Haliburton leads Pacers to the NBA Eastern Conference Finals

Led by a brilliant Tyrese Haliburton, who scored 31 points, the Indiana Pacers cruised to a 114-105 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday to clinch the NBA Eastern Conference finals.

The Pacers eliminated the injury-stricken top-seeded Cavaliers with a 4-1 run.

"We know what we are," Haliburton said. "We don't care what they say on the outside, we're not done, we have an important series in front of us and we have to be ready, our goal is to win the championship."

Indiana took control of the key by winning the first two games while away. Although they lost the third game at home, they never stopped being the best team.

Haliburton shot 67 percent (10/15), with eight assists and six rebounds.

The 25-year-old point guard was backed by the scoring of Aaron Nesmith, who finished with a double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds, and Pascal Siakam, the second-best scorer with 21 points.

Cleveland, trailing 3-1 in Game 5 on Tuesday, looked poised to keep the series alive after building a 19-point lead midway through the second quarter at Rocket Arena.

Injuries hurt Cavs

However, the Cavs suffered throughout the game from ankle discomfort from Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland, two key players in their offense.

With a six-point deficit and less than two minutes on the clock, Mitchell went to the free-throw line and missed all three of his shots in a sequence that made evident the physical difficulties of the shooting guard with Panamanian roots.

Mitchell, whose four three-pointers in the game came in the final period, had a 35-point night, but was ineffective from the field (8/25).

Evan Mobley, considered a key player during the regular season, could not replace him at critical moments and finished with 24 points and 11 rebounds.

In a desperate attempt, Kenny Atkinson opted to give Ty Jerome time. However, his limitations on defense overcame his contribution on offense, which ended with eight points and two assists.

Despite the elimination, the season leaves positive notes for the Cavs: they were the best team in the conference in the regular season and Atkinson won the Coach of the Year award.

They also got through the first round with a dominant 4-0 win over the Miami Heat. Still, they could not recover against a Pacers team that took advantage of all the Ohio team's difficulties.

"I feel like we've improved," Atkinson commented. "I expected more after the Miami series and we were unlucky with a couple of injuries, it's disappointing."

Celtics or Knicks?

Rick Carlisle's team, meanwhile, will have their revenge in the Finals after falling 4-0 in the 2023-24 season to the eventual champions, the Boston Celtics.

"We're excited for our city, our fans," the coach said. "The league is for anybody, we have to keep believing and we're confident in our formula to play at a good level."

In the Eastern Conference finals, Indiana, seeded fourth, will now face either the Boston Celtics or their bitter rivals, the New York Knicks.

The winner will advance to next month's NBA Finals.

The Knicks lead the series with Boston 3-1 and can book a showdown with Indiana with a win over the Celtics on Wednesday.

The defending champs will be without superstar Jayson Tatum, who suffered a ruptured right Achilles tendon that will likely keep him out for several months.