Donovan Mitchell had 43 points and nine rebounds, and the finally full-strength Cleveland Cavaliers beat host Indiana 126-104 on Friday night to cut the Pacers’ lead to 2-1 in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The road team has won all three games in the series, and the Pacers will have another chance to break that trend Sunday in Game 4.

Cleveland was desperate to avoid falling into a 3-0 hole and used everything in its arsenal to hold on this time — making 14 3-pointers, holding a 56-37 rebounding edge, even relying on zone defense to slow down the high-scoring Pacers.

And with NBA Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley, All-Star guard Darius Garland and key backup De’Andre Hunter all suited up after missing Game 2, Mitchell got the support he needed.

Max Strus made four 3-pointers and finished with 20 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Three other Cleveland players also scored in double figures on a night the Cavs led by as much 26, never trailed and managed to protect their late lead when the Pacers cut the deficit to 11 early in the fourth.

Bennedict Mathurin led the Pacers with 23 points. Pascal Siakam had 18 and Tyrese Haliburton finished with four points and five assists in his first career home loss in a postseason game he’s appeared.

The most physical of the three games resulted in players routinely sprawled on the floor. Hunter turned into a hard shoulder after making a basket early in the second quarter, a collision that nearly knocked him down, and Mitchell took a nasty spill into the front-row seats while being called for an offensive foul.

Tempers also flared at times with the Pacers drawing five technical fouls, one for a delay of game.

On the court, though, Cleveland controlled most of the game after breaking a 36-36 tie with a 25-4 run that helped push the Cavs to a 66-45 halftime cushion.

Celtics look to must-win Game 3: When the Boston Celtics left New York last month, they had just finished a season sweep of the Knicks that made it seem as if a postseason meeting would be a simple step on their climb back to the NBA Finals.

Now it’s looking like the one that could trip them up.

In more trouble than they faced at any time last year, the defending NBA champions take a 2-0 deficit into Game 3 today at Madison Square Garden, where ticket prices are soaring as fans hope to be in the building to see the Knicks try to close in on their first Eastern Conference finals appearance in 25 years.

“We have to go into Saturday’s game and win the game,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “That’s just the way it is. We have to win.”

Boston lost only three games all last postseason. Lose a third straight in this series, and the Celtics would need the biggest comeback in league history to continue their title defense. No NBA team has overcome a 3-0 deficit to win a series.

“The mentality is 0-0. Don’t even focus on that,” Knicks All-Star Jalen Brunson said. “Just focus on the next play, next quarter and don’t look ahead. Don’t look at anything, just try to focus on the task at hand and be present.”

The Celtics should probably be no worse than tied. They had 20-point leads in the second half of both games in Boston, but both ended with Mikal Bridges making a steal to preserve a Knicks victory.

The Celtics’ problem has been their offense. They are 25 for 100 from 3-point range in the series and have averaged just 16.5 points in the fourth quarter. All-Star Jayson Tatum has missed 30 of his 42 shot attempts.

“I take full ownership on the way that I’ve played in this series and can’t sugarcoat anything,” Tatum said. “I need to be better and I expect to be a lot better.”