, click here.

6. Notes

• Indiana is now 49-31 and 29-10 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse
  • Indiana is 33-13 in 2025
  • Indiana is 19-8 after the All-Star break
  • First time being 18 games over .500
• Indiana clinched home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs in Indiana for the first time since 2013-2014 season
  • Had home court advantage in the 2019-2020 season (bubble)
• Indiana is 15-2 in its last 17 home games
• Indiana is 12-2 in its last 14 games
• Indiana has scored at least 100 points in 105 consecutive home games – 2nd longest in NBA history
  • San Antonio holds the streak with 106 consecutive home games
• Indiana’s 6 game winning streak ties a season long
• Aaron Nesmith has scored 20+ points in 5 games this season
• Andrew Nembhard is 3/24 on three-pointers in the last 7 games
• Craig Porter Jr.’s 16 points tied a season high
• De’Andre Hunter recorded his 2nd double-double of the season
  • Hunter has now recorded a double-double in 12 games in his career
• De’Andre Hunter has scored 20+ points in 23 games this season
• Jarrett Allen has recorded 10+ rebounds in 46 games
• Myles Turner has blocked 2+ shots in 5 consecutive games
• Sam Merrill’s 5 threes tied the 3rd most in a game this season
• Tristan Thompson’s 12 rebounds are a season high
• Ty Jerome has scored 20+ points in 13 games this season
• Tyrese Haliburton has scored 20+ points in 28 games this season
• Tyrese Haliburton recorded his 31st double-double of the season
  • 15th game this season recording 20+ points and 10+ assists
• Tyrese Haliburton’s 3 blocks ties a season high for the 3rd time

7. Next Up

For the final time of the regular season, the Indiana Pacers will play at Gainbridge Fieldhouse when the Orlando Magic visit Gainbridge Fieldhouse for the final time. Pat Boylan will get things started at 6:30pm with the pregame show and then Mark Boyle will have the play-by-play coverage at 7pm with Eddie Gill on 93.5/107.5 The Fan.