INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Pascal Siakam scored 21 points and the Indiana Pacers tied an NBA playoff record by taking a 41-point halftime lead before routing the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers 129-109 on Sunday night for a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Pacers can earn a second straight trip to the East finals with a victory Tuesday in Cleveland, where they won the first two games.
Indiana jumped to an 80-39 lead at halftime and led by 44 points. The 41-point lead matched the margin Cleveland set in Game 2 of the 2017 Eastern Conference finals against Boston, according to Sportradar.
And Indiana did it mostly without Bennedict Mathurin, one of its top playoff scorers, who was ejected just 7 1/2 minutes into the game for a flagrant foul.
Darius Garland led the Cavs with 21 points and Donovan Mitchell had 12 despite not playing in the second half because of a left ankle injury. Coach Kenny Atkinson said his All-Star guard would have an MRI exam Monday.
For the Pacers, it was a redeeming moment in front of a towel-waving home crowd just two days after an embarrassing 22-point loss on its home court. The Cavs dominated the glass, held two-time All-Star Tyrese Haliburton to four points and five assists and fought harder than Indiana.
This time, the Pacers left no doubt about who would be the aggressor.
Indiana took control quickly with early runs of 11-2 and 13-0 to build a commanding 48-23 lead with 9:24 left in the first half. They didn’t stop — or back down — there, either, closing the half on a 19-2 run.
Aaron Nesmith’s buzzer-beating midrange jumper put the Pacers in another exclusive club — the 10th team in playoff history and second this week to score 80 points in the first half of a playoff game. Oklahoma City scored 87 points in Game 2 against Denver.
Myles Turner made all four of his 3-point attempts and scored 20 points, as did Obi Toppin.
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This story has been corrected to show that Donovan Mitchell scored 12 points. A previous version stated he had 17.
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