At halftime of Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday night, a longtime NBA scout texted one sentence:
“This is the first game that’s felt like a Finals game.”
Yes, the series arrived in the Hoosier State tied at a game apiece thanks to Indiana Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton‘s brilliant moment at the end of Game 1. But the Oklahoma City Thunder had led for 94 of the first 96 minutes of the series and looked every bit the heavy favorite they were billed as when the series began.
Then Game 3 happened. And, after a sensational performance by the Pacers in front of their home fans, the result was a very deserved 116-107 victory — and, with it, a 2-1 lead.
As a result, for the first time, this NBA Finals truly feels like a series.
The Pacers took it to the Thunder in many ways. They got a sensational performance from Haliburton, who, after a pair of middling stat lines in Oklahoma City, put together a 22-point, 9-rebound, 11-assist masterpiece that saw all of his flair and showmanship return at the best possible time.
The Pacers, as they have throughout this playoff run, got sensational play from their bench. Bennedict Mathurin had 27 points — outscoring the Thunder’s second unit by himself — while T.J. McConnell had 10 points, 5 rebounds and 5 steals, including a pair of buckets in quick succession early in the fourth quarter, sandwiched around stealing a momentum-shifting inbounds pass.
The Pacers won this game without going wild from the 3-point line, which the conventional wisdom assumed they would need to do to win games in this series, and like they did in Game 1. The Thunder outshot them (10 makes to 9) from deep in Game 3.
This just became the latest example of Indiana imposing its will on its opponents. The Pacers had already gone through Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s Milwaukee Bucks, a 64-win Cleveland Cavaliers team and a strong New York Knicks squad, with comebacks highlighting each of those series.
But what those series have also shown repeatedly is that when Indiana gets its opponents in a blender, teams have trouble keeping up. The Thunder, normally the best team at taking care of the ball, gave it away 19 times in Game 3, including six turnovers by MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The Pacers swarmed Thunder big man Chet Holmgren late, repeatedly causing him to drive blindly into the defense and creating a series of ugly Thunder possessions.
And, for the latest time in these playoffs, it was a furious finish from the Pacers — a 32-18 run in the fourth — that led to an Indiana win, bringing the franchise within two victories of its first NBA championship ahead of Friday’s Game 4. — Tim Bontemps
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1:09
Mathurin tells SVP how he prepares from the bench
Bennedict Mathurin joins Scott Van Pelt to explain how he mentally prepares from the bench after he put up 27 points in the Pacers’ Game 3 win over OKC.
Pacers’ bench delivers big time on offense
The Pacers needed more juice on offense heading into Game 3, and they found it in an unexpected place: a 47-point outburst from their bench unit led by Mathurin and McConnell.
Indiana got improvements from its stars, especially Haliburton, who finished with 22 points and 10 assists, but the combined energy from the bench unit completely flipped the game during a 40-point second quarter, giving Indiana its first halftime lead of the series.
Even when the Thunder made a run to retake the lead in the third, it was the Pacers’ bench that continued to be a spark. Mathurin scored a team-high 25 points, the most off the bench in a Finals game since Jason Terry in 2011, while McConnell put up 10 points, 5 assists and 5 steals. — Jamal Collier
Holmgren struggles to find offensive flow
Holmgren dominated the first quarter, scoring 13 points on 4-of-5 shooting and snaring four rebounds. However, it was a flash and not something the 7-footer could sustain.
Holmgren scored only seven points on 2-of-10 shooting the rest of the game. On a late possession when Oklahoma City desperately needed a basket, Holmgren had a 3-pointer from the left wing stuffed by Pacers big man Myles Turner and was then denied again by Turner on a driving layup.
Holmgren was 1-of-5 in the fourth quarter, when the Thunder’s offense stalled, scoring only 18 points. Then again, MVP Gilgeous-Alexander wasn’t any better in the final frame, generating only three shot attempts and hitting one.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault has mostly stayed away from the two-big lineup Oklahoma City started in every game during its run through the Western Conference. The hope was that Holmgren, a big man with some guard skills, would have the advantage when defended by a center. That has rarely been the case so far in the Finals. — Tim MacMahon
What to watch for in Game 4
Game 4: Thunder at Pacers (Friday, 8:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
Few games in a playoff series are more exciting than a Game 4 with the higher seed trailing 2-1. The favorites face a crucial game that will test their championship mettle, while the underdogs have a chance to secure a huge advantage at home.
How will those added stakes change Daigneault’s decisions in Game 4? Several of his role players looked rattled in front of the Indiana crowd in Game 3, and he found himself quickly cycling through depth options such as Jaylin Williams, Kenrich Williams and Isaiah Joe. Daigneault used 11 players in the first half — but only eight in the second half, and one of those eight was Aaron Wiggins, who played just a few minutes after halftime.
Incidentally, when the stakes were highest for Oklahoma City earlier in the playoffs — in Game 7 against the Denver Nuggets in the second round — Daigneault used those same eight players and nobody else (until he emptied the bench in garbage time). How much does he trust his other options with a championship on the line?
And if Daigneault shrinks his rotation, the next question is whether Oklahoma City’s stars can handle a heavier minutes load without tiring against Indiana’s exhausting pace. They looked fatigued down the stretch in Game 3, while the Gainbridge Fieldhouse crowd energized their Pacer counterparts. And there is only one off day between Games 3 and 4, for the only time in the entire Finals.
Daigneault faces further questions beyond simply who plays in Game 4. How much does he stagger Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein, versus using both bigs together, versus going with a full small-ball unit that might be better suited to keep up with Indiana’s pace? How will he game plan against McConnell and Mathurin, after the Pacers’ bench essentially won Game 3? How can his offense generate more 3-pointers, after attempting only 22 — their second fewest in a game all season — in Game 3?
This series is far from over, and the Thunder will still be favored if Daigneault can find the right answers to these questions and return home tied 2-2. But they need to win Game 4 to do that, and Indiana isn’t going to make it easy. The Pacers have already been in this scenario twice this postseason, against the Cavaliers and Knicks — and both times, they won Game 4 at home. — Zach Kram
1:58
SGA shines with 34 points in Game 2 win
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander puts in 34 points as the Thunder bounce back and take Game 2.
Coming into Game 2 of the NBA Finals, the obvious question was how this young Oklahoma City team would respond to its fourth-quarter collapse in Game 1. Would the Thunder respond with a blowout as they did following Game 1 against the Denver Nuggets? Or would they possibly follow the Cleveland Cavaliers‘ and New York Knicks‘ example, and allow the Indiana Pacers to steal yet another 2-0 lead on the road?
The final scoreboard read 123-107, but in reality, Sunday night’s Game 2 was decided far sooner. This was precisely the response you’d expect from a team that has now spent the past eight months establishing itself as a potentially all-time great squad.
The league’s Most Valuable Player, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, looked like it in Game 2, bouncing back from a starring role in that Game 1 collapse with a stellar all-around performance. Chet Holmgren, who struggled in the series opener, immediately set the tone in the first quarter of Game 2, scoring nine quick points and making multiple impact plays defensively.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault, who caught some predictable (if also misguided) criticism for changing his starting lineup in Game 1, stuck with it in Game 2 while also making some subtle — but effective — changes, including playing both big men, Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein, on the court together and going away from the minutes for rookie guard Ajay Mitchell.
The Thunder once again throttled the high-octane Pacers offense, preventing any Indiana player from scoring 20 points for a second consecutive game. This was a commanding performance — one that should be expected from a team that won 68 games and outscored its opponents by 12.7 points per 100 possessions in the regular season.
But the Pacers have spent the entire postseason proving they cannot be counted out. Oklahoma City can have cold stretches shooting the ball, as it did in the second half of Game 1, and Indiana will certainly be boosted by hosting its first Finals games in a quarter century later this week.
But on Sunday night, the Thunder showed why they entered the Finals as decisive favorites. And, in this series’ biggest moment yet, this young group had an extremely mature response. — Bontemps
MVP SGA delivers for the Thunder’s offense
After Haliburton and the Pacers stole Game 1, Oklahoma City needed its MVP to answer. Gilgeous-Alexander delivered with the kind of calm, controlled dominance that has come to be expected of him.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 38 points in the series opener, but he needed 30 shots to do it. His 34 points in Game 2 came with his routinely excellent efficiency: 11-of-21 from the floor and 11-of-12 from the line.
It was also a terrific passing performance by the superstar. Gilgeous-Alexander had eight assists and plenty of other smart passes out of double-teams that started beautiful sequences of ball movement which resulted in open looks for teammates.
It’s hard to beat the Thunder when Gilgeous-Alexander plays at this level. — MacMahon
Pacers need Haliburton to find his rhythm
The credit goes to the Thunder’s defense because Indiana’s offense struggled to find a rhythm for most of the game. The Pacers scored just 41 points in the first half and shot 35% from the field — one of their worst offensive performances of the postseason — putting them in a deep deficit they couldn’t climb out of this time. It’s no coincidence the Pacers were limited on offense on a quiet night from Haliburton, who scored 17 points with six assists after hitting a few baskets in the fourth quarter. He also committed five turnovers, his most in any game this season (regular or postseason).
Haliburton hit the clutch shot at the end of Game 1, but the Thunder have done a good job of limiting his production in the series while holding him to 31 points combined in two games. As the series shifts to Indiana, the Pacers will need to find more ways to keep Haliburton involved in their offense, which is crucial to that unit functioning at its highest potential. — Collier
2:05
Indiana Pacers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder: Game Highlights
Indiana Pacers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder: Game Highlights
For the first 47 minutes, 40 seconds of Game 1 of the NBA Finals, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander thoroughly outplayed Tyrese Haliburton in a matchup of star point guards.
But as Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said after Indiana’s remarkable comeback to beat the New York Knicks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals: It’s a 48-minute game. And, in those final 20 seconds Thursday night, Haliburton and the Pacers changed the narrative … again.
First, it was Gilgeous-Alexander — who had 38 points but was 14-for-30 shooting — missing a clean midrange jumper, his specialty, that would’ve given the Thunder a three-point lead with 10 seconds left. And then, it was Haliburton again playing the role of road spoiler, hitting a circus shot that might not have been quite as spectacular as his high-bouncing miracle at Madison Square Garden on May 21. But, unlike that shot, this shot won the game for the Pacers in regulation.
As a result, Indiana — which never led until Haliburton’s shot from just inside the 3-point arc dropped through with 0.3 seconds left — somehow left the Paycom Center with a 111-110 victory over the heavily favored Thunder, and injected a massive amount of life into this series.
For much of Game 1, the Thunder were dictating the terms of engagement. They forced Indiana — typically great at taking care of the ball — into a team that was flinging the ball all over the place for 24 turnovers, compared to only six for Oklahoma City.
The Thunder took 16 more shots than the Pacers, but the Pacers hit 18 3-pointers — including 6-for-10 in the fourth quarter — and the Thunder, as they are prone to do, missed a whole bunch of them (11-for-30). That allowed Indiana — a team that has pulled off one remarkable comeback after another in these playoffs — to find itself in prime position again.
And, as he has so many times in these playoffs, Haliburton delivered.
There are still plenty of reasons to think Oklahoma City is the deserved favorite in this series. But the second half of Thursday’s game revealed a blueprint: The Pacers took far better care of the ball, and their high-octane offense took off. Oklahoma City, meanwhile, got into a rut offensively, and Gilgeous-Alexander had a couple of critical misses in the closing moments.
Because of it, as they did in both the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Eastern Conference finals in New York, the Pacers have claimed a Game 1 road victory.
And, as a result, we have ourselves a series. — Bontemps
The Thunder need 48 minutes of their NBA-best defense, not 24
The first half displayed the Thunder’s defensive fury at its finest, forcing 19 turnovers while holding the Pacers to 45 points. But it didn’t hold up in the second half.
Maybe it just took the Pacers a couple of quarters to adjust to the Thunder’s defensive pressure, but Indiana looked comfortable after halftime, putting up 66 points in the second half — 35 in the fourth quarter, punctuated by Haliburton’s winning shot — to pull off the upset.
Indiana also had only five turnovers in the second half, playing their style of fast-paced, under-control offense. — MacMahon
A new guide to another ridiculous Pacers comeback: cut the turnovers
If this postseason has taught us anything, it’s that the Pacers can never be counted out. After trailing by 15 points in the fourth quarter, Indiana stormed back to take Game 1 on yet another winning shot by Haliburton with 0.3 seconds remaining, the Pacers’ only lead.
It has become a series staple for the Pacers during this postseason run: a fourth-quarter Game 1 comeback that has demoralized each of their previous three opponents.
Indiana’s comeback this time was fueled by its usual suspects, some clutch 3-point shots from Myles Turner, Obi Toppin and Aaron Nesmith, and taking better care of the ball after record-setting 19 turnovers in the first half.
And then, of course, Haliburton hit another big shot to seal the deal. — Collier
