How the Pacers pulled off another unlikely clutch playoff win

CLEVELAND - On multiple occasions Tuesday night, it looked like the Indiana Pacers were done.




The top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers' lead seemed insurmountable. It was 20 in the first half and 14 entering the fourth quarter. And with less than a minute left, the Cavs had a comfortable seven-point lead.




But no lead, it seems, is safe from the cardiac Pacers.

Inauspicious start

To pull off a comeback for the ages, Indiana needed everything to break their way. The first signs weren't encouraging.




All-Star Pascal Siakam fouled Cleveland's Donovan Mitchell with 57.6 seconds left. Mitchell calmly sank a pair of free throws to give the Cavs a 119-112 lead. He scored 48 points on the night to lead all scorers.




On the ensuing possession, with 48 seconds left, Siakam drew a foul with a chance to cut the lead to five points.




He missed the first free throw.




And the second.

Nesmith time

Then, something incredible happened. Aaron Nesmith, crashing the boards from the top of the key, skied over everyone for a putback dunk that cut the lead to five, redeeming Siakam's free throw misses.




The officials reviewed the play for offensive basket interference. The ball was clearly off the cylinder when Nesmith touched it, and the shot counted.




Nesmith wasn't finished.




On the inbound, he stood his ground as Mitchell caught the ball and tried to go through him, elbows flying. Both players ended up on the floor, writhing in pain. The officials whistled Mitchell for an offensive foul.




Another review. Another call that went the Pacers' way. Indiana had the ball with 45.9 seconds left. They trailed by five.




Haliburton drove to the bucket and got blocked. The ball went off Cleveland.




Aaron Nembhard inbounded to Haliburton, who tossed the ball back to Nembhard. The third-year guard found Siakam, who got a step on the defense and laid it in.




Cavs 119, Indiana 116 with 27.5 seconds left.

A key turnover

Cleveland took its final timeout to advance the ball past midcourt.




Nembhard stole the inbound pass and eventually got the ball to Haliburton, who drove down the lane, drawing contact and a foul on the layup attempt.




He went to the line with the chance to cut the lead to one. The Pacers' strategy seemed perfectly obvious: drain the free throws, put the Cavs back at the line and hope for the last shot.




The Pacers got the last shot, all right-just not the way anyone expected.

The final sequence

Haliburton missed the second free throw. He corralled the rebound thanks to a tip from Myles Turner and dribbled toward the three-point arc.




With time running out, he tried to shake Cavs defender Ty Jerome. He created some separation, took a step back and buried a three-pointer right in front of Jerome with 1.1 seconds left, stunning the crowd and deflating the Cavs.

From 119-112 to 120-119, just like that. Another great escape from the Pacers, who closed out the Bucks last week with an equally unlikely win in Game 5.




Indiana outscored Cleveland 36-21 in the fourth quarter to take a commanding 2-0 series lead as things shift to Indianapolis for Game 3 on Friday.

The reaction

"Tyrese came through again," said coach Rick Carlisle in typically understated fashion. "We're very fortunate."




The Cavs were missing three players. But Mitchell's dominant performance and the crowd overwhelmed the Pacers for most of the game.




"They were kicking our a** for a long time," Carlisle said of the first three quarters. "But I give our guys a lot of credit. They hung in, they kept executing, they kept fighting and somehow found a way."




"I'm at peace with my game," Haliburton said. "I have all the confidence in the world to make these shots. My teammates and the coaching staff give me that confidence and [I'm] just trying to make plays out there."




Unlikely comebacks seem to be in the Pacers' DNA.




"The end of our season has looked a lot like this," Haliburton said. "We've had many games where you could take a screenshot at any moment and say, 'How did they win this game?'"

The star guard said the Pacers have a resilient, battle-tested group that has figured out several different ways to win.




After hitting the game-winner, Haliburton posed at midcourt with a gesture the NBA has sometimes considered obscene. It was part Sam Cassell and part "Major League II." If the league decides to fine him, Haliburton won't mind.




"I've been waiting for that [celebration]," he said. "It was just right in the moment. Yeah, man, I've been waiting for that. I'll take that fine. Gladly."




Six Pacers finished in double digits: Haliburton (19), Nesmith (23), Turner (23), Nembhard (13), Siakam (12) and Bennedict Mathurin (19). Each player who stepped into the lineup made a contribution.




"It's a total team win for us, and that's who we were are," Haliburton said. "We're not a one-man show."




"He enjoys the moments, like you just saw. He wants the ball in his hands," said Turner, whose tip on Haliburton's missed free throw helped set up the clutch shot. "He relishes those moments."




Turner said it's a testament to Haliburton's work ethic and fierce competitiveness. In the end, he has that killer instinct when the game's on the line.




"Quite frankly, that boy cold, man."



via: https://fox59.com/sports/pacers/how-the-pacers-pulled-off-another-unlikely-clutch-playoff-win/