The Indiana Pacers rally around injured star Tyrese Haliburton as they level the NBA Finals series against Oklahoma City
The Indiana Pacers, rallying around injured star Tyrese Haliburton, crushed the Oklahoma City Thunder 108-91 on Thursday to force a decisive game seven in the NBA Finals.
Haliburton, cleared to play with a right calf injury only a couple of hours before tip-off, scored 14 points with five assists and two steals in a solid contribution to a comprehensive team effort.
Are YOU Kidding me Tyrese Haliburton!!
On a “Calf Strain� pic.twitter.com/4CTFpxKqIy
— Dr. Evan Jeffries, DPT (@GameInjuryDoc) June 20, 2025
'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,' he added. 'So many different guys chipped in, total team effort. I'm really proud of this group.'
Obi Toppin led the Pacers scoring 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 had lost the last two games to stand on the brink of elimination, levelled the best-of-seven championship series at three games apiece.
Haliburton, who said he'd do everything he could to play after limping through most of game five, 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 Most Valuable Player 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 five — 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 seven on Sunday — the first game seven in the championship series 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.
One game
'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 then 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.'
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Bad news for the Thunder: Cleveland won at Golden State in the most recent of those 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 their first eight shots and got down 10-2. The arena, roaring just a few minutes before at the start, quieted quickly. 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. "Obviously, it was a very poor performance by us," Daigneault said. 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. And the outcome was never in doubt. Season on the line, the Indiana Pacers did what they've done time and time again. They bucked the odds. And the NBA Finals are going to an ultimate game. Obi Toppin scored 20 points, Andrew Nembhard added 17 and the Pacers forced a winner-take-all Game 7 by rolling past the Oklahoma City Thunder 108-91 on Thursday night. The first Game 7 in the NBA Finals since 2016 is Sunday night in Oklahoma City. "The ultimate game," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. Pascal Siakam had 16 points and 13 rebounds for Indiana, while Tyrese Haliburton, playing through a strained calf, scored 14 points. The Pacers started slowly and then turned things into a blowout. Game 6 was a microcosm of Indiana's season in a way. The Pacers started the regular season with 15 losses in 25 games, have had five comebacks from 15 or more down to win games in these playoffs, and they're one win from a title. "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 and we just responded. ... Total team effort." TJ McConnell, the spark off the bench again, finished with 12 points, nine rebounds and six assists for Indiana. 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. "Credit Indiana," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. "They earned the win. They outplayed us for most of the 48 minutes. They went out there and attacked the game." Good news for the Thunder: home teams are 15-4 in finals in Game 7s. Bad news for the Thunder: Cleveland won at Golden State in the most recent of those 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 their first eight shots and got down 10-2. The arena, roaring just a few minutes before at the start, quieted quickly. 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. "Obviously, it was a very poor performance by us," Daigneault said. 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. And the outcome was never in doubt. Season on the line, the Indiana Pacers did what they've done time and time again. They bucked the odds. And the NBA Finals are going to an ultimate game. Obi Toppin scored 20 points, Andrew Nembhard added 17 and the Pacers forced a winner-take-all Game 7 by rolling past the Oklahoma City Thunder 108-91 on Thursday night. The first Game 7 in the NBA Finals since 2016 is Sunday night in Oklahoma City. "The ultimate game," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. Pascal Siakam had 16 points and 13 rebounds for Indiana, while Tyrese Haliburton, playing through a strained calf, scored 14 points. The Pacers started slowly and then turned things into a blowout. Game 6 was a microcosm of Indiana's season in a way. The Pacers started the regular season with 15 losses in 25 games, have had five comebacks from 15 or more down to win games in these playoffs, and they're one win from a title. "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 and we just responded. ... Total team effort." TJ McConnell, the spark off the bench again, finished with 12 points, nine rebounds and six assists for Indiana. 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. "Credit Indiana," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. "They earned the win. They outplayed us for most of the 48 minutes. They went out there and attacked the game." Good news for the Thunder: home teams are 15-4 in finals in Game 7s. Bad news for the Thunder: Cleveland won at Golden State in the most recent of those 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 their first eight shots and got down 10-2. The arena, roaring just a few minutes before at the start, quieted quickly. 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. "Obviously, it was a very poor performance by us," Daigneault said. 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. And the outcome was never in doubt.
