TYRESE Haliburton knocked down a go-ahead triple off his missed free throw as Indiana Pacers escaped with a 120-119 win over Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 2 of the NBA Eastern Conference semifinals on Tuesday night (Wednesday in the Philippines) at the Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
Down 112-119 with 57 seconds left, the Pacers managed to cut the deficit to 116-119 following back-to-back inside conversions from Aaron Nesmith and Pascal Siakam with 27.9 seconds remaining.
Off a steal by Andrew Nembhard, Haliburton drew a foul with 12.4 ticks remaining, making his first free throw to make it 119-117, then grabbed his miss on the second to knock down the game-winning triple with 1.1 seconds remaining.
Haliburton finished with 19 points, with 11 coming in the fourth quarter, to go with nine rebounds, four assists, and a block as the Pacers took a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven series.
Nesmith and Myles Turner each scored 23 points to lead the Pacers, Bennedict Mathurin added 19 points, Nembhard collected 13 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds, and Paskal Siakam ended with 12 markers.
Donovan Mitchell amassed 48 points, nine assists, five rebounds and four steals, Max Strus had 23 points and Jarrett Allen posted 22 points and 12 rebounds for the Cavaliers, which were without injured Evan Mobley (left ankle sprain), Darius Garland (left big toe sprain) and De’Andre Hunter (right thumb sprain).
Meanwhile, Golden State Warriors overcame an early exit by Stephen Curry to score a 99-88 victory over Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference semifinals at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
After scoring 12 early points, including three three-point conversions, Curry went down with a strained hamstring in the second quarter and was ruled out for the remainder of the game.
The Warriors, however, got much needed lift from Buddy Hield, Jimmy Butler III, and Draymond Green, who finishes with 24, 20, and 18 markers, respectively, as they took a 1-0 lead in the series.
Anthony Edwards had 23 points and 14 rebounds, Naz Reid chipped in 19 markers, while Julius Randle and Jalen McDaniels contributed 18 and 12 points, respectively, for the Timberwolves./PN
BOX SCORE:
INDIANA 120 — Turner 23, Nesmith 23, Mathurin 19, Haliburton 19, Nembhard 13, Siakam 12, Toppin 7, McConnell 4, Sheppard 0, Bryant 0, Walker 0.
CLEVELAND 119 — Mitchell 48, Strus 23, Allen 22, Merrill 14, Okoro 5, Wade 3, Jerome 2, Porter 2, Green 0.
Quarterscores: 15-32; 50-61; 84-98; 120-119.
