Indiana set cracking pace to reclaim NBA Finals lead

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a day ago

Bennedict Mathurin scored 27 points off the bench and Tyrese Haliburton added 22 as the Indiana Pacers reclaimed the lead in the NBA Finals by beating the Oklahoma City Thunder 116-107 in Game 3.
Haliburton also had 11 assists and nine rebounds for the Pacers, who got 21 points from Pascal Siakam and enjoyed a whopping 49-18 edge in bench points on Wednesday night (Thursday AEST), most notably from reserve guards Bennedict Mathurin (27 points) and T.J. McConnell.
The Pacers, who lost Game 2 in Oklahoma City, improved to 10-0 since mid-March in the game immediately following a loss.
"So many different guys chipped in," Haliburton said.
Jalen Williams scored 26 points, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 24 and Chet Holmgren had 20 for the Thunder, who led by five going into the fourth.
Game 4 is back in Indiana on Friday night (Saturday AEST).
History says the Pacers are in control of the series now. In the 41 previous NBA Finals that were tied at a game apiece, the Game 3 winner went on to hoist the trophy 33 times - an 80.5 per cent success rate.
It was back-and-forth much of the way, at times looking like an absolute classic. There were 15 ties. To put that into perspective, there were 13 ties in the five-game entirety of last year's finals between Boston and Dallas. The last time there was a finals game with more ties was in Game 1 between Cleveland in Golden State in 2018, which was knotted 17 times.
McConnell finished with 10 points, five assists and five steals for Indiana. Since all those stats started being charted, nobody had ever come off the bench and done all that in an NBA Finals game.
"Those guys were tremendous," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said of his reserves. "T.J. just brought a competitive will to the game.
"This is the kind of the team we are. This is how we have to do it. We have to make it as difficult on them as we can."
The Pacers' Aaron Nesmith fouled Alex Caruso - a hard foul, for certain - with 2:35 left, and officials took a long look to determine if it met the criteria for a flagrant foul. A common foul was the final call and instead of two free throws plus the ball, it was just two free throws for Caruso. He made both, cutting the lead to 110-104.
But the Pacers - at home in an NBA Finals game for the first time in 25 years - kept control the rest of the way.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault must now rally his troops again.
"I thought we had some really good stretches, but we just made one too many mistakes," Daigneault said. "And had one too many possessions on both ends of the floor where they were more tied to their identity than we were. But obviously, those are costly plays."
Bennedict Mathurin scored 27 points off the bench and Tyrese Haliburton added 22 as the Indiana Pacers reclaimed the lead in the NBA Finals by beating the Oklahoma City Thunder 116-107 in Game 3.
Haliburton also had 11 assists and nine rebounds for the Pacers, who got 21 points from Pascal Siakam and enjoyed a whopping 49-18 edge in bench points on Wednesday night (Thursday AEST), most notably from reserve guards Bennedict Mathurin (27 points) and T.J. McConnell.
The Pacers, who lost Game 2 in Oklahoma City, improved to 10-0 since mid-March in the game immediately following a loss.
"So many different guys chipped in," Haliburton said.
Jalen Williams scored 26 points, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 24 and Chet Holmgren had 20 for the Thunder, who led by five going into the fourth.
Game 4 is back in Indiana on Friday night (Saturday AEST).
History says the Pacers are in control of the series now. In the 41 previous NBA Finals that were tied at a game apiece, the Game 3 winner went on to hoist the trophy 33 times - an 80.5 per cent success rate.
It was back-and-forth much of the way, at times looking like an absolute classic. There were 15 ties. To put that into perspective, there were 13 ties in the five-game entirety of last year's finals between Boston and Dallas. The last time there was a finals game with more ties was in Game 1 between Cleveland in Golden State in 2018, which was knotted 17 times.
McConnell finished with 10 points, five assists and five steals for Indiana. Since all those stats started being charted, nobody had ever come off the bench and done all that in an NBA Finals game.
"Those guys were tremendous," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said of his reserves. "T.J. just brought a competitive will to the game.
"This is the kind of the team we are. This is how we have to do it. We have to make it as difficult on them as we can."
The Pacers' Aaron Nesmith fouled Alex Caruso - a hard foul, for certain - with 2:35 left, and officials took a long look to determine if it met the criteria for a flagrant foul. A common foul was the final call and instead of two free throws plus the ball, it was just two free throws for Caruso. He made both, cutting the lead to 110-104.
But the Pacers - at home in an NBA Finals game for the first time in 25 years - kept control the rest of the way.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault must now rally his troops again.
"I thought we had some really good stretches, but we just made one too many mistakes," Daigneault said. "And had one too many possessions on both ends of the floor where they were more tied to their identity than we were. But obviously, those are costly plays."
Bennedict Mathurin scored 27 points off the bench and Tyrese Haliburton added 22 as the Indiana Pacers reclaimed the lead in the NBA Finals by beating the Oklahoma City Thunder 116-107 in Game 3.
Haliburton also had 11 assists and nine rebounds for the Pacers, who got 21 points from Pascal Siakam and enjoyed a whopping 49-18 edge in bench points on Wednesday night (Thursday AEST), most notably from reserve guards Bennedict Mathurin (27 points) and T.J. McConnell.
The Pacers, who lost Game 2 in Oklahoma City, improved to 10-0 since mid-March in the game immediately following a loss.
"So many different guys chipped in," Haliburton said.
Jalen Williams scored 26 points, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 24 and Chet Holmgren had 20 for the Thunder, who led by five going into the fourth.
Game 4 is back in Indiana on Friday night (Saturday AEST).
History says the Pacers are in control of the series now. In the 41 previous NBA Finals that were tied at a game apiece, the Game 3 winner went on to hoist the trophy 33 times - an 80.5 per cent success rate.
It was back-and-forth much of the way, at times looking like an absolute classic. There were 15 ties. To put that into perspective, there were 13 ties in the five-game entirety of last year's finals between Boston and Dallas. The last time there was a finals game with more ties was in Game 1 between Cleveland in Golden State in 2018, which was knotted 17 times.
McConnell finished with 10 points, five assists and five steals for Indiana. Since all those stats started being charted, nobody had ever come off the bench and done all that in an NBA Finals game.
"Those guys were tremendous," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said of his reserves. "T.J. just brought a competitive will to the game.
"This is the kind of the team we are. This is how we have to do it. We have to make it as difficult on them as we can."
The Pacers' Aaron Nesmith fouled Alex Caruso - a hard foul, for certain - with 2:35 left, and officials took a long look to determine if it met the criteria for a flagrant foul. A common foul was the final call and instead of two free throws plus the ball, it was just two free throws for Caruso. He made both, cutting the lead to 110-104.
But the Pacers - at home in an NBA Finals game for the first time in 25 years - kept control the rest of the way.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault must now rally his troops again.
"I thought we had some really good stretches, but we just made one too many mistakes," Daigneault said. "And had one too many possessions on both ends of the floor where they were more tied to their identity than we were. But obviously, those are costly plays."
Bennedict Mathurin scored 27 points off the bench and Tyrese Haliburton added 22 as the Indiana Pacers reclaimed the lead in the NBA Finals by beating the Oklahoma City Thunder 116-107 in Game 3.
Haliburton also had 11 assists and nine rebounds for the Pacers, who got 21 points from Pascal Siakam and enjoyed a whopping 49-18 edge in bench points on Wednesday night (Thursday AEST), most notably from reserve guards Bennedict Mathurin (27 points) and T.J. McConnell.
The Pacers, who lost Game 2 in Oklahoma City, improved to 10-0 since mid-March in the game immediately following a loss.
"So many different guys chipped in," Haliburton said.
Jalen Williams scored 26 points, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 24 and Chet Holmgren had 20 for the Thunder, who led by five going into the fourth.
Game 4 is back in Indiana on Friday night (Saturday AEST).
History says the Pacers are in control of the series now. In the 41 previous NBA Finals that were tied at a game apiece, the Game 3 winner went on to hoist the trophy 33 times - an 80.5 per cent success rate.
It was back-and-forth much of the way, at times looking like an absolute classic. There were 15 ties. To put that into perspective, there were 13 ties in the five-game entirety of last year's finals between Boston and Dallas. The last time there was a finals game with more ties was in Game 1 between Cleveland in Golden State in 2018, which was knotted 17 times.
McConnell finished with 10 points, five assists and five steals for Indiana. Since all those stats started being charted, nobody had ever come off the bench and done all that in an NBA Finals game.
"Those guys were tremendous," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said of his reserves. "T.J. just brought a competitive will to the game.
"This is the kind of the team we are. This is how we have to do it. We have to make it as difficult on them as we can."
The Pacers' Aaron Nesmith fouled Alex Caruso - a hard foul, for certain - with 2:35 left, and officials took a long look to determine if it met the criteria for a flagrant foul. A common foul was the final call and instead of two free throws plus the ball, it was just two free throws for Caruso. He made both, cutting the lead to 110-104.
But the Pacers - at home in an NBA Finals game for the first time in 25 years - kept control the rest of the way.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault must now rally his troops again.
"I thought we had some really good stretches, but we just made one too many mistakes," Daigneault said. "And had one too many possessions on both ends of the floor where they were more tied to their identity than we were. But obviously, those are costly plays."