ANDREW Nembhard scored 23 points and Tyrese Haliburton had 22 points, 13 assists and three blocked shots as the Indiana Pacers pulled away for a 121-112 road win over the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Sunday night.
Pascal Siakam and Aaron Nesmith each scored 17 points, and Myles Turner had 13 points, 11 rebounds, three steals and two blocks for fourth-seeded Indiana, which handed the Cavaliers their first loss of the postseason.
鈥淲e鈥檙e definitely the heavy underdog, but we鈥檙e trying to control what we can,鈥 Haliburton said. 鈥淚t gives us a lot of momentum for sure, but this is the best team in our conference. They don鈥檛 lose much.鈥
Haliburton鈥檚 3-pointer with 6:21 left put the Pacers ahead for good at 104-102.
Cleveland shooting guard Donovan Mitchell scored 33 points, but he shot just 13 of 30 from the field and 1 of 11 on 3-point attempts. The six-time All-Star broke Michael Jordan鈥檚 NBA record with his eighth straight 30-point game in a playoff series opener. 鈥 Reuters
