History repeats itself for the Cavaliers, who were eliminated in the semi-finals

The Indiana Pacers, who won 114-105 in Ohio on Tuesday, eliminated the Cleveland Cavaliers (4-1) to reach the Eastern Conference finals in the NBA playoffs, as they did last year.

Beaten at home, for a 4-1 elimination in the Conference semi-finals, exactly like last year against Boston, the disappointment is immense for Cleveland, the best record in the Eastern Conference at the end of the regular season (64 wins – 18 losses), but unrecognizable during this series.

These crazy winning streaks in the regular season and the depth added to the roster did not change the franchise's fate in the playoffs.

"I want to stay positive. I feel like we've improved, but the truth is we haven't reached the level we hoped for. We're not happy, we don't want to celebrate the season, even though I think we've taken a step forward. We want to try to take that final step," commented Kenny Atkinson, who was voted coach of the year after taking over the team last summer.

"They offered us a physical challenge. And they were able to maintain their intensity level much longer than we were. There's also a mental aspect; we still have a level to reach at that level," he said.

Cleveland was able to count on Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland on Tuesday, both of whom were weakened by recent injuries (respectively to the ankle and foot), but this was not enough to resist the Pacers.

In a match where the two teams alternated series, the "Cavs" had a 19-point lead in the 2nd quarter, before letting the visitors come back to 4 points at the break (56-52) thanks to the show of Tyrese Haliburton, 5 of 5 from long range during the 2nd quarter, for 31 points and 8 assists in the end.

After a strong recovery, the Cavaliers suffered a devastating 19-2 run in the middle of the third quarter. A final effort from Mitchell (35 points, 9 rebounds) gave the crowd some hope, before decisive baskets from Andrew Nembhard (18 pts) and Myles Turner (10 pts, 7 rebounds).

Indiana will face either the New York Knicks or champion Boston in the Eastern Conference finals, trailing 3-1 before Game 5 on Wednesday.

"It's a special feeling. I don't have that much experience, but I've learned from the older guys that you should never take success for granted. Getting back to the conference finals is a special achievement... We hope to continue," Haliburton explained.

After an electric end to the match, the Oklahoma City Thunder ended up dominating the Denver Nuggets at home to lead 3-2 and find themselves one win away from the Western Conference Finals, their most visited since 2016.

The gap never exceeded 12 points, and the end of the fourth quarter was breathtaking, with the two teams finding themselves tied six times in the final six minutes, including the last one with 1 minute 40 left after an otherworldly shot from Nikola Jokic.

The Serbian center had a titanic match with 44 points and 15 rebounds, perfectly in phase with his leader Jamal Murray (28 pts) as when the two men led the Nuggets to the title in 2023.

But OKC responded with a collective effort (six players with more than 12 points) led by Canadian Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (31 pts, 6 rbds, 7 assists), despite significant offensive difficulties at times.

"We believed in our principles. They were leading for two games in a row, but we managed to pull away," Gilgeous-Alexander said. The two teams meet again Thursday for Game 6 in Denver.