Pacers cruise past Thunder, send Finals to Game 7

INDIANAPOLIS: Tyrese Haliburton didn’t look bothered by his sore right calf on Thursday, and as a result, he and the Indiana Pacers sent the NBA Finals to a decisive Game 7.

Despite being a game-time decision coming into Game 6 in Indianapolis, Haliburton demonstrated in the final minute of the first half his ability to withstand the injury.

Haliburton deflected a pass from Oklahoma City Thunder star Jalen Williams with his left hand, chased the ball down, tight-roped his way down the sideline before finding Pascal Siakam on a no-look pass for an emphatic dunk as the Pacers rolled to a 108-91 win.

“That’s definitely a special moment,” Haliburton said after the Pacers leveled the series at three wins apiece. “… If we are fortunate enough to go on to win this thing, I think that play will be remembered for a long time.”

The Finals will go to a winner-take-all seventh game for the first time since 2016.

Game 7 is Sunday in Oklahoma City.

The final score wasn’t indicative of how lopsided the game was, as Indiana led by 22 at halftime and 30 at the end of the third quarter to move within one win of the franchise’s first-ever NBA title.

After not making a field goal and straining his right calf on Monday in a Game 5 loss that put the Pacers on the brink of elimination, Haliburton was at the center of the Pacers’ attack in Game 6.

He was at his best during the pivotal second quarter, when the Pacers turned the tables on Oklahoma City.

The Thunder won Games 4 and 5 the same way they had plenty of others this season — by turning up the pressure on defense and using that to fuel the offense.

But in Game 6, it was Indiana that dialed up the defensive intensity.

Over the final eight-plus minutes before halftime, the Pacers’ defense led the way on a 30-9 run, and Indiana went into halftime with a 64-42 lead.

The Pacers scored 11 of their 36 second-quarter points off the Thunder’s seven turnovers.

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Haliburton, who had struggled early in games for much of the series even before getting hurt in Game 5, helped set the tone for the Pacers on both ends.

He had eight of his 14 points, three of his five assists and both of his steals in the second quarter.

Indiana forced 21 Oklahoma City turnovers overall and scored 19 points off of them. The Pacers finished with 11 turnovers, but only two came in the first half.

The Thunder had a scoring drought of nearly seven minutes beginning with 1:46 to play in the second quarter.

Oklahoma City put up its lowest point total of the regular season or postseason. The Thunder’s previous low was 92 in a second-round Game 4 win over the Denver Nuggets.

Indiana made life difficult on Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

The NBA Most Valuable Player scored just 21 points, his lowest scoring output in the Finals, and finished with a playoff career-worst eight turnovers.

“It was uncharacteristic. It was disappointing,” Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault said of his team’s overall performance. “We were not where we needed to be on either end of the floor for much of the game, and we have to be a lot better before Game 7.”

After scoring 40 points in Game 5, Williams had just 16 points on Thursday.

The Thunder finished 8-for-30 (26.7 percent) from beyond the arc, including 1-for-11 in the first half.

As they have for much of the playoffs, the Pacers spread out the scoring load.

Obi Toppin led Indiana with 20 points off the bench, going 4-for-7 on 3-point attempts.

Andrew Nembhard added 17 points, Siakam had 16 and T.J. McConnell finished with 12 points, nine rebounds, six assists and four steals.

Now the teams are set to play the 20th all-time Game 7 in the NBA Finals.

“Dreamed of being in this situation my whole life,” Haliburton said, “so to be here is really exciting. Really exciting for me and our group.”

Thunder players said there was no time to dwell on the loss. Instead, they are looking forward to playing Game 7 at home, where Oklahoma City is 10-2 this postseason.

“You could ask every team in the NBA, every team would take that opportunity, take this chance,” Thunder forward Chet Holmgren said. “We’re no different, and it’s on us to go out there and make the most of it.”

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