Pacers Dominate Thunder to Force First NBA Finals Game 7 in Nine Years
INDIANAPOLIS — With their season on the line, the Indiana Pacers once again defied the odds.
By cruising to a 108–91 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night, the Pacers forced a winner-takes-all Game 7 in the NBA Finals. This will be the first Game 7 in the Finals since 2016, set for Sunday night in Oklahoma City.
Obi Toppin led Indiana with 20 points, while Andrew Nembhard added 17. Pascal Siakam contributed 16 points and 13 rebounds, and Tyrese Haliburton, playing through a strained calf, finished with 14 points.
Despite a slow start, the Pacers turned the game into a one-sided affair. Game 6 mirrored much of Indiana’s season: starting with adversity, including a 15-loss stretch early in the regular season, but persevering with a series of remarkable playoff comebacks. Now, they’re just one win away from a title.
“We just wanted to protect home court,” said Haliburton. “We didn’t want to see these guys celebrate a championship here. With our backs against the wall, we just responded… It was a total team effort.”
TJ McConnell, once again the spark off the bench, posted 12 points, nine rebounds, and six assists for the Pacers.
For the Thunder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led with 21 points, but the team pulled their starters after falling behind by 30 points heading into the fourth. Jalen Williams added 16 points.
“Credit Indiana,” said Thunder coach Mark Daigneault. “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 have a 15-4 record in NBA Finals Game 7s. Bad news: the last time a road team won Game 7 was Cleveland, who defeated Golden State in 2016, and one of the four home losses was in 1978 — by Seattle, the franchise that would later move to Oklahoma City.
The Pacers’ shooting woes were evident early, missing their first eight attempts and falling behind 10-2. But after the slow start, they dominated, outscoring the Thunder 68-32 over the next 24 minutes. The Pacers, who hadn’t led by more than 10 points in the series prior, stretched their lead to 28 in the third quarter and eventually to 31—Oklahoma City’s second-largest deficit of the season.
The Thunder’s biggest deficit of the season came in the Western Conference Finals, when they were down 45 points to Minnesota. They managed to recover and win that series, but they’ll need to dig deep once again to bounce back in Game 7.
“It was obviously a very poor performance by us,” Daigneault admitted.
Desperate for a spark, the Thunder inserted Alex Caruso into the starting lineup to begin the second half, replacing Isaiah Hartenstein. However, the change failed to ignite the team. Neither side scored in the first 3:53 after the break, combining to miss their first 13 shots of the third quarter.
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