Tyrese Haliburton carves through Cavaliers in Game 1 stunner

CLEVELAND — Tyrese Haliburton has often compared his role as point guard of the Indiana Pacers to being the team mom.

“Your job is to take care of everybody,” Haliburton said after the Pacers stunned the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers 121-112 in Game 1 of the Eastern conference semifinals Sunday night. “Just trying to do that at a high level.”

Indeed, Haliburton set the tone on both ends of the floor for Indiana to spark its Game 1 victory.

He scored 22 points, dished out 13 assists and added some key plays on the defensive end, including a steal and three blocks, making him the first player in Pacers history to put up that kind of production in a playoff game, according to ESPN Research.

“He makes all of us better,” said Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard, who scored 23 points and went 5-for-6 on 3-pointers. “He’s kind of old school in the way he plays pure point guard. He can really carve up a defense. Everybody likes playing with him, getting the ball in the spots you like and in rhythm.”

The Pacers raced out to an advantage from the opening period, jumping on the Cavaliers — who were missing All-Star guard Darius Garland for the third straight game with a toe injury — for a nine-point lead by the end of the first quarter. Indiana had an advantage for most of the game and a 12-point lead in the third quarter before the Cavs began to rally.

Cleveland took a 102-101 lead with 6:30 remaining in the fourth on a free throw from Max Strus. But the Pacers ended the game on a 20-10 run, started off by a Haliburton 3-pointer and punctuated by a Haliburton block on a Strus shot, which he followed with a layup on the other end to make it a 10-point game with 2:12 remaining. The Pacers had six players finish in double figures, including all five starters. Aaron Nesmith and Pascal Siakam each had 17 points.

“We’re just trying to be a confident group coming into this series,” Haliburton said. “There’s not a lot of people picking us to win by any means. We’re definitely the heavy underdog, but we’re trying to control what we can as a group, just keep believing in what we do.”

Meanwhile, the Cavs turned in one of their roughest shooting nights of the season, going 9-for-38 from 3 (23.7%), which set a new season low (regular season and playoffs) from beyond the arc. Donovan Mitchell scored 33 points — breaking Michael Jordan’s playoff record with at least 30 points in a series opener for the eighth straight time — but went 13-for-30 from the field, including 1-of-11 from 3.

“This is nothing to freak out about,” Mitchell said after the game. “Understanding that it’s a long game. They made some shots, and you got to come in and give them credit. To make shots on the road, Game 1, set that tone, that’s credit to them.

“But never hanging your head. Don’t trip. [It’s] pretty much been the message the whole time. Tonight, understanding that look we didn’t play our best basketball. But we’ll be better.”

Game 2 is Tuesday night in Cleveland. Although the Pacers were excited to win the first game of the series and hand the Cavs their first loss of the postseason, Indiana coach Rick Carlisle reminded his team after the game to stay hungry. Indiana was able to steal home-court advantage in the series, but the Pacers were also aware Sunday night that the Cavs were going to bounce back.

“It gives us a lot of momentum for sure, and you can definitely feel good about it for the night,” Haliburton said Sunday. “But this is the best team in our conference. They play very hard. They don’t lose a ton, so they’re going to respond. We got to be prepared for that going into Game 2.”

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