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Cavs now face do or die situation
INDIANAPOLIS -- Pascal Siakam scored 21 points and the Indiana Pacers tied an NBA playoff record by taking a 41-point halftime lead before routing the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers 129-109 on Sunday night for a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Pacers can earn a second straight trip to the East finals with a victory Tuesday in Cleveland, where they won the first two games.
Indiana jumped to an 80-39 lead at halftime and led by 44 points. The 41-point lead matched the margin Cleveland set in Game 2 of the 2017 Eastern Conference finals against Boston, according to Sportradar.
And Indiana did it mostly without Bennedict Mathurin, one of its top playoff scorers, who was ejected just 7 1/2 minutes into the game for a flagrant foul.
Darius Garland led the Cavs with 21 points and Donovan Mitchell had 17 points despite not playing in the second half because of a left ankle injury. Coach Kenny Atkinson said his All-Star guard would have an MRI exam Monday.
For the Pacers, it was a redeeming moment in front of a towel-waving home crowd just two days after an embarrassing 22-point loss on its home court. The Cavs dominated the glass, held two-time All-Star Tyrese Haliburton to four points and five assists and fought harder than Indiana.
This time, the Pacers left no doubt about who would be the aggressor.
Indiana took control quickly with early runs of 11-2 and 13-0 to build a commanding 48-23 lead with 9:24 left in the first half. They didn't stop -- or back down -- there, either, closing the half on a 19-2 run.
Aaron Nesmith's buzzer-beating midrange jumper put the Pacers in another exclusive club -- the 10th team in playoff history and second this week to score 80 points in the first half of a playoff game. Oklahoma City scored 87 points in Game 2 against Denver.
Myles Turner made all four of his 3-point attempts and scored 20 points, as did Obi Toppin.
Guardians socked by Phillies
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Kyle Schwarber homered twice to tie Aaron Judge for the major league lead and extended his on-base streak to 46 games, and Zack Wheeler struck out eight over seven innings as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cleveland Guardians 3-0 on Sunday night.
Schwarber hit a solo shot off Luis Ortiz in the second inning and a two-run blast off Tim Herrin in the eighth for his 14th longball of the season and 32nd career multi-homer game. He is the first player with a 46-game on-base streak since Paul Goldschmidt of St. Louis in 2022.
Wheeler (4-1) only permitted two runners to get past first base in his third consecutive win, giving up three hits with two walks. The right-hander matched his longest start of the season as the Phillies went 5-1 on a trip through Tampa Bay and Cleveland.
Jose Alvarado pitched the eighth and Jordan Romano earned his third save, wrapping up the three-hitter. Philadelphia has won 11 of 14 since falling to .500 on April 25.
Ortiz (2-4) pitched six innings, allowing four hits with nine strikeouts. Cleveland lost for just the 11th time in 31 games since April 8.
Key moment
Herrin entered to start the eighth with Philadelphia up 1-0. He walked Bryson Stott and retired the next two batters before Schwarber belted a 397-foot drive to center.
Key stat
Schwarber has 16 homers, 37 RBIs and 33 runs during his career-long on-base streak. It began on Sept. 23, 2024 against the Chicago Cubs, one day after he failed to reach at the New York Mets.
Up next
Guardians: RHP Ben Lively (2-2, 3.46 ERA) takes on Freddy Peralta (4-2, 2.18 ERA) of visiting Milwaukee in the opener of a three-game series.
Rockies fire Bud Black
DENVER (AP) -- It's no longer Bud Black's job to steer the Colorado Rockies away from baseball infamy.
The team fired Black, the winningest manager in franchise history, after a 7-33 start that's one of the worst in Major League Baseball history.
Colorado promoted third base coach Warren Schaeffer to be the interim manager, the team announced Sunday after a 9-3 win over San Diego. That victory wasn't enough to save Black's job after the Rockies lost 21-0 to the Padres on Saturday night. They also fired bench coach Mike Redmond. Hitting coach Clint Hurdle takes over as interim bench coach.
The Rockies have the worst 40-game start since the 1988 Baltimore Orioles, who were 6-34.
"Our play so far this season, especially coming off the last two seasons, has been unacceptable. Our fans deserve better, and we are capable of better," Rockies owner, chairman and CEO Dick Monfort, said in a statement. "While we all share responsibility in how this season has played out, these changes are necessary."
Colorado is 19 1/2 games out of first place in the NL West. The Rockies have been outscored by 128 runs so far this season. The only team since 1900 with a worse run differential through 40 games was the 2023 Oakland Athletics (-144).
"We have to get better and move forward -- we owe it to our fans to play better baseball," general manager Bill Schmidt said Sunday.
On Saturday afternoon, Schmidt backed Black, saying, "Buddy's doing a good job right now. They're showing up for work and playing with effort."
Hours later, the Rockies were routed by the Padres.
Schmidt said he was attempting to get everything in place Sunday morning to make the move after the game -- win or lose.
"I know it took a little air out of winning the game," said Schmidt, whose team snapped an eight-game slide.
The seventh manager in team history, Black initially found success with Colorado when he led the Rockies to back-to-back playoff appearances in 2017 and '18. They haven't finished with a winning record since and are coming off two straight 100-loss seasons. Colorado has a .349 winning percentage since 2023.