Pacers roll past Thunder 108-91 to send the NBA Finals to a deciding Game 7
Indiana Pacers guard Ben Sheppard (26) and forward Obi Toppin (1) celebrate during the second half of Game 6 of the NBA Finals basketball series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Thursday, June 19, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
basketball
By TIM REYNOLDS
Obi Toppin scored 20 points, Andrew Nembhard added 17 and the resilient Indiana Pacers sent the NBA Finals to a winner-take-all Game 7 by rolling past the Oklahoma City Thunder 108-91 on Thursday night.
Pascal Siakam had 16 points and 13 rebounds for Indiana, while Tyrese Haliburton — playing through a strained calf — scored 14 points for the Pacers, who started slowly and then turned things into a blowout.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 21 points for the Thunder, who pulled their starters after getting down by 30 going into the fourth. Jalen Williams added 16.
Game 7, the first one in the NBA Finals since 2016, will be Sunday night in Oklahoma City. Good news for the Thunder: home teams are 15-4 in the ultimate game to decide a title. Bad news for the Thunder: Cleveland won at Golden State in the most recent NBA Finals Game 7 and one of the three other home-team losses was in 1978 — by Seattle, the franchise that would move to Oklahoma City three decades later.
Indiana missed its first eight shots and got down 10-2. The arena, roaring just a few minutes before at the start, quieted quickly. Hall of Famer Reggie Miller, sitting courtside in a Jalen Rose Pacers jersey, was pacing, kneeling, generally acting more nervous than he ever seemed as a player.
No need.
After the slow start, the Pacers outscored the Thunder 68-32 over the next 24 minutes. An Indiana team that hadn't led by more than 10 points at any time in the first five games — and that double-digit lead was brief — led by 28 early in the third quarter. The margin eventually got to 31, which was Oklahoma City's second-biggest deficit of the season.
The worst also came in these playoffs: a 45-point hole against Minnesota in the Western Conference finals. The Thunder came back to win that series, obviously, and now will need that bounce-back ability one more time.
The Thunder, desperate for a spark, put Alex Caruso in the starting lineup in place of Isaiah Hartenstein to open the second half. There was no spark. In fact, there was nothing whatsoever — neither team scored in the first 3:53 after halftime, the sides combining to miss their first 13 shots of the third quarter.
TJ McConnell, the spark off the bench again, finished with 12 points, nine rebounds and six assists for Indiana.
© Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Japan Times
4 hours ago
- Japan Times
SGA says Thunder will be ready for do-or-die Game 7 in NBA Finals
The Oklahoma City Thunder "sucked" in a sloppy, lopsided Game 6 loss against the Indiana Pacers, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said, but he's confident they have what it takes to claim the title in Game 7 "The way I see it, we sucked tonight," Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning NBA MVP, said after the Thunder's bid to close out the Pacers ended in a 108-91 defeat in Indianapolis. Gilgeous-Alexander, who is averaging over 30 points per game in the series, scored just 21 to go along with four rebounds, two assists and eight of the Thunder's 21 turnovers in Game 6. "Some of them I think was carelessness, not being as focused, not being engaged," he said of the Thunder's uncharacteristic turnovers. "They played harder than us tonight as well. When a team plays harder, they turn the other team over." Gilgeous-Alexander's eight turnovers were more than his seven baskets, but Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said the defeat was on the entire team. "First of all, credit Indiana," Daigneault said. "I thought they obviously earned the win. They outplayed us for most of the 48 minutes. "That's the story of the game. They went out there and attacked the game. "From our standpoint, it was uncharacteristic," Daigneault added. "It was disappointing. It was collective. It wasn't one guy ... just we were not where we needed to be on either end of the floor for much of the game." Gilgeous-Alexander admitted that the chance of clinching the franchise's first title since it relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008 was "definitely in the back of our minds." "Now, we didn't play like it at all," he added. "That's why the night went the way it did. We got exactly what we deserved, what we earned. We have to own that." But he does not think he and his Thunder teammates — who ousted the Denver Nuggets with a lopsided Game 7 win in the Western Conference semifinals — need to do anything new. "I don't feel like I have to do anything other than just be the best version of myself," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "I think that goes for everyone else in the room. We just have to bring what we bring to the table, what we've brought to the table all year. "One game for everything you ever dreamed of," he added. "If you win it, you get everything. If you lose it, you get nothing. It's that simple."
Japan Times
8 hours ago
- Japan Times
Pacers rout Thunder in Game 6 to set up winner-take-all showdown for NBA title
The Indiana Pacers, rallying around injured star Tyrese Haliburton, crushed the Oklahoma City Thunder 108-91 in Game 6 of the NBA Finals on Thursday to force a decisive Game 7. Haliburton, cleared to play with a right calf injury only a couple of hours before tipoff, scored 14 points with five assists and two steals in a solid contribution to a comprehensive team effort. "We just wanted to protect home court," Haliburton said. "We didn't want to see these guys celebrate a championship on our home floor. "Backs against the wall, we just responded. So many different guys chipped in, total team effort. I'm really proud of this group." Obi Toppin led the Pacers with 20 points off the bench as Indiana's reserves outscored Oklahoma City's bench 48-37. Andrew Nembhard added 17 points, and Pascal Siakam had 16 points and 13 rebounds as the Pacers, who lost the previous two games and were on the brink of elimination, evened the series at 3-3. Haliburton, who said he would do everything he could to play after limping through most of Game 5, showed virtually no sign of his injury as the Pacers grabbed the game by the throat in the second quarter and never let go. Indiana led by 22 points at halftime and by as many as 31 early in the fourth quarter. NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City with 21 points but had eight of the Thunder's 21 turnovers. Gilgeous-Alexander missed his lone three-point attempt while Jalen Williams — coming off a 40-point performance in Game 5 — missed all four of his three-point attempts on the way to 16 points. The Thunder, winners of a league-best 68 regular-season games — pulled their starters after falling behind by 30 going into the fourth quarter. They'll be searching for answers as the series heads back to Oklahoma City for Game 7 on Sunday — the first Game 7 in the NBA Finals since 2016. The Thunder are seeking their first title since the franchise relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008, having won it all in 1979 as the Seattle SuperSonics. The Pacers are in search of a first NBA title. They won American Basketball Association titles in 1970, 1972 and 1973 before joining the NBA as part of the ABA-NBA merger in 1976. "You know, we've got one game," Haliburton said. "All cards on the table. It's going to be a lot of fun." For a few minutes, it looked like the Thunder might roll to the title. The Pacers missed their first eight shots and fell into a quick eight-point hole. But they settled in to connect on six straight attempts and took the lead on a three-pointer from Nembhard midway through the first quarter. Indiana piled on the pressure with a pair of three-pointers and a trey from Haliburton — his first basket of the night — pushing their lead to as many as nine points. Up by three at the end of the first, the Pacers exploded in the second quarter, stepping up the aggression on both ends of the floor on the way to a 64-42 halftime lead. With less than a minute to go in the first half, Haliburton came up with a steal and found Siakam with a no-look pass for an emphatic dunk. Siakam followed up with a turnaround jump shot at the halftime buzzer. "It's the Finals," Haliburton said. "All of us got to give everything we have."
Japan Today
8 hours ago
- Japan Today
Pacers roll past Thunder 108-91 to send the NBA Finals to a deciding Game 7
Indiana Pacers guard Ben Sheppard (26) and forward Obi Toppin (1) celebrate during the second half of Game 6 of the NBA Finals basketball series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Thursday, June 19, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr) basketball By TIM REYNOLDS Obi Toppin scored 20 points, Andrew Nembhard added 17 and the resilient Indiana Pacers sent the NBA Finals to a winner-take-all Game 7 by rolling past the Oklahoma City Thunder 108-91 on Thursday night. Pascal Siakam had 16 points and 13 rebounds for Indiana, while Tyrese Haliburton — playing through a strained calf — scored 14 points for the Pacers, who started slowly and then turned things into a blowout. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 21 points for the Thunder, who pulled their starters after getting down by 30 going into the fourth. Jalen Williams added 16. Game 7, the first one in the NBA Finals since 2016, will be Sunday night in Oklahoma City. Good news for the Thunder: home teams are 15-4 in the ultimate game to decide a title. Bad news for the Thunder: Cleveland won at Golden State in the most recent NBA Finals Game 7 and one of the three other home-team losses was in 1978 — by Seattle, the franchise that would move to Oklahoma City three decades later. Indiana missed its first eight shots and got down 10-2. The arena, roaring just a few minutes before at the start, quieted quickly. Hall of Famer Reggie Miller, sitting courtside in a Jalen Rose Pacers jersey, was pacing, kneeling, generally acting more nervous than he ever seemed as a player. No need. After the slow start, the Pacers outscored the Thunder 68-32 over the next 24 minutes. An Indiana team that hadn't led by more than 10 points at any time in the first five games — and that double-digit lead was brief — led by 28 early in the third quarter. The margin eventually got to 31, which was Oklahoma City's second-biggest deficit of the season. The worst also came in these playoffs: a 45-point hole against Minnesota in the Western Conference finals. The Thunder came back to win that series, obviously, and now will need that bounce-back ability one more time. The Thunder, desperate for a spark, put Alex Caruso in the starting lineup in place of Isaiah Hartenstein to open the second half. There was no spark. In fact, there was nothing whatsoever — neither team scored in the first 3:53 after halftime, the sides combining to miss their first 13 shots of the third quarter. TJ McConnell, the spark off the bench again, finished with 12 points, nine rebounds and six assists for Indiana. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
