The Indiana Pacers overcame the first-quarter ejection of guard Bennedict Mathurin to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 129-109 and go 3-1 up in their NBA Eastern Conference semi-final series.
A win for the Pacers over the top seeds in game five in Cleveland on Wednesday (00:00 BST) will see them reach a second straight conference final.
Mathurin left the game with four minutes and 32 seconds left in the opening period after a punch to the chest of De’Andre Hunter.
At that stage, the Pacers led 22-10 and they were 38-23 at the end of the quarter before outscoring their rivals 42-16 in the second to hold a 80-39 advantage
The total was a Pacers franchise play-off record for points in a half.
Pascal Siakam scored 21 points for the Pacers while Myles Turner and Obi Toppin each added 20 as they bounced back from a heavy 126-104 loss in game three.
“This is a group that plays better through adversity,” said Turner. “We got punched in the mouth last game, we had a hell of a response. The starters set the tone and the bench picked it up the rest of the game.”
The Cavaliers were without six-time All Star Donovan Mitchell in the second half after he suffered an ankle injury – the 28-year-old will have an MRI scan on Monday to see if he can play on Wednesday.
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