Pacers most to blame for Game 7 loss to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder
The post Pacers most to blame for Game 7 loss to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder appeared first on ClutchPoints.
Fans of the Indiana Pacers waited 58 seasons to witness an NBA championship. The Oklahoma City Thunder forced them to add a 59th season of waiting. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander capped off his Most Valuable Player winning season by leading the 103-91 win on Sunday in Game 7.
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Indiana's evening started with promise. Tyrese Haliburton got hot by sinking two early three-pointers. But the energy deflated badly momentarily at the 4:55 mark of the first quarter. Haliburton fell down hard with a horrific calf injury. The All-Star tore an Achilles in his calf and never returned.
The Pacers showed grit post Haliburton injury. Indiana also earned a brand-new opportunity to show they can win without 'Hali' going off on the scoring end. TJ McConnell started to place Indiana on his back and exploded with an epic third quarter.
Indiana kept fighting, but ultimately crumbled. And there's plenty to blame on the Pacers' side in this seventh game loss.
Mismanaged rotations doom Pacers
Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
This flaw falls on Rick Carlisle.
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Obviously the head coach faced a difficult situation once 'Hali' exited. He had to go back to the board and implement different schemes and rotations.
But there was a pivotal moment where mismanagement doomed him, and Indiana.
Pascal Siakam sat on the bench when the Pacers chipped away at OKC's big lead. He rolled with Thomas Bryant and Tony Bradley. But he left one of the top remaining scoring options seated for seven total minutes.
Carlisle wound up overplaying his bench. Granted, the Pacers' bench play dropped 42 points. The Thunder and Pacers' bench entered the game likely dictating the Game 7 result.
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But Carlisle had the look of a coach who trusted Bryant, Bradley and Bennedict Mathurin to carry Indiana over Siakam. Or even Aaron Nesmith on the floor.
Carlisle entered this series with a previous championship ring on his finger. He out-coached Erik Spoelstra and a Lebron James-led Miami Heat in the 2011 finals. This time he took a 50-32 team to the big stage.
But Mark Daigneault ends up looking like the championship veteran coach. He got five Thunder players to hit double figures in scoring. Daigneault even found a way to get Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams to bounce back from bad Game 6 performances. Carlisle never found the right rotation to slow down the Thunder's shooting eruption in the third.
Obi Toppin takes step back in Game 7
Obi Toppin went missing inside the Paycom Center.
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He surfaced as the Game 6 hero — exploding for 20 points off the bench.
But he missed shot after shot with the Larry O'Brien Trophy on the line. And settled for just zero points. That output came in 21 total minutes of play.
Toppin took a massive landslide scoring wise. He watched Mathurin and McConnell try leading the reserves. But he was also part of the lengthy rotation Carlisle rolled with outside of Siakam.
And Toppin put together a strong series that featured four nights of scoring in double figures. But he picked a bad night to leave the game with a goose egg under his scoring stat sheet. Fans trolled him after the game.
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Indiana fought and showed resolve without 'Hali.' But became a group that ran out of gas.
Related: Former Pacers guard Victor Oladipo triggers buzz with passionate Tyrese Haliburton injury take
Related: Pacers PR tries to project TJ McConnell in heart-wrenching post-Game 7 moment
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