The fourth-place Indiana Pacers rallied from 27 down on the road — the biggest comeback in team history — to beat the first-place Cleveland Cavaliers 126-118 in a battle of Eastern Conference playoff teams Sunday.
Two-way player RayJ Dennis scored seven straight points in the second overtime and rookie Johnny Furphy added six points in the second extra period for the Pacers (50-32), who reached 50 wins for the first time since 2013-14. Quenton Jackson led Indiana with 21 points and Tony Bradley collected 14 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots.
The Cavaliers (64-18) rested nine of their top 10 scorers, including injured Donovan Mitchell (ankle) along with fellow All-Stars Evan Mobley and Darius Garland, but their non-rotation players shined in building a 74-47 lead midway through the third quarter.
Rookie Jaylon Tyson scored a career-high 31 points, Emoni Bates had a career-best 25 points and Nae’Qwan Tomlin had 24 points and 12 rebounds for Cleveland. Tristan Thompson grabbed 20 rebounds in 43 minutes, but was 1 of 6 from the foul line.
Furphy dunked in transition with 10 seconds left in regulation, forcing OT at 105. Indiana ended the fourth on a 32-9 run fueled by 11 points from Jackson. Furphy finished with 15 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
Tyson scored the first four points in the first extra period, but the Pacers answered with two Jackson free throws and another Furphy dunk to send the game to double-OT at 109. Bradley missed a hook in the lane at the buzzer.
Cleveland will face the No. 8 seed in the East, which won’t be determined until the conclusion of the play-in tournament on April 18. Orlando, Atlanta, Chicago and Miami are their potential foes for Game 1 on April 20.
The Pacers take on No. 5 seed Milwaukee in the opening round. All-Star forward Pascal Siakam (elbow) and point guard Tyrese Haliburton (back) were held out, along with guards Bennedict Mathurin (left calf soreness) and Ben Sheppard (left big toe sprain).
Center Jarrett Allen, who played 41 seconds to accomplish his goal of appearing in all 82 games, finished the season with the seventh-best field goal percentage in NBA history at 70.6 percent. He is the first member of the Cavaliers to lead the league in the category.
–Field Level Media
