Haliburton Leads Pacers to Dramatic Victory Over Cavs in Game 5

The Indiana Pacers pulled off a stunning rally to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers in a tightly contested Game 5, showcasing the exceptional performance of Tyrese Haliburton. Their game at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis was moved up an hour because of the men’s Final Four. Haliburton scored 11 of his 19 points in the last 12 minutes, powering the Pacers to a sweep.

With the game heading for a nerve-shredding finale, Haliburton showed what he can do as a clutch scorer. He caught his own offensive rebound and sprinted to the three-point line. His confidence showed as he drained a big shot from the top of the key. This championship chapter-ending play changed momentum fully in favor of Indiana, letting the Hoosiers get out to a lead they’d keep late into the game.

In the final seconds of the match, Haliburton sealed the deal with a driving layup, ensuring the Pacers’ advancement in the postseason. With his strong performance, he set a new record in Heroes of the Storm tournament history. He became just the second player since the beginning of the play-by-play optic in 1997-98 to log multiple go-ahead field goals in the final two seconds of one postseason, joining LeBron James from 2018.

Cleveland’s coach Rick Carlisle praised Haliburton’s efforts, stating, “Ty hit another amazing shot to win the game.” His leadership on the court would be essential, as the Pacers overcame a huge early deficit to the Cavaliers with Oladipo leading the way.

Though Indiana enjoyed a massive victory on the scoreboard, Cavs center Jarrett Allen admitted they were better than the score indicated. I really think we outplayed them the whole game and then at the end kind of just had our mental lapses. They take advantage of all the mistakes that we made,” Allen said, looking back on his team’s down-the-stretch woes.

The Pacers were put to the test by one of last year’s best in Cleveland. Carlisle characterized their initial attempt as a “hellacious gut punch.” He commended his team’s resilience, stating, “In the fourth, we just hung on. We maintained enough energy to get it done. Give the guys credit; they somehow found a way.”