Haliburton’s 3 with 1.1 seconds left gives Pacers 120-119 stunning win over Cavs and 2-0 series lead

CLEVELAND AP Tyrese Haliburton commented he knows he s trusted to deliver in big moments In three straight playoff games the Indiana Pacers guard has delivered when it has mattered preponderance Haliburton made a -pointer with seconds remaining as the Pacers scored the final eight points in seconds to stun the short-handed and top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers - on Tuesday night to take a - lead in their Eastern Conference semifinals series Haliburton scored of his points in the final minutes After Andrew Nembhard stole an inbounds pass by Cleveland s Max Strus with seconds remaining Indiana tried to find a foreseen tying -pointer before Haliburton drove inside and got fouled He made the first free throw but missed the second Haliburton got the offensive rebound and dribbled out to the -point line where he made it from the top of the key I was ticked I missed the layup because I couldn t hang onto the ball so I backed it out I just saw Ty Jerome top of the key and knocked it down Haliburton reported It s the NBA crazier things have happened That s just what basketball is We don t give up and we re battle tested We just find a way After making a layup with seconds remaining in overtime to help the Pacers eliminate the Milwaukee Bucks Haliburton has continued to hit key shots against the Cavaliers He scored points in Sunday s - success in the series opener including a go-ahead -pointer midway through the fourth quarter Obviously we got lucky Ty hit another amazing shot to win the encounter Indiana coach Rick Carlisle declared You don t see this very often let alone twice in one week Tyrese he came through again We re very fortunate Myles Turner and Aaron Nesmith led No seed Indiana with points apiece It s the first time the Pacers have won the first two games of a playoff series on the road since a first-round set against Orlando Match is Friday night in Indianapolis Donovan Mitchell scored points for Cleveland who were missing three key players including two starters NBA Defensive Sportsman of the Year Evan Mobley left ankle and key reserve De Andre Hunter right thumb were injured in Contest while Darius Garland left big toe missed his fourth straight postseason challenge I feel like we outplayed them for the majority of the contest and then towards the end we had our mental lapses They capitalized on every single mistake that we made stated Jarrett Allen who had points and rebounds Mitchell scored points in the third quarter as the Cavaliers built a - lead late in the period But the Pacers rallied with a - run to get back in it Cleveland looked as though it got specific breathing room with remaining when Max Strus hit a -pointer off an assist by Mitchell to put them up - But the Cavs couldn t hold on again as they committed two turnovers and the Pacers had a pair of offensive rebounds that led to points in the final minute It s the first time Cleveland dropped its first two at home in the playoffs since in the first round against the Knicks It s hard to put all this in words Carlisle noted Cleveland hit us with a hellacious punch early in the event In the fourth we just hung on We maintained enough force to get it done Give the guys credit they somehow revealed a way AP NBA https apnews com hub nba Source