How big was Pacers' bench in Game 3? Inside the stats for Thunder's NBA Finals loss
The Oklahoma City Thunder fell to the Indiana Pacers 116-107 in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, falling behind 2-1 in the series, Wednesday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
After falling just once to an Eastern Conference opponent during the regular season, the Thunder has fallen twice in seven days to the Pacers.
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Here's a look at some of the other numbers behind OKC's Game 3 loss:
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Pacers' bench outplays OKC's
19: Bench points for the Pacers before Isaiah Joe's 3-pointer about five minutes into the second quarter.
18: Total bench points for the Thunder, with no bench player scoring more than Alex Caruso's eight points.
27: Points off the bench for Indiana's Bennedict Mathurin, a playoff career high for the third-year player from Arizona. The Pacers had 49 total bench points, with T.J. McConnell adding 10.
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More: NBA Finals Game 3 box score, stats: Indiana Pacers pull past OKC Thunder to go up 2-1
Bennedict Mathurin, second quarter undoes Thunder
40: Points surrendered by the Thunder in the second quarter. The Pacers are just the eighth team since 1998 to score 40 or more points in an NBA Finals quarter.
14: Points for Indiana's Bennedict Mathurin in the quarter, going 5 of 6 from the floor.
6: Turnovers for Oklahoma City in the quarter, to just one for Indiana.
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So does fourth quarter
18: Points for the Thunder in the fourth, the third-lowest scoring quarter of the playoffs for OKC and its worst outside of the first quarter in the playoffs this season. The only worse scoring quarters were the 14 first-quarter points the Thunder posted in their Game 3 loss to Minnesota in the Western Conference finals and 17 in the first quarter of Game 4 of the second-round series vs. Denver.
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3: Points for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the fourth quarter, going just 1 for 3 from the floor and 1 of 2 from the free-throw line. SGA had 10 fourth-quarter points in Game 1 and seven in Game 2.
4: Missed free throws for the Thunder in the fourth, including some critical ones in the closing minutes as OKC looked to claw its way back into the game.
35.3: Shooting percentage in the fourth for the Thunder. OKC was shooting 50% from the floor heading into the fourth.
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Jun 11, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) shoots the ball against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort (5) during the second half during game three of the 2025 NBA Finals at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
Tyrese Haliburton heats up
9: First-half points for Tyrese Haliburton over the first two games of the series. Haliburton had six in Game 1 and three in Game 2, going a combined 3 of 9 from the field.
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12: First-half points for Haliburton in Game 3. The Pacers' star was 5 of 8 in the first half Wednesday.
22: Points for Haliburton, who finished 9 of 17 from the floor and 4 of 8 from beyond the arc.
11: Assists for the Iowa State product, who had 12 combined through the first two games.
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Indiana goes strong in the paint
Plus-20: OKC's scoring margin in the paint over Games 1 and 2, including outscoring the Pacers 42-34 in the Game 2 victory.
Minus-2: The scoring margin in the paint Wednesday, as Indiana outscored the Thunder 50-48 there. That included an 18-12 Pacers' edge in the second quarter and 16-10 in the fourth quarter.
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Thunder struggles with turnovers
Jun 11, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) shoots the ball against Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) during the first half during game three of the 2025 NBA Finals at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
4: Turnovers for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander combined in Games 1 and 2.
6: Turnovers for SGA on Wednesday, the highest for the star in 41 career playoff games and tied for his second-most this season.
19: Total turnovers for the Thunder after turning the ball over just 21 total times in the first two games.
21: Points off turnovers for Indiana.
SGA still making history
572: Points for Gilgeous-Alexander in this year's playoffs, after he scored 24 in Wednesday's loss. SGA passed Kevin Durant, who scored 570 in 2012, for the most in one playoffs in franchise history.
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Ryan Aber covers OU athletics for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Ryan? He can be reached at raber@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @RyAber . Sign up for the OU Sooners newsletter to access more OU coverage. Support Ryan's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com .
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Inside NBA Finals Game 3 stats in Indiana Pacers' win vs OKC Thunder
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