CLEVELAND – Tyrese Haliburton’s 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds left gave the Indiana Pacers a stunning 120-119 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals Tuesday and a commanding 2-0 lead in the series.
Haliburton, who had his wrist X-rayed at halftime, had the ball in his hands after grabbing his own rebound off a missed free throw with 12.4 seconds left and the Pacers trailing by two. The Pacers star dribbled out the clock until he could get separation and let his dagger shot go from the top of the key, a deflating blow to the No. 1 seed Cavs, who led this game by 20 points on multiple occasions despite missing three key players to injury.
TYRESE HALIBURTON WINS GAME 2 FOR THE PACERS 😱🤯
WHAT. A. WILD. PLAY. pic.twitter.com/rFsjZmtrBz
— NBA (@NBA) May 7, 2025
Haliburton finished with 19 points and nine assists, while Aaron Nesmith led Indiana with 23 points. Donovan Mitchell scored 48 points for Cleveland and Max Strus added a playoff career high 23 points, but both made key turnovers in a wild final 66 seconds which began with the Cavs leading by seven points.
Missing Darius Garland, De’Andre Hunter and Evan Mobley with injuries, the Cavs looked sluggish in the fourth quarter and struggled to get the ball over halfcourt. In a strange sequence, Nesmith flushed a putback dunk off a missed free throw and seemed to hurt Mitchell. The play was initially ruled basket interference on Nesmith, but the call was overturned on replay. On the ensuing possession, Mitchell caught the inbounds pass and ran right through Nesmith for a charge. The Pacers scored to cut their deficit to three points, and after a timeout, Strus immediately turned it over on a bad inbounds pass.
Ty Jerome fouled Haliburton after the Strus turnover, and Haliburton made the first free throw. He missed the second and corralled his own rebound, setting up the shocking final shot. Cleveland was ahead by 14 at the start of the fourth quarter and shot 5-of-18 overall and 1-of-6 on 3s, a testament to its tired legs.
In addition to missing three key players — Garland and Mobley are All-Stars — Jerome, a typically reliable backup point guard, started for Garland and shot 1-of-14. The Cavs tried not to play him down the stretch because of his struggles, which left them without many options for ballhandlers, another cog in the Cavs’ collapse.
Game 3 is Friday in Indianapolis.
This story will be updated.
(Photo: Jason Miller / Getty Images)