Game Rewind: Pacers 105, Cavaliers 115

Sunday, April 2 at 8:00 PM ET at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse

The Pacers needed a win on Sunday night in Cleveland to avoid being eliminated from postseason contention, a tall task for a young squad playing on the road against a top-four team in the East.

Still, despite playing without stars Tyrese Haliburton and Myles Turner, the Blue & Gold went blow-for-blow with the Cavaliers for much of the night and took a one-point lead into the fourth quarter.

But Cleveland (49-30) held the Pacers to just 18 points in the final frame and forced Indiana into eight turnovers over the final 12 minutes to secure a 115-103 win.

With the loss, the Pacers (34-45) can finish no higher than 11th place in the Eastern Conference standings, meaning Indiana will miss the playoffs for the third straight season and fail to reach the Play-In Tournament for the second straight year. The Blue & Gold have three games remaining, but now know their season will end next Sunday in New York.

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Rookie guard Bennedict Mathurin led seven Pacers in double figures with 19 points and pulled down nine rebounds in the loss, while Jordan Nwora recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 boards.

"There's some things to like about the effort by our team tonight," Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said. "A lot of guys involved...First three quarters, I thought we really went toe-to-toe with them in a very difficult environment, really a playoff-type environment."

But All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell dropped 40 points for the Cavs, his third straight game with 40 or more, going 14-for-25 from the field and 9-for-12 from the free throw line to lead Cleveland to victory.

Seven early points from Mathurin propelled Indiana to a 14-10 lead five minutes into Sunday's contest. But Cleveland outscored the Blue & Gold 16-7 over the next five minutes, with Mitchell scoring the Cavs' first eight points during that run.

The Pacers answered with seven straight points late in the frame. Mathurin converted a layup in transition with 1:11 remaining, Jalen Smith threw down a dunk the next trip down the floor, and then Buddy Hield knocked down a go-ahead three from the left wing with 19.9 seconds left in the quarter.

On the other end, Jarrett Allen tipped in a putback at the buzzer to tie the score at 28 after the first 12 minutes.

The Pacers opened the second quarter with a lineup featuring five bench players -- T.J. McConnell, Hield, Oshae Brissett, Jordan Nwora, and Smith. Those reserves delivered, outscoring Cleveland 15-6 over the first 3:09 of the period.

Indiana led by as many as 11 points in the frame, but the hosts mounted a charge over the closing minutes of the half. Former Pacer Caris LeVert scored seven points during a 14-3 Cavaliers run that ultimately tied the game at 59 with 42.8 seconds remaining.

Smith scored on the other end off a dish from Andrew Nembhard to put Indiana back in front by two heading into the locker room.

Indiana quickly surged back ahead after the intermission. The Blue & Gold led 74-66 following back-to-back threes by Nembhard and Aaron Nesmith.

But Mitchell kept the Cavs close throughout the third quarter. The All-Star guard poured in 17 points in the period, briefly giving the hosts an 80-78 lead on a jumper with 4:37 remaining in the quarter.

The Pacers answered that with five straight points to surge back in front. Cleveland tied the game on two more occasions, but it was Indiana that took an 87-86 lead into the fourth quarter.

But the Cavs took the lead back with a 7-0 run early in the final frame. Darius Garland's three 1:31 into the fourth quarter broke an 89-89 tie before LeVert added a jumper to give the hosts a five-point cushion.

Indiana drew back within one following Buddy Hield's jumper with 8:10 remaining, but Cleveland responded with five straight to keep the Pacers at bay.

The Cavs broke the game open in the final minutes. LeVert drilled a three to make it 105-97 with 3:27 to play. Nembhard answered with a jumper on the other end, but Evan Mobley threw down a fastbreak dunk after Indiana missed on its next offensive possession.

Mitchell provided the dagger, knocking down a stepback three with 2:19 remaining that got him to 40 points on the night and stretched the margin to 11.

"In the fourth quarter we struggled a little bit to get good shots," Carlisle said. "They amped things up, made some plays offensively. Mitchell made some spectacular plays. Caris hit a big three and made a great pass and things kind of got away and we ran out of timeouts."

McConnell had 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting and five assists off the bench for Indiana. Nesmith scored 14 and went 3-for-4 from 3-point range, while Nesmith tallied 13 points, eight assists, and three steals. Smith added 12 points, eight boards, and two blocks as Hield chipped in 10 points and five rebounds.

"Playing in an environment like this (is) a valuable learning experience for the young guys," McConnell said. "(Cleveland is) fourth in the East and they have a great crowd. To kind of fight the way we did, we just didn't have enough there at the end. But like I said, the experience the young guys are getting in a game like this, it's great."

Garland had 20 points and six assists for Cleveland, while Mobley recorded a double-double with 14 points and 16 rebounds while also registering four assists and four blocks. LeVert and Allen each added 15 for the Cavs.

The Pacers will return to Gainbridge Fieldhouse for their final homestand of the year, hosting the Knicks on Wednesday and the Pistons on Friday. Indiana will then wrap up the 2022-23 campaign next Sunday in New York.

Mathurin led the team in scoring for the 19th time this season, went 8-for-8 from the free throw line, matched his career high (set on Wednesday against Milwaukee) with nine rebounds, and blocked two shots in a game for the first time. After scoring just six total points in a pair of games last weekend in Boston and Atlanta, the rookie has averaged 22.3 points over his last four contests.

Nwora recorded his first double-double as a Pacer and set a new season high with 10 rebounds.

Smith has scored in double figures in five straight games and eight of his last 10 contests.

Indiana's bench outscored the Cavs' reserves, 41-21.

Both teams shot exactly 9-for-24 from 3-point range (37.5 percent). The Cavs shot 48.9 percent from the field overall, while the Pacers converted just 43.4 percent of their attempts.

Mitchell has scored 40 or more points in 13 games this season, a franchise record. Only Portland's Damian Lillard (15) and Dallas' Luka Doncic (14) have accomplished the feat more this season.

"Playing against guys like Mitchell and Garland and Caris LeVert's a tremendous offensive player, too...That's really good experience. We did a lot of switching tonight to try to simplify things. With a few minutes left in the game we had them at 102 (points) or something like that. That's a positive. We've just got to keep building on the positives." --Carlisle on his young guards taking on a difficult defensive assignment

"Just taking it one game at a time, controlling what I can control. When my number's called, I'm ready. Just making sure that I'm going out there, executing, playing my game, not trying to force (anything) outside my box, do what I can do to help the team win. Like Coach Rick said, if you do all the little things, everything else comes to you. And that's just something I keep in the back of my mind as I play." -Smith on his strong play in recent games

"Just an unselfish mindset from top to bottom. It's contagious. Everyone's out there moving the ball, making the extra pass. And you see it, scoring's kind of spread out because everyone's sharing the ball and looking for the next guy." -McConnell on Indiana's balanced scoring

"We're putting Benn in some different situations to create. And he's learning about getting open in crunch time. You saw the one where he got the offensive foul and then he had two others where he scored. We'll keep working on all this stuff." -Carlisle on Mathurin's opportunity in a starting role to close his rookie season

"It's tough because obviously they play big with two seven-footers (Mobley and Allen) out there. On the offensive end, they deter a lot of shots in the paint, they clog up a lot of space. We've got to react to that, hit our open shots and find those driving lanes...It's the NBA. You've got to find ways to score." -Smith on the challenges of facing Cleveland's stout defense

"Our approach is going to be the same. We're competing. It does no good to step onto an NBA court and not compete. And this is where, the way we're set up with our young guys, it really is a great opportunity for them...This period of the last two-and-a-half three weeks is very valuable. This creates momentum into next season...You cannot underestimate or undersell the importance of internal development, having your young guys learn. Learn what it's like to have real professional responsibility. These games have helped simulate that and our guys have stepped up and done some great things." -Carlisle on how the Pacers will handle the last three games with the team elimination from playoff contention

The Cavaliers dominated the interior on Sunday, outscoring Indiana 68-42 in points in the paint.

The Pacers return to Gainbridge Fieldhouse to host Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks on Wednesday, April 5 at 7:00 PM ET. Find Tickets >>