For the first time since the 2013-14 season, the Indiana Pacers will play the first game of a playoff series in front of their home fans in Indianapolis.
Tyrese Haliburton had 23 points and 10 assists in a 114-112 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night to clinch fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
That gives the Pacers home-court advantage in a playoff series for the first time since they were the No. 1 seed in 2014. Indiana also earned the No. 4 seed in the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season, but all those playoff games were in the Orlando bubble.
The Cavaliers rested four of their starters for the game, though they still shot 45.9% from three-point range. It wasn’t enough to deny Indiana its sixth straight win, part of a late-season push that’s seen the Pacers win 13 of their last 16 games and notch their 49th win.
Indiana was in eighth place as late as Jan. 5, but the Pacers have been a different team since the calendar turned to 2025. The Pacers were 16-18 in 2024, and are 33-13 in 2025. That’s put them on course for a first-round rematch with the Milwaukee Bucks, who can clinch fifth place by winning one of this weekend’s two games with the Detroit Pistons. The Bucks have also won six straight, but this year Indiana gets an extra home game.
That could be crucial in a season where the Bucks are 3-1 against their Central Division rivals. The Pacers’ lone win came at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse when Haliburton converted a game-winning four-point play.
But in a season where it looked like Indiana might have to fight its way out of the play-in, it earned home-court advantage and a well-deserved five days off before the playoffs begin.
