NBA playoffs: Cavaliers rally from 25 points down at halftime to put Pacers on the ropes

LeBron James finished with 41 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists, and the Cleveland Cavaliers set an NBA postseason record by erasing a 25-point halftime deficit to beat the Indiana Pacers 119-114 on Thursday night and take a 3-0 lead.

James passed Kobe Bryant for No. 3 on the NBA’s career playoff scoring list and tied another NBA record by winning his 20th consecutive first-round game.

The incredible rally ruined Paul George’s big night. He had 36 points, a playoff career-high 15 rebounds and nine assists.

Cleveland trailed by 26 in the first half and was still down 74-49 at halftime. The largest halftime deficit overcome in a playoff game had been 21 points by Baltimore against Philadelphia in 1948.

James scored 13 points in the third quarter to get the Cavaliers within 91-84. Cleveland regained the lead twice during a 15-5 fourth-quarter run and closed it out with a 12-5 spurt, with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love on the bench.

“I just try to put myself in position to help my teammates win — no matter who’s on the floor with me,” James said. “

James now has 5,669 points, 29 ahead of Bryant. He also matched three other former Lakers — Magic Johnson, Michael Cooper and James Worthy — for consecutive first-round wins.

at Memphis 105, San Antonio 94: Mike Conley scored 24 points and had eight assists as the Grizzlies ended a 10-game postseason skid against the Spurs and pulled within 2-1 in the series.

Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph each scored 21 points for Memphis, which outscored San Antonio 31-17 in the third quarter and led by 22 in the second half. Spurs coach Gregg Pop-ovich benched his starters for most of the fourth quarter.

at Milwaukee 104, Toronto 77: Khris Middleton scored 20 points and the Bucks overwhelmed the cold-shooting Raptors to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series.

Greg Monroe added 16 points and seven rebounds for the Bucks, who held DeMar DeRozan without a basket and never looked back after leading by 20 points after the first quarter. Making it even more impressive was that they barely needed All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who finished with 19 points and eight rebounds.