CLEVELAND (AP) — Donovan Mitchell scored 33 points, Jarrett Allen had 29 points and 13 rebounds and the Cleveland Cavaliers clinched a playoff berth with a 129-120 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Friday night.
Indiana pulled within 120-118 with 2:04 remaining on Pascal Siakam’s drive, but Darius Garland answered with a 3-pointer over Siakam. The Cavaliers scored the final six points, capped by an Isaac Okoro three-point play that ended with him somersaulting before posing for the crowd.
Garland and Caris LeVert each finished with 16 points, and Max Strus had seven points and nine assists. Allen made 13 of 14 shots for Cleveland, which earned its first back-to-back playoff appearances since making four straight NBA Finals from 2015-2018.
“Tonight was the closest we were going to get to a playoff feel before the playoffs, and we felt that pressure as an organization,” Allen said. “We should celebrate this accomplishment because everybody has worked hard to make this happen. But the job is not done yet. We want to go far in the playoffs.”
Children are evacuated from school 'during an exam' after threat made via email
Gene Herrick, AP photographer who covered the Korean War and civil rights, dies at 97
Another suspect charged in 2023 quadruple homicide in northern Mississippi
Donald Trump and Lindsey Graham are again at odds, now over abortion
Revealed: Brit tourist, 19, subjected to sex attack in Majorca 'was gang
Chinese Embassy lashes out at U.S. over harassing Chinese citizens at border
Chinese geoscientists set new record on shelf coring
Chinese researchers call for increase in advanced carbon observation stations
Yvette Fielding says her Most Haunted co
Cargo spacecraft burns up as planned on Earth reentry
Medics remove 150 MAGGOTS from a woman's mouth after dental procedure left her with rotting tissue
Landslides hit Indonesia's Sulawesi island, killing at least 18 people