NBA Finals: Pacers roll past Thunder to force a Game 7

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer

INDIANAPOLIS — Season on the line, the Indiana Pacers did what they’ve done time and time again. They bucked the odds.

And the NBA Finals are going to an ultimate game.

Obi Toppin scored 20 points, Andrew Nembhard added 17 and the Pacers forced a winner-take-all Game 7 by rolling past the Oklahoma City Thunder, 108-91, on Thursday night.

The first Game 7 in the NBA Finals since 2016 is Sunday night in Oklahoma City.

“The ultimate game,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said.

Pascal Siakam had 16 points and 13 rebounds for Indiana, while Tyrese Haliburton – playing through a strained calf – scored 14 points. The Pacers started slowly and then turned things into a blowout.

Game 6 was a microcosm of Indiana’s season in a way. The Pacers started the regular season with 15 losses in 25 games, have had five comebacks from 15 or more down to win games in these playoffs, and they’re one win from a title.

“We just wanted to protect home court,” Haliburton said. “We didn’t want to see these guys celebrate a championship on our home floor. Backs against the wall and we just responded. … Total team effort.”

TJ McConnell, the spark off the bench again, finished with 12 points, nine rebounds and six assists for Indiana.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 21 points for the Thunder, who pulled their starters after getting down by 30 going into the fourth. Jalen Williams added 16.

“Credit Indiana,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “They earned the win. They outplayed us for most of the 48 minutes. They went out there and attacked the game.”

Good news for the Thunder: home teams are 15-4 in Finals Game 7s. Bad news for the Thunder: Cleveland won at Golden State in the most recent of those and one of the three other home-team losses was in 1978 – by Seattle, the franchise that moved to Oklahoma City three decades later.

Indiana missed its first eight shots and got down 10-2. The arena, roaring just a few minutes before at the start, quieted quickly. Hall of Famer Reggie Miller, sitting courtside in a Jalen Rose Pacers jersey, was pacing, kneeling, generally acting more nervous than he ever seemed as a player.

No need.

After the slow start, the Pacers outscored the Thunder 68-32 over the next 24 minutes. An Indiana team that hadn’t led by more than 10 points at any time in the first five games – and that double-digit lead was brief – led by 28 early in the third quarter. The margin eventually got to 31, which was Oklahoma City’s second-biggest deficit of the season.

The worst also came in these playoffs: a 45-point hole against Minnesota in the Western Conference finals. The Thunder came back to win that series, obviously, and now will need that bounce-back ability one more time.

“Obviously, it was a very poor performance by us,” Daigneault said.

The Thunder, desperate for a spark, put Alex Caruso in the starting lineup in place of Isaiah Hartenstein to open the second half. There was no spark. In fact, there was nothing whatsoever – neither team scored in the first 3:53 after halftime, the sides combining to miss their first 13 shots of the third quarter.

And the outcome was never in doubt.

THUNDER ON WRONG END OF 36-9 RUN

The run lasted about 12 minutes, roughly the span of a full quarter. When it started, Oklahoma City was down by just one point. And when it ended, plans for Game 7 were being made.

The Thunder’s first chance at winning this series was a colossal dud.

The margin didn’t reflect how one-sided the game was. Indiana led by as many as 31, the second-biggest lead a team has held over Oklahoma City all season.

“From our standpoint, it was uncharacteristic,” Daigneault said. “It was disappointing. It was collective. It wasn’t one guy. Just we were not where we needed to be on either end of the floor for much of the game. We have to be a lot better before Game 7.”

It was 34-33 Indiana with about four minutes gone in the second quarter. And about four minutes into the third quarter, it was 70-42 Indiana – the game having completely gotten away from the Thunder.

The run was 36-9 – repeat, 36-9 – and just like that, a team that won 68 games in the regular season and finished with the best record in the NBA has been pushed to the brink by an Indiana team that finished 18 games back of the Thunder in the league standings.

They’re even now: The series is 3-3, and it all comes down to Sunday.

“We have to be better at course correcting, getting ourselves back on the right track,” Thunder forward Chet Holmgren said. “I, personally, could be better in trying to help us get things going in the right way.”

During that 36-9 run, the Thunder were offensively inept: They shot 3 for 18 during those minutes, with seven turnovers in there to make matters even worse.

The rest of the numbers were bad as well:

• Oklahoma City had 21 turnovers to Indiana’s 11.

• The Thunder were outscored 45-24 from 3-point range.

• Indiana turned 11 offensive rebounds into 14 points, while Oklahoma City had only four offensive rebounds for six points.

• The Pacers had 22 fast-break points to Oklahoma City’s 11.

If there was any question about how difficult it is to get a closeout win in the NBA Finals, the Thunder got their answer.

“It was hard tonight,” Daigneault said. “Indiana was great and we were not. We have the same opportunity Indiana does on Sunday. Score will be 0-0 when the ball goes up in the air.”

HALIBURTON PROVIDES SPARK

Haliburton jumped into the passing lane for a steal and tiptoed his way along the sideline before spinning and throwing a no-look pass to Siakam for a dunk over a pair of Thunder defenders.

And then he stopped to slap a few hands of well-wishers in the crowd.

Not bad for a guy playing on one good leg.

Haliburton’s Game 6 ended early – and that was a very good thing for the Pacers. Playing with a strained right calf, Haliburton had  14 points in just 23 minutes to help force Game 7.

“If I can walk, then I want to be out there,” Haliburton said.

Haliburton has been dealing with lower leg issues throughout the series and the calf strain flared up in Game 5 on Monday night. He played through it for the final three quarters of that loss to the Thunder, though he basically stopped looking to shoot in the second half.

He missed his first four shots on Thursday, too. And then, he somehow got back to normal. Jumping, cutting, shooting from 30 feet and twisting in the air at times, he looked nothing like the guy who left Game 5 limping so badly that it seemed like he was dragging his right leg behind him.

The fact that he played at all was a boost to the Pacers. Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said Haliburton went through a walkthrough Thursday afternoon along with strength testing, passing all necessary checks.

So, with the Pacers facing elimination in Game 6 and down 3-2 in the title series, Haliburton – who was on the court and did some shooting not long before Carlisle announced the decision – gave it a shot.

“He didn’t want a lot of attention. He was doing everything possible to be able to play,” Carlisle said. “Fortunately, we were able to keep his minutes reasonable because we had a great first half and a good start to the third quarter.”

That Haliburton played was no surprise to the Thunder.

“He’s a great player,” Daigneault said before the game. “If there’s one thing we know, you don’t underestimate great players. In this situation, we’re expecting his best punch. Indiana is a great team. We’re expecting their best punch. I have no doubt he’s dealing with stuff, but we’re expecting him to come out and play like a great player would play.”

Daigneault, to his dismay, couldn’t have been more right.

Haliburton acknowledged Wednesday that, if this was the regular season, he likely wouldn’t be attempting to play through such an injury. He said he wanted to understand the risks, but indicated if there was any way to play he would do so.

“I knew he would,” Siakam said.

Haliburton missed the last two games of last season’s playoff run because of a hamstring injury, unable to play in Games 3 and 4 of the Eastern Conference finals against the eventual champion Boston Celtics. The Pacers lost by three points in each of those two games without Haliburton, who went on to be part of the team that won a gold medal for the United States at the Paris Olympics later that year.

Among the many forms of treatment Haliburton has been partaking in since Monday night: hyperbaric treatments, needles, massage, electronic stimulation, even special tape. He’s been doing something virtually around the clock with hopes of being able to play.

“I have a lot of trust in our medical staff. I have a lot of trust in our organization to make the right decision,” Haliburton said Wednesday. “I think there’s been many situations through the course of my career where they’ve trusted me on my body. … I want to be out there. That’s the plan.”

Good plan.

Haliburton has come up big for the Pacers in big moments several times in these playoffs.

His jumper with 0.3 seconds left in Game 1 of the Finals immediately went into title-series lore and gave the Pacers a 111-110 win over the heavily favored Thunder.

Against Milwaukee on April 29, it was a layup with 1.4 seconds left that capped a rally from seven points down in the final 34.6 seconds of overtime for a 119-118 win. In Cleveland on May 6, it was a 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds left for a 120-119 win – capping a rally from seven points down in the final 48 seconds. At Madison Square Garden against the Knicks on May 21, a game the Pacers trailed 121-112 with 51.1 seconds left, he hit a jumper with no time left to force OT and Indiana won again.

He didn’t need any late dramatics Thursday. And now, Game 7 awaits.

“We’ve got one game … and it’s all about that one game,” Haliburton said.