Up 3-1 on Cavs, Pacers 'haven't done anything yet'

INDIANAPOLIS -- Despite gathering the largest halftime pb successful playoff past en way to a ascendant 129-109 Game 4 victory that gave his squad a commanding 3-1 pb successful the Eastern Conference semifinals, Indiana Pacers manager Rick Carlisle wasn't acceptable to instrumentality enactment of the accomplishment.

"We haven't done thing yet," Carlisle said Sunday night.

Carlisle continued to stress however the Pacers person been the underdog successful each crippled of their second-round bid with the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers, and wants his squad to support that mindset contempt being 1 triumph distant from a 2nd consecutive league finals appearance.

"We're going to support approaching this similar we person everything to prove," Carlisle said. "We cognize radical don't judge successful america ... the things astir the scores and each that, it's meaningless. This crippled is present history. So, we got to enactment successful the contiguous infinitesimal arsenic overmuch arsenic we tin effort to support an edge."

The Pacers ne'er trailed successful Sunday's game, racing retired to an 80-39 halftime advantage. Indiana forced Cleveland into much turnovers (14) than it allowed tract goals (8). The 41-point pb tied the largest successful NBA postseason history, matching the 2017 Cavaliers who led the Boston Celtics by 41 during an Eastern Conference finals game, according to ESPN Research.

"Complete domination by them," Cavs manager Kenny Atkinson said. "That's benignant of the story. In each facet."

Cleveland picked up its archetypal triumph of the bid successful Friday's Game 3, aided by the instrumentality of Evan Mobley, Darius Garland and De'Andre Hunter. The Cavs besides flummoxed the Pacers during the 2nd 4th of that crippled with a 3-2 portion defence that held them to 8-for-21 (38%) shooting and 1-for-7 from 3.

The Pacers had an reply Sunday, shooting 9-for-15 (60%) from the tract against the portion and hitting 3 of their 6 3-pointers.

"Our movie sessions are ever beauteous disfigured aft a loss," Pacers prima Tyrese Haliburton said. "I consciousness that Coach is simply a savant erstwhile it comes to adjustments and getting the champion retired of guys. And I deliberation we tin conscionable travel that pb and his strength travel playoff time. It's casual to follow."

Haliburton scored 11 points with 5 assists and 5 rebounds. The Pacers had 7 players decorativeness successful treble figures and 3 -- Obi Toppin, Pascal Siakam and Myles Turner -- with 20 points.

Indiana's 129 points tied its astir successful a crippled this postseason.

"We conscionable came retired with bully energy," Haliburton said. "I thought past crippled they acceptable the code from a physicality standpoint. That's been a talking constituent from them each series. Today we came out, acceptable the code from the leap and truly conscionable rode that wave."

After winning a franchise-record 64 games and starring the Eastern Conference each season, the Cavaliers are present connected the brink of elimination. Garland had 21 points, but Mobley was constricted to conscionable 10, portion Jarrett Allen had 2 points and 2 rebounds.

"They raised their crippled to different level and we didn't lucifer it," Atkinson said. "We talked astir it. We knew it was coming. You effort to hole for these things. You effort to hole your guys mentally, but for immoderate crushed they were astatine different level. Their unit was greater successful each sense."

Now the Cavs way 3-1 successful the bid with the presumption of prima Donovan Mitchell uncertain going forward. He is scheduled to acquisition an MRI connected his injured near ankle Monday.

Game 5 is Tuesday successful Cleveland.

"There's going to beryllium a large haymaker coming," Carlisle said. "We respect the heck retired of their fans and what they got going there. A batch of enactment to do."