1. First Quarter

For the third consecutive playoff game for the Cleveland Cavaliers, they would be without their all-star point guard, Darius Garland. The starters for the Cavs were Donovan Mitchell, Sam Merrill, Max Strus, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen. As for Indiana, their starters were Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam, and Myles Turner. Through the first three minutes, Indiana was primarily behind Cleveland. The Pacers took a 9-8 advantage when Siakam splashed a three, and they would not surrender the lead for the rest of the half. Haliburton would give the Pacers their first two possession lead in the quarter when he connected on a thirty-three foot triple with 6:25 left. Cleveland would trim its deficit to a point when De’Andre Hunter got to the goal for an easy dunk. At the time it was 26-25 with 2:52 left, and then the Pacers closed the quarter with a 10-0 run to end the quarter on top 36-25. Indiana was scorching hot from three-point range in the quarter, shooting 6/9. Cleveland was 3/12 in the first twelve minutes. Siakam led all players in scoring with 10 points followed by Mitchell with 9 points. Haliburton had a solid first quarter with 7 points on a perfect 3/3 shooting whilst dishing out three assists.

2. Second Quarter

After closing the third quarter beautifully, Cleveland responded to start the second quarter with the first four points of the quarter. The Pacers eventually score five consecutive points to take their largest lead of the half when Mathurin’s reverse layup made it 45-33 with 8:42 left in the half. Cleveland would hang around for the next handful of minutes. With 4:03 left in the half, Hunter knocked down a three in transition to make it a 52-48 game. The Pacers countered with a three from Bennedict Mathurin with the shot clock winding down to halt the Cavaliers momentum. Indiana would hold onto the lead going into the half, leading 64-58 despite being outscored by five in the quarter. Ty Jerome was the catalyst for Cleveland’s offense, scoring 9 points in the quarter. Indiana was led by Nembhard with 7 points in the period. Mitchell was leading all scorers at halftime with 15 points following by Siakam with 13 points. Haliburton was on pace for a double-double with 9 points and 6 assists.

3. Third Quarter

Even though Mitchell was leading all players in scoring, it never felt like he was taking the game over. That would change in the third quarter. Cleveland started the second half by trimming its deficit down to four points after an alley oop dunk with 9:37 left in the period. Rick Carlisle would call a timeout, and his team would double its lead when Nesmith connected on back-to-back triples to make it 80-68. This is when Mitchell started taking over for Cleveland. He scored six consecutive points after checking back into the game to trim Indiana’s advantage down to a point. He would give Cleveland their largest lead of the game with a floater. Despite trailing 88-84 with 2:21 left in the quarter, Indiana would not fold. The Pacers closed the quarter with an 8-2 run, to take a 92-90 lead into the fourth quarter because Turner made his first three of the game as time expired. Mitchell led all players in scoring with 12 points, bringing his total after three quarters to 27 points. Nesmith paced Indiana in scoring with 11 points in the quarter. The Pacers had six players in double figures after thirty-six minutes, with Nesmith leading the team with 16 points. Haliburton recorded his fifth double-double in six playoff games through three quarters with 13 points and 10 assists.

4. Fourth Quarter

With how the third quarter ended, you knew this game was going to be back and forth during the final quarter. Three minutes into the quarter, Cleveland took the lead back with two free throws from Hunter. The two teams would exchange the lead two times in the next two minutes until Indiana took the game back for good. Haliburton hit a step back three with 6:21 left in the game, to go ahead 104-102. The Pacers would never relinquish the lead after that. Nembhard dialed up a thirty-foot three pointer with 4:34 left in the game to put Indiana on top by six points. Cleveland simply had no answers for the Pacers with how they were moving the basketball. Ty Jerome made it a four-point game with a floater with 3:48 left in the contest, and then the Pacers went on a 6-0 run after a Turner tip in, Siakam layup, and Haliburton layup with 1:53 left. All the Pacers needed to do was get stops on the defensive end, and they would. The Pacers maintained that ten-point lead down the stretch and would possess a 118-108 advantage with 43.7 seconds remaining. Jerome hit a three to cut the Pacers lead to seven points, but Haliburton went to the line and made his two free throws to ice the game. Indiana wins game one, 121-112. Haliburton was the best player in the fourth quarter with 9 points, 3 assists, and 2 blocked shots. Nembhard added 8 points in the quarter for the Pacers.

5. Top Performers

Andrew Nembhard (23p, 6a), Tyrese Haliburton (22p, 13a, 3r, 3b), Pascal Siakam (17p, 8r, 4a, 1s), Aaron Nesmith (17p, 8r), Myles Turner (13p, 11r, 3s, 2b), and Bennedict Mathurin (11p, 5r). For Cleveland, Donovan Mitchell (33p, 5r, 4a), Ty Jerome (21p, 8a, 3r), Evan Mobley (20p, 10r, 2a, 2s), Jarrett Allen (12p, 5r, 2s), and De’Andre Hunter (11p, 4r). For tonight’s full box score, click here.

6. Notes

• Indiana has recorded 4 of the 8 games with 30+ assists during the playoffs
• Indiana is 28-3 when Tyrese Haliburton scores 20+ points (regular season and playoffs)
• Indiana is 15-1 when Tyrese Haliburton records 20+ points and 10+ assists (regular season and playoffs)
• Indiana’s 19 threes would have tied the 4th most in a game during the regular season
  • 2nd most in a playoff game in franchise history
• Indiana has made 14+ threes in 4 straight playoff games
• Cleveland’s 9 threes snaps an 18-game streak of 10+ threes
  • Only 4 time in 2025 they have not made 10+ threes (53 games)
• When the home team wins Game 1 of best of seven, they win the series 85% of the time
  • When road team wins Game 1, road team wins the series 51% of the time
• Andrew Nembhard’s 23 points are the 3rd most in a playoff game in his career
• Andrew Nembhard’s 5 threes are the most in a playoff game in his career
• Donovan Mitchell scored 30+ points for the 3rd time in this playoff run
  • 28th playoff game with 30+ points
• Evan Mobley recorded his first double-double in this playoff run
  • Mobley recorded his 8th double-double in his playoff career
• Myles Turner recorded his first double-double in this playoff run
  • 6th double-double in the playoffs in his playoff career
• Ty Jerome has scored 20+ points in 2 games this playoff run
  • Both are the only times in his career
• Tyrese Haliburton recorded his 5th double-double in this playoff run
  • Haliburton has recorded 20+ points and 10+ assists in two of those games

7. Next Up

After one day off, the Indiana Pacers will attempt to hand the Cleveland Cavaliers their fourth losing streak of the season. Tip-off on Tuesday night is scheduled for 7pm. Mark Boyle, Eddie Gill, and Pat Boylan will get things started at 6:30pm on Tuesday night on 93.5/107.5 The Fan.