
INDIANA Pacers turned things around in the second half to topple the erstwhile streaking Cleveland Cavaliers, 103-88, in the 2024-25 NBA Regular Season on Sunday night (Monday in the Philippines) at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio.
Andrew Nembhard spearheaded the offense with 19 points to go with four assists, two rebounds, and two steals, while Paskal Siakam contributed 18 markers as the Pacers moved up to a 22-18 record.
Myles Turner posted a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds, Bennedict Mathurin and Obi Toppin had 12 points each, and Thomas Bryant contributed 11 markers for the Pacers.
Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton only played for 18 minutes and finished with two points, five assists, one rebound, one steal, and one block after hurting his hamstring.
Down 45-60 early in the third quarter, the Pacers leaned on conversions from Mathurin and Siakam to tie the score at 65-all before surging to a 77-71 lead on conversions from Toppin.
The Cavaliers tried to keep the match close in the fourth quarter but the Pacers responded with a triple from Turner and consecutive points from Nembhard for a 105-90 count.
Darius Garland finished with 20 points, Donovan Mitchell added 19 markers, while Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen had 16 and 11, respectively, as the Cavaliers saw their 12-game winning run snapped for a 33-5 record.
Meanwhile, Boston Celtics (28-11) escaped an endgame blunder for a 120-119 victory over New Orleans Pelicans (8-32) at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.
Down 115-120 with 22 seconds left, the Pelicans cut the deficit to 119-120 on a basket by Dejounte Murray and two free throws by CJ McCollum with 6.6 seconds in the game clock.
The Celtics then committed a five-second inbound violation, giving the Pelicans a chance to snatch the victory but McCollum missed on a potential game-winning basket.
Jayson Tatum finished with 38 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Celtics, Kristaps Porzingis added 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Jaylen Brown ended with 16 markers./PN
BOX SCORE:
INDIANA 108 — Nembhard 19, Siakam 18, Turner 15, Toppin 12, Mathurin 12, Bryant 11, Walker 8, McConnell 6, Sheppard 5, Haliburton 2, Furphy 0.
CLEVELAND 93 — Garland 20, Mitchell 19, Mobley 16, Allen 11, Niang 7, Thompson 4, Wade 3, Strus 3, Merrill 3, Okoro 3, Porter 2, Tyson 0.
Quarterscores: 21-19, 40-53, 77-71, 108-93.