The Indiana Pacers reached the NBA’s Eastern Conference finals for the second year running by beating top seeds the Cleveland Cavaliers in game five.
Tyrese Haliburton scored 31 points and added eight assists as Indiana triumphed 114-105 to win the best-of-seven semi-final series 4-1.
“The winning team writes the script,” Indiana coach Rick 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.”
The fourth-seeded Pacers will face either the Boston Celtics or the New York Knicks, who lead the NBA’s defending champions 3-1, in the final.
The Celtics claimed a clean sweep against the Pacers in last year’s Eastern finals.
Cleveland, who topped the Eastern Conference, thrashed Miami 4-0 to book their place in the semi-finals.
However, they could not cope with the tempo of the Pacers and Donovan Mitchell, who led the Cavaliers with 35 points, said they had “let the city down”.
“We just didn’t get the job done. Nothing else needs to be said,” added Mitchell.
“We let the city down. We let each other down. I believe in this team. That’s what just sucks. We’re a good team, but ultimately for three [home] games, we don’t seem it.”
Thunder on brink of Western Conference final
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Denver Nuggets to move 3-2 ahead in their Western Conference semi-final series.
Nuggets centre Nikola Jokic grabbed 44 points and 15 rebounds, but he could not stop Oklahoma City from running out 112-105 winners in game five.
“This is a really disappointing loss,” Denver interim coach David Adelman said.
“The guys in there should be disappointed. It’s a heavy loss and we have to bounce back quickly to win game six and give ourselves a chance to come back. Have a game like this, but finish it.”
Jalen Williams’ three-pointer opened up a 106-103 lead with 1:18 remaining before Gilgeous-Alexander’s three with 48 seconds to go extended the Thunder’s advantage to six.
“What the great players do is they rise in the face of those challenges and adversities,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said of Gilgeous-Alexander.
“Despite the fact that the pressure was mounting and it got hotter in there, he got cooler and just kind of settled into it, made the right plays, let the game tell him what to do.”
The Thunder can clinch the series on Friday (01:30 BST) in Denver.
Image source, Getty Images-
39 minutes ago
The Indiana Pacers reached the NBA’s Eastern Conference finals for the second year running by beating top seeds the Cleveland Cavaliers in game five.
Tyrese Haliburton scored 31 points and added eight assists as Indiana triumphed 114-105 to win the best-of-seven semi-final series 4-1.
“The winning team writes the script,” Indiana coach Rick 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.”
The fourth-seeded Pacers will face either the Boston Celtics or the New York Knicks, who lead the NBA’s defending champions 3-1, in the final.
The Celtics claimed a clean sweep against the Pacers in last year’s Eastern finals.
Cleveland, who topped the Eastern Conference, thrashed Miami 4-0 to book their place in the semi-finals.
However, they could not cope with the tempo of the Pacers and Donovan Mitchell, who led the Cavaliers with 35 points, said they had “let the city down”.
“We just didn’t get the job done. Nothing else needs to be said,” added Mitchell.
“We let the city down. We let each other down. I believe in this team. That’s what just sucks. We’re a good team, but ultimately for three [home] games, we don’t seem it.”
Thunder on brink of Western Conference final
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Denver Nuggets to move 3-2 ahead in their Western Conference semi-final series.
Nuggets centre Nikola Jokic grabbed 44 points and 15 rebounds, but he could not stop Oklahoma City from running out 112-105 winners in game five.
“This is a really disappointing loss,” Denver interim coach David Adelman said.
“The guys in there should be disappointed. It’s a heavy loss and we have to bounce back quickly to win game six and give ourselves a chance to come back. Have a game like this, but finish it.”
Jalen Williams’ three-pointer opened up a 106-103 lead with 1:18 remaining before Gilgeous-Alexander’s three with 48 seconds to go extended the Thunder’s advantage to six.
“What the great players do is they rise in the face of those challenges and adversities,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said of Gilgeous-Alexander.
“Despite the fact that the pressure was mounting and it got hotter in there, he got cooler and just kind of settled into it, made the right plays, let the game tell him what to do.”
The Thunder can clinch the series on Friday (01:30 BST) in Denver.
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