CLEVELAND — As the Indiana Pacers closed out the 121-112 win in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Cleveland Cavaliers, a lone Pacers fan clad in a yellow jersey and T-shirt stood and cheered in a sea of fans in wine and gold. He had rooted like that for most of the game. He was loud and difficult to ignore. Like the team he was cheering, he made far more noise than expected.
On Sunday night, the Pacers defeated the Cavaliers by closing with a 20-10 run. It was a win few expected.
“We’ve got to stay hungry,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “I haven’t heard many people that gave us a chance in this series. We got to use that at some level of motivation. We know what we’re capable of. Game 2 will be exceptionally hard with them dropping Game 1.”
The Pacers came out with a point to prove: They’re more than just a sneaky small-market team. They’re for real. Most importantly, these Pacers should not be overlooked.
“We came out, played with a lot of confidence,” Tyrese Haliburton said. “And it led to good things for us. We did a great job of weathering the storm when that ‘cavalanche’ was on its way.”
How can anybody in his right mind say that the Pacers stole this game?! Once again, seized, not stole!
— Peter Vecsey (@PeterVecsey1) May 5, 2025
Last season, the Pacers shocked the NBA by making the Eastern Conference Finals as the sixth seed. Indiana led the NBA in points per game (123.3), assists per game (30.8) and field goal percentage (50.7 percent).
On their way to their first conference finals since 2014, the Pacers knocked off the No. 3 Bucks — who were missing Giannis Antetokounmpo — and the No. 2 Knicks. The Pacers led or were tied in the final minute in three of the four games against the eventual NBA champion Celtics.
After their surprising success, Indiana didn’t lose or add any major contributors in the offseason, instead choosing to re-sign guys they had — Pascal Siakam, Andrew Nembhard, Obi Toppin — and build on the chemistry and team identity they’d begun to display. But the Pacers began the 2024-25 season 10-15, and there were some concerns that the team that was four wins away from an NBA Finals appearance was a fluke. After all, they’d “gotten lucky” thanks to injuries to their opponents.
Pacers… 🙃🔥🔥went into Cleveland and stole one… Tyrese isn’t just underrated – whole team is. Don’t @ me. pic.twitter.com/nbiMOqUsqH
— Dorothy J. Gentry (@DorothyJGentry) May 5, 2025
In early December, the Pacers were five games under .500, but they were determined to make it back to the playoffs. Constructed to be a team without a singular hero, injuries early in the season to Aaron Nesmith, Andrew Nembhard and Ben Sheppard hampered their ability to compete.
But once their lineup was mostly whole again, the Pacers began to play some of their best basketball. Since Jan. 1, the Pacers were 34-14 and finished with the eighth-best offense in the league and averaged the sixth-most points per game after the All-Star break. In the final stretch of the regular season, Indiana won 17 of their last 20 games, with one of their notable losses coming against the Lakers on a buzzer-beater by LeBron James.
Indiana can score in bunches, get out and run and they’re physical on defense — an improvement from last season. Nesmith, Nembhard, and Myles Turner are all solid defenders who can hold their own. They’re an unselfish team who pass and pass… and pass… until the ball is in the hands of the guy with the best look. Their constant ball movement, coupled with their offensive firepower, gives opponents fits. Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton is a facilitator first, which brings out the best in his team. And their role players are key to the team’s success, with some of them rising to the occasion in the playoffs.
“The most important thing is winning the game at the end of the day and just trying to put guys in the right position to succeed,” Haliburton said. “A lot of different guys chip in. That’s not all because of me. We got a lot of great players and guys who can step in in different ways and do so many different things.”
In their five-game first-round series win over the Milwaukee Bucks, the Pacers had six players average double-digit scoring: Pascal Siakam (19.8), Tyrese Haliburton (17.6), Myles Turner (16.8), Nembhard (15.0), Nesmith (14.8) and TJ McConnell (10.0).
Indiana wanted to get at least one win in Cleveland, and in Game 1, the Pacers got what they wanted against a Cavs team that had a week of rest after sweeping the Miami Heat. The Pacers were impressive from the jump; not waiting for the Cavs to set the tone, the Pacers sprinted ahead, scoring 36 points in the opening period and taking a six-point lead into halftime.
Indiana got out to a hot start in the third as Nesmith’s 3-pointer, a little less than five minutes into the quarter, saw the Pacers’ lead balloon to 12. But the Cavs, the East’s No. 1 seed, who were playing without starting point guard Darius Garland, went on a 20-4 run to take an 88-84 lead with a little more than two minutes to go in the third.
But the Pacers, true to their resilience, went on an 8-2 run as Turner hit a 3-point buzzer-beater to end the third quarter.
The teams traded leads four times in the fourth quarter before the Pacers took the lead for good on a Haliburton 3-pointer with 6:21 remaining. Haliburton scored nine points in the final frame, added three assists and had two blocks. With the Cavs trying to cut the lead to five late in the fourth, Haliburton came up with the second block of the quarter:
Haliburton’s two blocks were indicative of the Pacers’ defensive intensity in the final quarter as they held the Cavs to 22 points on 8-of-25 shooting, including a paltry 2 of 9 from 3-point range.
The Pacers defense was exceptional in this fourth quarter. That block on the Strus 3 summed it up. Indiana made nothing easy on the Cavs and they’re going to earn a well-deserved game one win.
— John Fanta (@John_Fanta) May 5, 2025
“These teams are great teams to watch, because they’re defined by their balance,” Carlisle said. “Cleveland’s had situations all year where they’ve had six or seven guys consistently in double figures. They needed it to have their season. We needed it to get where we got to.
“It’s one of the things that I think makes us a good series to watch for basketball purists, two unselfish teams.”
It was a spectacular shooting night for Indiana. They went 44 of 83 from the field (53 percent), including 19 of 36 on 3-pointers (52.8 percent). Led by guards Andrew Nembhard with 23 points and Tyrese Haliburton with 22 points, the Pacers had six players reach double figures in scoring and held the lead for 40 minutes, 57 seconds. With the win, they take home-court advantage from the Eastern Conference’s top team.
“We had an exceptionally good shot-making night,” Carlisle said. “But the key word is aggression, and we gotta be in attack mode to have a chance to beat this team.”
While the series is far from over, Indiana’s win should put the league on notice. With a balanced scoring attack and depth to challenge some of the best teams in the league, Indiana has established itself as a legitimate threat. As they’ve shown after their slow start to the season, it’s tough to count them out.
(Photo of Pascal Siakam and Evan Mobley: Ken Blaze / Imagn Images)