Pacers eliminate top-seeded Cavs, return to ECF

CLEVELAND -- Tyrese Haliburton scored 31 points, Pascal Siakam added 21 and the Indiana Pacers advanced to their second straight Eastern Conference Finals with a 114-105 victory over Cleveland on Tuesday night, eliminating the top-seeded Cavaliers in five games.

Donovan Mitchell, who missed the second half of Sunday's game due to a sprained left ankle, led Cleveland with 35 points. Evan Mobley added 24 points and 11 rebounds.

The fourth-seeded Pacers will now await the winner of the matchup between the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks. New York has a 3-1 advantage in the series with Game 5 on Thursday night in Boston.

Indiana is the first team since seeding began in 1984 to reach the conference finals in consecutive years as a four seed or worse both times, according to ESPN Research. They reached it last year as a six seed and were swept by the eventual champion Celtics.

The Pacers rallied from a 19-point deficit in the first half and took control after halftime as it won all three games at Cleveland's Rocket Arena.

It is the first time since a 2005 first-round series against Boston that the Pacers have won three road games in a playoff series.

The Cavs dropped three home games in a postseason series for the first time.

Cleveland stormed out to a 44-25 lead with 8:10 remaining in the second quarter before Indiana rallied.

The Pacers got within 56-52 at halftime and then shot 14 of 22 from the field in the third quarter -- including four 3-pointers -- to go up 85-76 going into the final 12 minutes.

Indiana seized control with a 17-2 run over a five-minute span in the third when Siakam had eight points and Haliburton five. That was part of a 29-8 spurt that saw the Pacers take a 12-point lead late in the third.

Cleveland was just 7 of 26 from the field in the quarter.

Mitchell's 3-pointer got the Cavs within 106-103 with 1:27 remaining, but Indiana closed it out by scoring eight of the final 10 points.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.