Game ID: 42400205
Indiana Pacers @ Cleveland Cavaliers
Tuesday, May 13, 2025 at 7:00 PM ET
Rocket Arena, Cleveland, OH
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
CLE 31 25 20 29 105IND 19 33 33 29 114
CLE vs IND ScoutingCLE vs IND Scouting
Welcome to the scouting desk. The coffee is cold, the film is play-by-play, and somebody has to explain what happened.
Every game has a hinge — a stretch where it was decided, usually while everyone was watching something else. Start where the evidence lives: the Lineups' face-offs say which five actually won their minutes; the Possessions ledger says who ran ahead of the night's own pace; the Shot Chart says where the points really came from, which is rarely where the highlights were. When all three agree, that is the story. When they don't — that is why this desk has a chair.
CLE availability going into 5/04 · 5 days' restOUT Garland missed 2 since 4/26, out tonight
BACK Mitchell back 4/20 after 4, 31 min since (98% of 32)
BACK Hunter back 4/20 after 2, 22 min since (90% of 25)
BACK Jerome back 4/20 after 2, 23 min since (115% of 20)
BACK Merrill back 4/20 after 2, 20 min since (103% of 20)
BACK Tomlin back 4/13 after 5, 47 min since (369% of 13)
CLE availability going into 5/06 · 1 day's restOUT Garland missed 3 since 4/26, out tonight
BACK Mitchell back 4/20 after 4, 31 min since (100% of 32)
BACK Hunter back 4/20 after 2, 24 min since (97% of 25)
BACK Jerome back 4/20 after 2, 24 min since (121% of 20)
BACK Merrill back 4/20 after 2, 20 min since (101% of 20)
CLE availability going into 5/09 · 2 days' restOUT Garland missed 4 since 4/26, returns tonight: 25 min (81% of 31)
CLE availability going into 5/11 · 1 day's restBACK Garland back 5/09 after 4, 25 min since (81% of 31)
NEW Strus 26 to 31 min over the last 5
CLE availability going into 5/13 · 1 day's restBACK Garland back 5/09 after 4, 26 min since (85% of 31)
IND availability going into 5/04 · 4 days' restOUT Isa. Jackson missed 81 since 11/04, out tonight
BACK Haliburton back 4/19 after 2, 35 min since (105% of 34)
BACK Siakam back 4/19 after 2, 34 min since (103% of 33)
BACK Sheppard back 4/25 after 7, 14 min since (80% of 18)
IND availability going into 5/06 · 1 day's restOUT Isa. Jackson missed 82 since 11/04, out tonight
BACK Sheppard back 4/25 after 7, 13 min since (70% of 18)
IND availability going into 5/09 · 2 days' restOUT Isa. Jackson missed 83 since 11/04, out tonight
BACK Sheppard back 4/25 after 7, 11 min since (63% of 18)
IND availability going into 5/11 · 1 day's restOUT Isa. Jackson missed 84 since 11/04, out tonight
IND availability going into 5/13 · 1 day's restOUT Isa. Jackson missed 85 since 11/04, out tonight
IND availability going into 5/21 · 7 days' restOUT Isa. Jackson missed 86 since 11/04, out tonight
IND availability going into 5/23 · 1 day's restOUT Isa. Jackson missed 87 since 11/04, out tonight
NEW Nesmith 26 to 32 min over the last 5
IND availability going into 5/25 · 1 day's restOUT Isa. Jackson missed 88 since 11/04, out tonight
OUT Walker missed 2 since 5/21, out tonight
NEW Nesmith 26 to 32 min over the last 5
IND availability going into 5/27 · 1 day's restOUT Isa. Jackson missed 89 since 11/04, out tonight
OUT Walker missed 3 since 5/21, out tonight
NEW Nembhard 30 to 36 min over the last 5
NEW Nesmith 26 to 31 min over the last 5
I Know — the desk, before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Cleveland comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 121 a night and allowing 111, shooting 46 percent and 34 from three, 31 free throws a game; Mitchell at 32 and Mobley at 16 a game. It has won the glass by 6 a night. One day's rest. Indiana comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 119 a night and allowing 117, shooting 50 percent and 41 from three, 25 free throws a game; Turner at 18 and Haliburton at 16 a game. It has lost the glass by 6 a night. Without Isa. Jackson (85 straight). One day's rest.
So: Cleveland wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Cleveland has been plus-6 a night and Indiana minus-6 and the arc, Indiana at 41 percent from three to Cleveland's 34. Call it Cleveland 120, Indiana 113.
5/04 vs IND 112-121 — CLE notes
CLE lost 112-121. CLE took 15 more shots (98 to 83), fed by 13 offensive rebounds, but shot 46% to IND's 53%, 9 of 38 from three. CLE turned it over 7 times to IND's 16. Mitchell led with 33 (13 of 30, 1 of 11 from three, 6 of 9 at the line); Jerome added 21, Mobley 20. Q2 was theirs, 33-28, the deficit cut from 11 to 6, but the other 3 periods went 93-79 against them. Mobley's -20 in 36 minutes was the worst on the floor.
5/06 vs IND 119-120 — CLE notes
CLE lost 119-120. CLE shot 43% (39 of 90) to IND's 52%, 11 of 39 from three, and went to the line 35 times to IND's 29 — 30 points from the stripe to their 21. Mitchell led with 48 (15 of 30, 1 of 7 from three, 17 of 21 at the line); Strus added 23, Allen 22. Q1 was theirs, 32-15, but the other 3 periods went 105-87 against them. They led by as many as 20.
5/09 @ IND 126-104 — CLE notes
CLE won 126-104. CLE shot 42% (42 of 100) to IND's 44%, 14 of 47 from three. The glass went 56-37 for them. Mitchell led with 43 (14 of 29, 5 of 13 from three, 10 of 14 at the line); Strus added 20, Allen 19. The hinge was Q2, 34-13: from level to 21 ahead, and the lead reached 26. Allen was the night's best plus/minus at +38.
5/11 @ IND 109-129 — CLE notes
CLE lost 109-129. CLE shot 43% (30 of 70) to IND's 53%, 14 of 35 from three, and went to the line 40 times to IND's 20 — 35 points from the stripe to their 16. CLE turned it over 22 times to IND's 10. Garland led with 21 (6 of 11, 1 of 5 from three, 8 of 8 at the line); Okoro added 13, Mitchell 12. Q4 was theirs, 32-20, the deficit cut from 32 to 20, but the other 3 periods went 109-77 against them. Mitchell's -35 in 20 minutes was the worst on the floor.
5/13 vs IND 105-114 — CLE notes
CLE lost 105-114. CLE took 8 more shots (90 to 82), fed by 15 offensive rebounds, but shot 39% to IND's 50%, 9 of 35 from three, and went to the line 37 times to IND's 22 — 26 points from the stripe to their 17. Mitchell led with 35 (8 of 25, 4 of 13 from three, 15 of 21 at the line); Mobley added 24, Hunter 12. Q1 was theirs, 31-19, but the other 3 periods went 95-74 against them. They led by as many as 19. Garland's -18 in 33 minutes was the worst on the floor.
5/04 @ CLE 121-112 — IND notes
IND won 121-112. IND shot 53% (44 of 83) to CLE's 46%, 19 of 36 from three. IND turned it over 16 times to CLE's 7, and CLE turned those into 8 steals. Nembhard led with 23 (7 of 10, 5 of 6 from three); Haliburton added 22, Siakam 17. The hinge was Q1, 36-25: from level to 11 ahead. Nembhard was the night's best plus/minus at +21.
5/06 @ CLE 120-119 — IND notes
IND won 120-119. IND shot 52% (44 of 85) to CLE's 43%, 11 of 28 from three, and got to the line 29 times to CLE's 35. Turner led with 23 (8 of 17, 2 of 5 from three, 5 of 6 at the line); Nesmith added 23, Haliburton 19. The hinge was Q4, 36-21: IND came in trailing by 14 and left it ahead by 1. IND trailed 50-61 at the half and won the second half 70-58. Turner was the night's best plus/minus at +15.
5/09 vs CLE 104-126 — IND notes
IND lost 104-126. IND shot 44% (35 of 80) to CLE's 42%, 9 of 30 from three. The glass went 37-56 against them. Mathurin led with 23 (6 of 11, 3 of 8 from three, 8 of 9 at the line); Siakam added 18, Turner 15. Q3 was theirs, 34-31, the deficit cut from 21 to 18, but the other 3 periods went 95-70 against them. Nembhard's -32 in 26 minutes was the worst on the floor.
5/11 vs CLE 129-109 — IND notes
IND won 129-109. IND shot 53% (49 of 93) to CLE's 43%, 15 of 35 from three, and got to the line 20 times to CLE's 40. IND turned it over 10 times to CLE's 22. Siakam led with 21 (9 of 10); Turner added 20, Toppin 20. The hinge was Q2, 42-16: a lead of 15 became 41, and the lead reached 44. Siakam was the night's best plus/minus at +29.
5/13 @ CLE 114-105 — IND notes
IND won 114-105. IND shot 50% (41 of 82) to CLE's 39%, 15 of 35 from three, and got to the line 22 times to CLE's 37. Haliburton led with 31 (10 of 15, 6 of 10 from three, 5 of 6 at the line); Siakam added 21, Nembhard 18. The hinge was Q3, 33-20: IND came in trailing by 4 and left it ahead by 9. IND trailed 52-56 at the half and won the second half 62-49. Haliburton was the night's best plus/minus at +27.
5/21 @ NYK — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
New York comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 105 a night and allowing 105, shooting 44 percent and 33 from three, 24 free throws a game; Brunson at 26 and Towns at 21 a game. It has won the glass by 5 a night. 4 days' rest. Indiana comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 118 a night and allowing 114, shooting 50 percent and 42 from three, 24 free throws a game; Siakam at 18 and Haliburton at 17 a game. It has lost the glass by 4 a night. Without Isa. Jackson (86 straight). 7 days' rest.
So: New York wins, and the game turns on the arc, Indiana at 42 percent from three to New York's 33 and the glass, where New York has been plus-5 a night and Indiana minus-4. Call it New York 113, Indiana 112, Indiana keeping it close.
5/23 @ NYK — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
New York comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 114 a night and allowing 115, shooting 46 percent and 33 from three, 30 free throws a game; Brunson at 31 and Towns at 24 a game. It has won the glass by 7 a night. One day's rest. Indiana comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 121 a night and allowing 119, shooting 50 percent and 39 from three, 27 free throws a game; Haliburton at 19 and Siakam at 18 a game. That is 3 straight wins. It has lost the glass by 6 a night. Without Isa. Jackson (87 straight). One day's rest.
So: New York wins, and the game turns on the glass, where New York has been plus-7 a night and Indiana minus-6 and the arc, Indiana at 39 percent from three to New York's 33. Call it New York 117, Indiana 115, Indiana keeping it close.
5/25 vs NYK — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Indiana comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 120 a night and allowing 117, shooting 50 percent and 40 from three, 25 free throws a game; Siakam at 23 and Haliburton at 18 a game. That is 4 straight wins. It has lost the glass by 7 a night. Without Isa. Jackson (88 straight), Walker (2 straight). One day's rest. New York comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 117 a night and allowing 115, shooting 47 percent and 35 from three, 27 free throws a game; Brunson at 33 and Towns at 24 a game. It has won the glass by 8 a night. Without Achiuwa (2 straight), Tucker (2 straight). One day's rest.
So: Indiana wins, and the game turns on the glass, where New York has been plus-8 a night and Indiana minus-7 and the arc, Indiana at 40 percent from three to New York's 35. Call it Indiana 117, New York 115, New York keeping it close.
5/27 vs NYK — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Indiana comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 119 a night and allowing 113, shooting 50 percent and 39 from three, 25 free throws a game; Siakam at 23 and Haliburton at 21 a game. Without Isa. Jackson (89 straight), Walker (3 straight). One day's rest. New York comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 114 a night and allowing 112, shooting 45 percent and 35 from three, 30 free throws a game; Brunson at 29 and Towns at 24 a game. It has won the glass by 5 a night. Without Achiuwa (3 straight), Tucker (3 straight). One day's rest.
So: Indiana wins, and the game turns on the glass, where New York has been plus-5 a night and Indiana minus-3 and the line, where New York takes 30 free throws a game to Indiana's 25. Call it Indiana 116, New York 113, New York keeping it close.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
CLEDG D. Garland
DH D. Hunter
DM D. Mitchell
DW D. Wade
EM E. Mobley
IO I. Okoro
JA J. Allen
MS M. Strus
TJ T. Jerome
INDAN A. Nembhard
AN A. Nesmith
BM B. Mathurin
BS B. Sheppard
MT M. Turner
OT O. Toppin
PS P. Siakam
TB T. Bryant
TH T. Haliburton
TM T. McConnell
CLE/IND the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
END the clock ran out, ball in hand
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur
Pacers eliminate top-seeded Cavaliers 114-105, advance to the Eastern Conference Finals
CLEVELAND -- — Indiana coach Rick Carlisle put it best in summing up his team's finishing punch in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
“The winning team writes the script," he said.
The Pacers' 114-105 victory over the Cavaliers in Game 5 on Tuesday night was similar to the first two games of the series. Cleveland jumped out to a big first-half lead, but Indiana's quick tempo eventually took a toll.
“I have to give our guys credit, they earned this,” Carlisle said. “This was one of the best teams in the league. I’m sorry their season had to end like this. They had the perfect season, and we came along and were hot at the right time."
Tyrese Haliburton scored 31 points and Pascal Siakam added 21 as the Pacers reached the conference finals in consecutive years for the first time since 2013-14.
Donovan Mitchell , who missed the second half of Sunday’s game due to a sprained left ankle, led Cleveland with 35 points. Evan Mobley added 24 points and 11 rebounds.
The top-seeded Cavs swept their first-round series against Miami, but were unable to match up against the up-tempo Pacers.
“We were not favored in one game. The lowest point spread was 5½. That was something that fueled our guys, too," Carlisle said.
The fourth-seeded Pacers will now await the winner of the matchup between the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks . New York leads 3-1 with Game 5 on Wednesday night in Boston.
Indiana rallied from a 19-point deficit in the first half and took control after halftime and won all three games at Cleveland’s Rocket Arena.
It was the first time since a 2005 first-round series against Boston that the Pacers won three road games in a playoff series.
The Cavs dropped three home games in a postseason series for the first time.
“I love playing in this arena, man. We’re 0-3 at home. We let the city down,” Mitchell said. “This place is special. What hurts is that we didn’t get it done at home.”
Cleveland stormed out to a 44-25 lead with 8:10 remaining in the second quarter, but Haliburton had five of his six 3-pointers in the period as the Pacers got within 56-52 at halftime.
“We didn't panic after that rough start to the first quarter. We talked about how we knew that they were going to throw a haymaker there. But I thought we weathered the storm the right way and got going from there," Haliburton said.
Indiana then shot 14 of 22 from the field in the third quarter, when it had a 17-2 run, to go up 85-76 going into the final 12 minutes.
The Cavs shot 38.9% for the game and were a woeful 9 of 35 on 3-pointers. Mitchell and Darius Garland were a combined 12 of 41, including 4 of 19 from beyond the arc.
Mitchell’s 3-pointer got the Cavs within 106-103 with 1:27 remaining, but Indiana closed it out by scoring eight of the final 10 points.