A funny thing happened on the way to anointing the Oklahoma City Thunder as starting the NBA’s next great dynasty. The Indiana Pacers destroyed them 108-91 in Game 6 of the NBA Finals Thursday at Gainbridge Field House.
The Thunder might as well have stayed at home for Sunday’s Game 7 in OKC on Sunday (5 pm Seattle time, ABC), because they disappeared after the first quarter.
Oklahoma City trailed 64-42 at halftime, after being outscored 36-17 in the 2nd quarter alone. Tyrese Haliburton’s steal, Globetrotter-esque no-look pass, and the dynamic one-hand slam finish by Pascal Siakam (16 points) sent shock waves all the way back to Oklahoma. Long forgotten was Indiana missing its first eight shots.
OKC didn’t score at all for the first five minutes of the 3rd quarter. Ben Sheppard’s 26-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer gave Indiana a 30-point cushion heading into a final 12 minutes of garbage time. The 60 Thunder points were the fewest they’d scored through 36 minutes all season.
For Indiana, part of the beauty of the 19-point winning margin – it wasn’t nearly that close – was plenty of time for Haliburton to rest his strained calf. In a relatively stress-free 23 minutes of playing time, the clutch point guard sparked the Pacers with 14 early points, five assists and two steals.
“We just wanted to protect home court, “Haliburton told ABC. “We didn’t want to see these guys celebrate a championship on our floor. So many guys chipped in, a total team effort. I’m so proud of this group.” Haliburton at one point had been questionable to play in Game 6. About playing through his injury, “It’s the Finals. Everybody has to give everything they have. Got a couple of days now to take care of it and get it right.”
Looking ahead to Sunday, Haliburton explained the winning formula. “Control the controlables. It’s about taking care of the ball and rebounding. We believe. We have a lot of faith in this group. Game 7, NBA Finals, what more could you ask for?”
NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led OKC with 21 points, but Indiana’s suffocating defense forced him into eight turnovers. His postgame analysis? “We sucked tonight. They played harder than us. We got exactly what we deserved.” The blowout defeat was especially embarrassing for an Oklahoma City team that not only won 68 regular season games, but set an NBA average margin of victory record along the way – 12.9 points per game.
Before the Finals started, the underdog Pacers would have taken a Game 7 winner-take-all every day, twice on Sunday, and 100 times this coming Sunday. Basketball Reference, like almost all those who offered predictions prior to Game 1, gave Indiana less than a 5% chance of capturing the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
They, like the Thunder, will be bidding for their first NBA championship – because Oklahoma City doesn’t get to claim the 1979 Seattle Supersonics title, right? If fans in these parts get their way, OKC won’t get to claim one in 2025, either.
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