Indiana Sets Pace Again in 116-107 Win over OKC; Takes 2-1 Series Lead at Home
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 12 Jun 2025
True to their name, the Indiana Pacers again set the pace of the third game in pulling out a 116-107 victory over the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder for a 2-1 NBA Finals series lead.
For the first time, the Pacers defense was able to hold Shai Gilgeous Alexander below 30 points while forcing the Thunder to previously unheard of 19 turnovers.
On the other hand, while rival Tyrese Haliburton didn't top Indiana's scoring, he came short of registering his first triple double of the Finals with his 21 points, 9 rebounds and game high 11 assists performance for the night.
It was a game of spurts with the Thunder having the advantage in the first and third quarters while the Pacers having the better of the game in the pivotal second and fourth quarters.
In essence, the Pacers won by again setting the pace and tone of the game, the first of two games to be held in Indianapolis. But more crucial was coach Rick Carlisle's better player rotation which saw his reserves, especially Bennedict Mathurin and Obi Toppin, seeing action very early and carrying the cudgels for Indiana in the early quarters. The two who were non factors in the game two loss fittingly ended their stints by punching in the points that clinch the win for Indiana in the last minutes of the game.
Then there was the diminutive but pesky TJ McConnel as well as Ben Sheppard who helped in bottling up Gilgeous Alexander in and around the perimeter area forcing the usually stone cold high scoring guard to six of the Thunder's turnovers.
Their heroics for Indiana more than made up for the sub par showings of Aaron Nesmith, Andrew Hembrand and Myles Turner and temporarily held the fort until Haliburton and the usually dependable Pascal Siakam got their games going.
On the part of Oklahoma, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, Luguenz Dorf and Alex Caruso tried to take up the slack on the Thunder offense with the Pacers defense succeeding to limit the production of Gilgeous Alexander.
Oklahoma started strong through Holmgren to take the initiative in the opening quarter 32-24. Indiana came back strong through Mathurin in the second quarter 40-28 to end the first half on top, 64-60.
Again Oklahoma took the third quarter 29-20 to take an 88-84 lead entering the final quarter.
The energy charged game of Indiana kicked in again in the fourth quarter just as Haliburton and Siakam got their game on full throttle and the Pacers defense intensified on Gilgeous Alexander enabling Indiana to outscore Oklahoma 32-18 for the comfortable win.
Indiana had four players in double figures led by Mathurin with 27 points, Haliburton with 22 points, Siakam with 21 points and McConnell with 10 points. Turner finished with 9 points while Toppin and Hembrand had 8 points each with Nesmith contributing 7 points.
Williams topped for Oklahoma with 26 points. Gilgeous Alexander had only 24 points but also had 8 rebounds. Holmgren scored 20 points plus game high 10 rebounds. Dorf contributed 12 points. Caruso tossed 8 points.
The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.
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