Pacers eliminate top-seeded Cavaliers 114-105, advance to the Eastern Conference Finals

CLEVELAND (AP) — Indiana coach Rick Carlisle put it best in summing up his team's finishing punch in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

“The winning team writes the script," he said.

The Pacers' 114-105 victory over the Cavaliers in Game 5 on Tuesday night was similar to the first two games of the series. Cleveland jumped out to a big first-half lead, but Indiana's quick tempo eventually took a toll.

“I have to give our guys credit, they earned this,” Carlisle said. “This was one of the best teams in the league. I’m sorry their season had to end like this. They had the perfect season, and we came along and were hot at the right time."

Tyrese Haliburton scored 31 points and Pascal Siakam added 21 as the Pacers reached the conference finals in consecutive years for the first time since 2013-14.

Donovan Mitchell, who missed the second half of Sunday’s game due to a sprained left ankle, led Cleveland with 35 points. Evan Mobley added 24 points and 11 rebounds.

The top-seeded Cavs swept their first-round series against Miami, but were unable to match up against the up-tempo Pacers.

“We were not favored in one game. The lowest point spread was 5½. That was something that fueled our guys, too," Carlisle said.

The fourth-seeded Pacers will now await the winner of the matchup between the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks. New York leads 3-1 with Game 5 on Wednesday night in Boston.

Indiana rallied from a 19-point deficit in the first half and took control after halftime and won all three games at Cleveland’s Rocket Arena.

It was the first time since a 2005 first-round series against Boston that the Pacers won three road games in a playoff series.

The Cavs dropped three home games in a postseason series for the first time.

“I love playing in this arena, man. We’re 0-3 at home. We let the city down,” Mitchell said. “This place is special. What hurts is that we didn’t get it done at home.”

Cleveland stormed out to a 44-25 lead with 8:10 remaining in the second quarter, but Haliburton had five of his six 3-pointers in the period as the Pacers got within 56-52 at halftime.

“We didn't panic after that rough start to the first quarter. We talked about how we knew that they were going to throw a haymaker there. But I thought we weathered the storm the right way and got going from there," Haliburton said.

Indiana then shot 14 of 22 from the field in the third quarter, when it had a 17-2 run, to go up 85-76 going into the final 12 minutes.

The Cavs shot 38.9% for the game and were a woeful 9 of 35 on 3-pointers. Mitchell and Darius Garland were a combined 12 of 41, including 4 of 19 from beyond the arc.

Mitchell’s 3-pointer got the Cavs within 106-103 with 1:27 remaining, but Indiana closed it out by scoring eight of the final 10 points.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba

Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton, left, and Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell greet each other after the Pacers defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 114-105 in Game 5 of an Eastern Conference semifinal NBA basketball playoff Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Cleveland Cavaliers forward De'Andre Hunter, left, celebrates after hitting a three-point shot and drawing a foul on Indiana Pacers forward Pascal Siakam, right, during the second half in Game 5 of an Eastern Conference semifinal NBA basketball playoff Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland, right, shoots as Indiana Pacers guard Ben Sheppard defends during the second half in Game 5 of an Eastern Conference semifinal NBA basketball playoff Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Cleveland Cavaliers forward De'Andre Hunter, right, shoots as Indiana Pacers forward Pascal Siakam defends during the second half in Game 5 of an Eastern Conference semifinal NBA basketball playoff Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell, right, shoots as Indiana Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith defends during the second half in Game 5 of an Eastern Conference semifinal NBA basketball playoff Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton, left, celebrates along with forward Pascal Siakam after scoring during the second half in Game 5 of an Eastern Conference semifinal NBA basketball playoff against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

RHO, Italy (AP) — No ice is colder and harder than speedskating ice. The precision it takes has meant that Olympic speedskaters have never competed for gold on a temporary indoor rink – until the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.

In the pursuit of maximum glide and minimum friction, Olympic officials brought on ice master Mark Messer, a veteran of six previous Olympic speedskating tracks and the ice technician in charge of the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada — one of the fastest tracks in the world with over 300 records.

Messer has been putting that experience to work one thin layer of ice at a time since the end of October at the new Speed Skating Stadium, built inside adjacent trade fair halls in the city of Rho just north of Milan.

“It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in icemaking,’’ Messer said during an interview less than two weeks into the process.

If Goldilocks were a speedskater, hockey ice would be medium hard, for fast puck movement and sharp turns. Figure skating ice would be softer, allowing push off for jumps and so the ice doesn’t shatter on landing. Curling ice is the softest and warmest of all, for controlled sliding.

For speedskating ice to be just right, it must be hard, cold and clean. And very, very smooth.

“The blades are so sharp, that if there is some dirt, the blade will lose the edge,’’ Messer said, and the skater will lose speed.

Speedskater Enrico Fabris, who won two Olympic golds in Turin in 2006, has traded in his skates to be deputy sports manager at the speedskating venue in Rho. For him, perfect ice means the conditions are the same for all skaters — and then if it's fast ice, so much the better.

"It's more of a pleasure to skate on this ice,'' he said.

Messer’s first Olympics were in Calgary in 1988 — the first time speedskating was held indoors. “That gave us some advantages because we didn’t have to worry about the weather, wind blowing or rain,’’ he said. Now he is upping the challenge by becoming the first ice master to build a temporary rink for the Olympics.

Before Messer arrived in Italy, workers spent weeks setting up insulation to level the floor and then a network of pipes and rubber tubes that carry glycol — an antifreeze — that is brought down to minus 7 or minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) to make the ice.

Water is run through a purification system — but it can’t be too pure, or the ice that forms will be too brittle. Just the right amount of impurities “holds the ice together,’’ Messer said.

The first layers of water are applied slowly, with a spray nozzle; after the ice reaches a few centimeters it is painted white — a full day’s work — and the stripes are added to make lanes.

“The first one takes about 45 minutes. And then as soon as it freezes, we go back and do it again, and again and again. So we do it hundreds of times,’’ Messer said.

As the ice gets thicker, and is more stable, workers apply subsequent layers of water with hoses. Messer attaches his hose to hockey sticks for easier spreading.

What must absolutely be avoided is dirt, dust or frost — all of which can cause friction for the skaters, slowing them down. The goal is that when the skaters push “they can go as far as possible with the least amount of effort,’’ Messer said.

The Zamboni ice resurfacing machine plays a key role in keeping the track clean, cutting off a layer and spraying water to make a new surface.

One challenge is gauging how quickly the water from the resurfacing machine freezes in the temporary rink.

Another is getting the ice to the right thickness so that the Zamboni, weighing in at six tons, doesn’t shift the insulation, rubber tubing or ice itself.

“When you drive that out, if there’s anything moving it will move. We don’t want that,’’ Messer said.

The rink got its first big test on Nov. 29-30 during a Junior World Cup event. In a permanent rink, test events are usually held a year before the Olympics, leaving more time for adjustments. “We have a very small window to learn,’’ Messer acknowledged.

Dutch speedskater Kayo Vos, who won the men’s neo-senior 1,000 meters, said the ice was a little soft — but Messer didn’t seem too concerned.

“We went very modest to start, now we can start to change the temperatures and try to make it faster and still maintain it as a safe ice,’’ he said.

Fine-tuning the air temperature and humidity and ice temperature must be done methodically — taking into account that there will be 6,000 spectators in the venue for each event. The next real test will be on Jan. 31, when the Olympians take to the ice for their first training session.

“Eighty percent of the work is done but the hardest part is the last 20 percent, where we have to try to find the values and the way of running the equipment so all the skaters get the same conditions and all the skaters get the best conditions,’’ Messer said.

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Serpentines are set on the ice of the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Workers clean the ice surface during a peed skating Junior World Cup and Olympic test event, in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)