Cavaliers collapse at home as Pacers advance to East finals

What comes next may be the worst part. The questions. The endless debates. How much did injuries matter? (A lot, clearly.) And even then: why? Was it just bad luck that left a team, one that had paced itself so well through the final third of the regular season, falling apart physically in May, right when it mattered most? Is it fair (it probably is) to question the mental toughness of a core that, talent-wise, has never been in doubt? Do the Cavs need real changes? Can you reach the Finals with a small, defensively suspect backcourt? And most of all—how do you process the brutal ending to such a beautiful ride?

64 wins but the Cavs’ season is over

The Cleveland Cavaliers, winners of 64 regular-season games and authors of a historic first-round demolition (4-0, +122 point differential) against Miami, were knocked out in the first Eastern Conference semifinal match point. At home. By the Indiana Pacers. Final score: 105–114. Final tally: 1–4. Their season is over. Just like that.

Darius Garland missed the start of the series and never really found his rhythm even when he came back. Evan Mobley and De’Andre Hunter were dealing with nagging issues. Donovan Mitchell played Game 5 on a shredded ankle. And still, he was their best player—dropping 35 in a gutsy but doomed stand.

Cleveland had been up 44–25 with eight minutes to go before halftime. A 19-point cushion, plenty of game left. Then, the game turned. Tyrese Haliburton, who had early foul trouble, drilled his first three. Then four more before halftime. The break came with Indiana just four points down (56–52), but the energy had already flipped. And Cleveland never got the script back. A third quarter collapse (20–33) sent the Cavs to their grave. They fought to the end—down 103–106 with 1:27 left—but they were a shadow of the team that once looked unstoppable.

Now, with all the hindsight in the world, it feels ironic: Cleveland had spent the season in a constant tug-of-war with the idea that it could be Boston’s true rival. A threat to the Celtics in a seven-game war. And yet, one is out, the other (Boston) is hanging by a thread at 1–3, gutted by Jayson Tatum’s injury.

Of the 28 teams in NBA history to win 64 or more regular-season games, only four have failed to reach the Conference Finals: the 2007 Mavericks (67–15), the 2016 Spurs (67–15), the 2022 Suns (64–18)… and now these Cavaliers. A team that posted the second-best offensive rating in league history. That had the Coach of the Year (Kenny Atkinson), the Defensive Player of the Year (Evan Mobley), and three All-Stars (Mobley, Garland, Mitchell). A team that opened 15–0, reached 33–4, and was 56–10 at one point. The best Cavaliers team ever without LeBron James. And they didn’t even make the Conference Finals. They didn’t win a single home game in the second round (0–3).

And here’s the kicker: at home, against every other team, the Cavs were 36–5. Against the Pacers? 0–5. That’s it. When they wake up, they’ll realize this wasn’t a nightmare. The collapse was real. And there’s no next time.

The Pacers: A team built for the big stage

Indiana Pacers are heading back to the Eastern Conference Finals, and there’s no mystery about it: they’re one of the best teams in the NBA. One of the most thrilling, sure—fast-paced, high-octane, unafraid—but also one of the toughest.

They eliminated a 64-win heavyweight by winning the very first match point, a performance full of clarity and grit. From a rocky start—Haliburton in foul trouble, missed threes in the first quarter—to total control in the middle stretch, to a flawless show of nerves down the stretch. Indiana won when the game demanded precision, and when it became chaos. That’s playoff basketball.

They won because Haliburton rediscovered his best self (31 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists, 6-of-10 from three). Because Pascal Siakam (21/8/5) fought through fatigue to the end. Because Myles Turner protected the rim like a sentinel. Because Aaron Nesmith brought relentless energy. And because Andrew Nembhard (18 points, 6 assists) turned into the kind of unsung hero who defines postseason runs.

The Pacers were simply better. They turned their weaknesses into strengths—outscoring Cleveland by 18 from beyond the arc (15-of-35 vs 9-of-35)—against a team that had relied on its outside shooting all year but went ice-cold when it mattered most. Four times under 30% from three in five games. That stat alone may explain why Indiana is still standing and Cleveland is not.

The Cavaliers had enough go wrong, enough injuries pile up, that they can tell themselves this was a fluke. Or they can wonder—maybe this style of play, heavy on finesse and light on grit, just doesn’t hold up in playoff trench warfare. Their hopes of a title, hopes that were real and legitimate, died in a series where almost nothing went right after Game 3.

The Pacers took it all. The Conference Finals ticket, the underdog contender role, the momentum. They’re a real team now—fast, strong, confident, and packed with players who rise to the occasion. That’s what wins playoff series. That’s what gets you to the NBA Finals.

Favorites or not from here on out, there’s one thing you can’t do anymore: doubt them. No matter who’s on the other side.

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Cleveland Cavaliers

Stats

4 Evan Mobley
1 Max Strus
31 Jarrett Allen
10 Darius Garland
45 Donovan Mitchell
8 Javonte Green
12 De'Andre Hunter
2 Ty Jerome
18 Chuma Okeke
35 Isaac Okoro
9 Craig Porter Jr.
13 Tristan Thompson
24 Jaylon Tyson
32 Dean Wade

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF	Val
4 Evan Mobley	37	24	11	5	6	1	0	0	2	7/9	7/10	1/2	0	0	0
1 Max Strus	26	0	7	3	4	2	0	0	0	0/0	0/3	0/6	0	4	0
31 Jarrett Allen	29	9	4	1	3	0	2	1	0	1/2	4/6	0/0	0	1	0
10 Darius Garland	33	11	4	0	4	3	5	0	0	3/4	4/10	0/6	0	4	0
45 Donovan Mitchell	37	35	9	2	7	1	2	4	1	15/21	4/12	4/13	0	2	0
8 Javonte Green	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
12 De'Andre Hunter	29	12	5	2	3	1	0	1	0	0/1	3/8	2/4	0	4	0
2 Ty Jerome	11	8	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	0/0	1/2	2/3	0	3	0
18 Chuma Okeke	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
35 Isaac Okoro	16	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0/0	1/2	0/0	0	1	0
9 Craig Porter Jr.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
13 Tristan Thompson	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
24 Jaylon Tyson	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
32 Dean Wade	18	4	6	2	4	0	1	0	0	0/0	2/2	0/1	0	4	0

Indiana Pacers

Stats

23 Aaron Nesmith
43 Pascal Siakam
33 Myles Turner
0 Tyrese Haliburton
2 Andrew Nembhard
13 Tony Bradley
3 Thomas Bryant
12 Johnny Furphy
16 James Johnson
0 Bennedict Mathurin
9 T.J. McConnell
26 Ben Sheppard
1 Obi Toppin
5 Jarace Walker

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF	Val
23 Aaron Nesmith	37	13	13	2	11	2	0	2	0	2/3	4/7	1/7	0	5	0
43 Pascal Siakam	39	21	8	0	8	5	0	1	1	3/5	6/15	2/5	0	4	0
33 Myles Turner	33	10	7	2	5	0	1	0	4	3/4	2/5	1/2	0	2	0
0 Tyrese Haliburton	36	31	6	0	6	8	4	1	1	5/6	4/5	6/10	0	3	0
2 Andrew Nembhard	37	18	3	0	3	6	2	1	1	1/1	4/5	3/6	0	3	0
13 Tony Bradley	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
3 Thomas Bryant	10	9	3	0	3	0	0	1	0	0/0	3/5	1/1	0	3	0
12 Johnny Furphy	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
16 James Johnson	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
0 Bennedict Mathurin	11	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0/0	2/3	0/1	0	2	0
9 T.J. McConnell	10	0	3	1	2	2	2	0	0	0/0	0/1	0/0	0	0	0
26 Ben Sheppard	12	3	1	0	1	0	1	1	0	0/0	0/0	1/1	0	2	0
1 Obi Toppin	12	5	3	0	3	3	2	1	0	3/3	1/1	0/2	0	3	0
5 Jarace Walker	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0