No lead is safe in the 2025 NBA playoffs

After Donovan Mitchell hit two free throws to give the Cavs a 119-112 lead with 57.1 seconds to go, it looked like they had Game 2 locked up. But after two Cavaliers turnovers and three Pacers offensive rebounds, including two on free throws, Tyrese Haliburton hit a step back three-pointer to give Indiana an improbable 120-119 lead.

That's nothing new for the Pacers in this year's playoffs. They trailed by seven points in overtime of Game 5 against the Milwaukee Bucks, before rallying to win that game and eliminate their Central Division rivals, also on a Haliburton game-winner.

The Nuggets were down nine points with three minutes to go and rallied to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 Monday night. The New York Knicks blew an 11-point fourth quarter lead in Game 6 against the Detroit Pistons, then erased a seven-point lead to eliminate the Pistons on a Jalen Brunson game-winner.

There are a few common threads in those big comebacks. One is teams with playoff experience, like the Knicks and Nuggets, defeating younger teams in the clutch using their veteran experience.

The other takeaway is that Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers are very hard to put away. Cleveland learned that the hard way on Tuesday night.