Indiana
Beating Cleveland Cavaliers Has Indiana Pacers Thinking Big With Goals
CLEVELAND, OHIO – MAY 13: Pascal Siakam #43 of the Indiana Pacers shoots the ball against Jarrett … More
CLEVELAND – It wasn’t long ago that the Indiana Pacers were simply happy to be in this position.
Last May – May 19, 2024, specifically – the Pacers beat the New York Knicks in Game 7 to advance to the 2024 Eastern Conference Finals. It was, and is, a big deal that Indiana won that game. Any trip to the final conference round is significant. But the Pacers had more of a happy-to-be-there vibe last season, and in hindsight they’ll admit it.
“Last year was more new for us. So we were all kind of just excited, and maybe too complacent, to be here,” Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard said of that 2024 run on Tuesday. Then, he looked forward. “I think now we want to push the limit and see what we can do.”
The now that Nembhard is referring to is the upcoming challenge for the Pacers. They are headed to the Eastern Conference Finals again – they dispatched the Cleveland Cavaliers in a five-game series that ended on Tuesday, and they’ll play either the Knicks or Boston Celtics next. Those are two formidable foes, but Indiana is far more experienced than they were at this time last season.
“I think last year, we were just satisfied with being in the playoffs. Everything from there was kind of playing with house money, to be honest with you,” Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton said in April. “This year, I think we have real expectations to do something special as a group. And when I say something special, I mean a championship.”
About one month passed between Haliburton and Nembhard saying essentially the same thing. Indiana has trumpeted the same message top-to-bottom since the regular season ended – they feel like they can make a run this season, and their dismantling of the Cavaliers shows that they could be right.
Cleveland won 64 games in the regular season. Most analysts picked them to win the series. The Cavs swept the Miami Heat in the first round with wonderful offense and appeared to be riding a high heading into the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
That’s where they met the Pacers, a 50-win team that combines physicality and pace in a way that few others can. The Cavs knew, and stated, that preparing for that style is difficult. It can’t be simulated in a practice setting. But the East’s top-seeded squad still carried around confidence that they could beat the Pacers in a seven-game set. After winning 64 times out of 82, then four in a row to open the postseason, their attitude was justifiable.
But they weren’t ready for Indiana. The Pacers physicality became a story early in the series, something Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson addressed on multiple occasions. Meanwhile, Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle, meanwhile, smiled that his team was described as physical by an opponent. It hasn’t always been what the blue and gold are known for, but they are gaining a reputation.
In Game 1, the Pacers did what they do best and generated wide-open jump shots. They made a ton of them in a key win, setting the tone for the best-of-seven set. The Cavs needed to respond, but they weren’t able to in Game 2 as Haliburton pulled off perhaps the best sequence of his playoff career.
It was clear by that point that a gap between the Pacers and Cavs didn’t really exist. If there was one, it favored Indiana. Cleveland was dealing with some injuries and missing jumpers, but the fourth-seeded Pacers were forcing them into tougher-than-usual shots and playing a demanding style to perfection. The East’s top team was often the group responding and making tweaks.
That isn’t how a second-round series is supposed to go. The Pacers aren’t the typical 50-32 team – they are 42-16 since January 1 (playoffs included) – but 64-win rosters almost never get eliminated before the Conference Finals. There’s a reason few experts picked Indiana to win despite their strong run of form in 2025: the Cavaliers had been excellent.
In fact, prior to this year’s NBA playoffs, only three teams that won 64+ games in a season didn’t make it to the conference finals at all – the 2021-22 Phoenix Suns, the 2015-16 San Antonio Spurs, and the 2006-07 Dallas Mavericks. It’s possible that the Oklahoma City Thunder join this group on Sunday, but it’s still a small collection.
Yet the Pacers won the series. And it wasn’t close. They rolled right through the Cavaliers in five games, taking the series 4-1 to advance to their second-consecutive Eastern Conference Finals. Game 3 was a struggle for the Pacers, but they met the needed level in the quartet of other outings.
“We’re a close team. Every time everybody doubts us, we just clash together and just figure out a way,” Pacers center Thomas Bryant said. “You’ve got to show real love around here and this team has real love between each other.”
Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton, left, and Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell greet … More
Why do the Pacers have so much belief they can make a run?
It wasn’t just that Indiana beat Cleveland, it’s also the ease at which they did it. Game 3 was rough for the Pacers, as was the first quarter of Game 5 and the third quarter of Game 1. Basically every other moment in the series tipped toward the Pacers. The tempo and strategies all favored the blue and gold, and they never let up.
That’s why Indiana’s offense was so effective for the second-straight series. Their style is tough to deal with. The blue and gold have the best postseason offensive rating of the team’s still alive in the playoffs and scored with ease against the Cavs after doing the same to the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round.
That’s why the best-of-seven set ended in five games, and the road team came away with the series victory. The previous three teams that were eliminated before the conference finals despite winning at least 64 games lasted until at least Game 6 in their final series. The Cavs couldn’t even get that far against the Pacers.
The combination of great results and added experience has the Pacers buzzing about their chances going forward. They have over a week off before their next series begins, and they’re confident they can win it. After beating the Cavs in Game 5, the team was amped in the locker room. They could be heard celebrating from far down the hallway in Rocket Arena. Later, music blasted as they smiled through their one night of celebration before getting ready for the next round.
Fittingly, though, one of the songs played in the locker room was “On to the Next One” by Jay-Z. The Pacers are on to the next round, and there is internal belief they can keep going even beyond that.
“We’re talking about eight more wins for an NBA championship. The league is wide open this year,” Carlisle said after this team won Game 5. “There are a lot of great teams, but it’s wide open. And we’ve just got to keep believing.”
That belief was obvious in the final win against Cleveland. The Cavaliers took a 44-25 lead in the second quarter and were on track to roll over the Pacers in Game 5. It would have been easy for Indiana to give up and use their upcoming home game in the series as a crutch.
Instead, they battled back. Haliburton hit five huge threes in the second quarter, and other role players found the bottom of the net. As shots went in, the energy level grew. Suddenly, the Pacers defense was better, too, and they were down by just four points at halftime.
Early in the third frame, the Pacers took a 65-64 lead and never looked back on their way to a 114-105 win. Everyone filled a key role in the second half as the blue and gold won in Cleveland for the third time of the series.
They believed, even at the low point of a 19-point deficit, that they could come back and win. Haliburton led the way, but it was a total team effort. And that team is knocking on the door of a Finals appearance and wondering, “why not us?”
“We’re different than every other team in the NBA. We don’t just have one guy who scores all the points. We defeat teams in different ways,” Haliburton said after the win.
The Celtics are without superstar Jayson Tatum for the rest of the playoffs. The Knicks are great but only finished with one more win than the Pacers this season – and Indiana beat New York in the second-round last year.
The Knicks are a new-look team, and the Celtics have other stars. But after crushing the Cavs and gaining a ton of experience last year, the Pacers see a path to getting eight more wins. So far, they’ve backed up all their talk. Doing so on the next stage, a larger one, will be their biggest test yet. But they’ve met every single one with victories so far in the playoffs and can do it again.
The Protect College Sports Act, legislation meant to introduce and codify sweeping reforms related to college athletics, passed out of the Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday morning.
It now heads to the Senate floor.
The bill passed out of committee by a 19-9 vote. Indiana Republican Sen. Todd Young voted no, his decision reflecting Big Ten concerns over the bill.
A spokesman for Sen. Young told IndyStar, “Senator Young hopes that additional changes can be made to the bill to address concerns raised by the Big Ten.”
Co-sponsored by Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Washington), the Protect College Sports Act represents Congress’ most substantial success so far in a yearslong effort to bring legislative reform to college athletics. Since before the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders in college sports — including the NCAA, member conferences and schools, and other major players — have lobbied for national solutions to what have become state and regional problems.
Several pieces of legislation have been introduced across the last several years, only to fizzle long before reaching the floor of either chamber. The SCORE Act, introduced last year in the House of Representatives, gained some traction and passed out of committee, but was never brought to the floor.
Which makes Thursday’s news meaningful. Moving the Protect College Sports Act to the Senate floor, while not a guarantee of any outcome, potentially takes the bill past a threshold no other such piece of reformative legislation has yet been able to cross.
Cruz told Yahoo! Sports’ Ross Dellenger on Thursday that Cruz believes Sen. Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is committed to introducing the bill to the Senate floor soon.
The bill provides a legal framework for a host of potential reforms and protections for college sports. It grants limited antitrust protection to the NCAA, places limits on certain things including potential conference realignment, builds safeguards meant to protect non-revenue and Olympic sports, addresses potential broadcast rights reforms, and more.
It enjoys significant backing, and not just among leaders in college sports. This week, the NFL, its players’ association, the National Basketball Players Association and Major League Baseball all voiced their support for the bill.
Two key constituencies not in lockstep on the bill voiced their own concerns Thursday.
In a joint statement issued just after 10 a.m. Thursday, the Big Ten and SEC — far and away the two most powerful conferences and arguably two greatest power centers, full stop, in college athletics — suggested they still hold significant reservations over the bill.
“From the outset, we identified a set of essential revisions to the PCSA necessary for the long-term sustainability of college athletics,” the statement read. “We have worked with both majority and minority staff to advance those revisions, which focus on better supporting student-athletes and stabilizing the college sports environment. We continue to believe revisions are needed to secure our support for the bill.
“Despite our sustained engagement and good faith efforts, these critical revisions have not been accepted.”
The statement went on to note the “several Commerce Committee members that share our concerns and support these recommendations.”
Young is one of several members of the committee representing a Big Ten state, including one of three Republicans. He is the only Republican member of the committee whose state contains multiple schools in the conference.
Allowing for those reservations, Thursday’s news is still significant. It marks the first time a bipartisan bill on the subject has reached this point in the Senate and, should it be brought to the floor, it would be the first such legislation to reach that stage, in either chamber.
The bill could be brought to the Senate floor as early as July, though that timeline remains fluid.
(INDIANA CAPITAL CHRONICLE) – The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission voted 3-1 Wednesday to approve a $71 million electricity rate increase for AES Indiana customers.
That is about 37% of what the utility initially requested and lower than a settlement agreement proposed in October.
Neither Gov. Mike Braun nor consumer advocates are happy with the outcome.
“My top priority is affordability, which is why I am deeply disappointed by the IURC’s approval of another AES rate increase,” he said. “Hoosiers have spent years tightening their belts and making tough financial decisions. It’s time for utility companies to do the same.”
Members of the commission didn’t explain their votes Wednesday. IURC Chair Andy Zay focused his remarks on the process.
“There’s a lot of eyes on this order and what we’re doing today,” he said. “What is before you on the floor is a nearly a year’s worth of work, evidence, deliberations, and considerations that bring us to this moment in this decision. None of this was taken lightly. I want to thank my colleagues for the patience and working through this amongst the auspice of affordability, which is certainly a hot topic now, as well as the resiliency, reliability that we see in this increased demand in electricity.”
The Office of Utility Consumer Counselor last year recommended that state regulators deny AES Indiana’s request for a $193 million base rate increase — instead proposing a $21 million reduction in current rates.
“The AES rate order issued today is an outrage and Hoosiers deserve better!” Counselor Abby Gray said in a statement Wednesday. “Governor Braun has made it clear that ratepayer affordability is a priority, far more than just a ‘hot topic’ as described by the chairman of the IURC today. This order fails the governor’s call to overhaul how utilities are regulated in order to lower bills for ratepayers.”
Gray’s office represents Hoosier ratepayers in regulatory cases.
“The order approves a substantial profit margin for shareholders in addition to a rate increase for customers,” she continued. “It even requires ratepayers to pay approximately $3 million to AES lawyers and experts.”
AES Indiana provides electricity service to about 490,000 homes and businesses in Indianapolis and some nearby areas.
The utility originally sought $193 million in rate increases. The previously proposed settlement agreement dropped that to $91 million, while the final, approved settlement agreement lands at $71 million.
Three IURC members supported the increase: Zay, David Veleta and David Ziegner.
Commissioner Bob Deig voted no. A fifth member, Anthony Swinger, recused himself because he worked on the case previously when he was on the consumer counselor’s office staff.
Ben Inskeep, program director for ratepayer advocacy group Citizens Action Coalition, said utilities across the country often ask for a larger increase than they need, knowing that regulators will disallow “roughly half” of it.
“The latest AES Indiana fuel adjustment clause proceeding shows AES Indiana is actually not only earning all of their allowed profit but over-earning by $19 million their return amount,” he said. “They’re already extremely financially successful at this moment in time, so it’s rather bizarre to even get an extra $71 million dollars approved here.”
Inskeep also noted that the increases will fall disproportionately on residential customers over commercial and industrial users.
Brandi Davis-Handy, president of AES Indiana, said the company has maintained some of the lowest rates in the state for more than a decade “through disciplined planning and a focus on efficiency. We applied the same approach here by working closely with stakeholders to make balanced decisions that keep the system reliable, limit customer impact, and align with the state’s energy pillars.”
AES said for a typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours per month, the increase will be less than $5 per month per phase. Phase one rates will be implemented in July 2026 and phase two rates will be implemented in January 2027.
The final order says the utility “will not seek to implement a change in basic rates and charges as a result of its next base rate case before January 1, 2030.”
A new law, however, requires all utilities to file a multi-year rate case in 2029, though implementation wouldn’t happen until 2030.
Indiana
Indiana AG seeks execution date for death row inmate convicted in 2010 killings of two children
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita on Wednesday asked the Indiana Supreme Court to schedule the execution of death row inmate Jeffrey Weisheit.
The filing came just eight days after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene in Weisheit’s case.
He was sentenced to death in 2012 for the murders of 5-year-old Caleb Lynch and his 8-year-old sister, Alyssa Lynch, who were killed in a Vanderburgh County house fire in 2010.
In a verified motion filed with the state’s high court, attorneys for the state argued that Weisheit has exhausted all available avenues of review and that no active stay remains in place to prevent his execution.
The state requested that the court set an execution date 30 to 45 days after granting the motion.
“For more than 15 years, the family of these two innocent children has waited for justice,” Rokita said in a Wednesday statement. “A jury lawfully convicted Weisheit and sentenced him to death. That sentence has been upheld through every level of the judicial system. It is long past time to carry out the sentence.”
Weisheit killed the children during the early morning hours of April 10, 2010, according to court records. Prosecutors said he “hog-tied” Caleb and placed railroad flares in the boy’s underwear before igniting them and fleeing the home. Alyssa was also inside the residence when the fire spread through the house, killing both children.
Authorities later apprehended Weisheit in Kentucky after a high-speed chase. Court records indicate he threw a knife at pursuing officers before being taken into custody.
A Vanderburgh County jury convicted Weisheit in 2012 of two counts of murder and recommended a death sentence after finding multiple aggravating circumstances, including that both victims were younger than 12 years old. The trial court subsequently imposed the death penalty.
The case has spent more than a decade moving through state and federal courts.
The Indiana Supreme Court upheld Weisheit’s convictions and death sentence in 2015. His request for post-conviction relief was later denied, and the state’s high court affirmed that decision in 2018.
Weisheit then turned to federal court, filing a habeas corpus petition in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana in 2020. The petition was denied in 2022, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed the decision last August before rejecting a rehearing request the following month.
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case on June 8.
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