The East's top seed has been eliminated. With their 114-105 win in Game 5 on Tuesday night, the Indiana Pacers knocked out the No. 1 seed Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round of the 2025 NBA playoffs and clinched a spot in the Eastern Conference finals for the second consecutive season.

The Indiana Pacers led by coach Rick Carlisle turned out to be a temple of doom for the #1 seed Cleveland Cavaliers whipping them in the playoffs as they had in the regular season.

The Cleveland Cavaliers host the Indiana Pacers in Game 5 of their best-of-7, second-round series in the NBA Playoffs Tuesday.

Discover who’s most to blame for the Cleveland Cavaliers’ shocking playoff exit against the Pacers and what’s next.

Indiana blew out the Cavaliers, 129-109, in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals to take a commanding 3-1 series lead.

Indiana has not made the NBA Finals since 2000, and has never won an NBA title. Rick Carlisle last coached in the Finals with the Dallas Mavericks in 2011, and he knows his team is close.

The Indiana Pacers emphatically pushed the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers to the brink of playoff elimination with a dominant 129-109 win to take a 3-1 series lead.

Cleveland dominated the Heat in its sweep, giving the Cavs some extra rest headed into the conference semifinals. The No. 4 Indiana Pacers, however, were also able to handle their opponent ...

"I'm sorry that their season had to end like this," Rick Carlisle said after his fourth-seeded Pacers eliminated Cleveland despite the Cavs' 64 wins and Coach of the Year honors.