Latest news with #Game3
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Magic Johnson celebrates Pacers for huge Game 3 win
The post Magic Johnson celebrates Pacers for huge Game 3 win appeared first on ClutchPoints. On Wednesday night, the Indiana Pacers took a major step towards their push for the 2025 NBA championship. After suffering a difficult 123-107 defeat in Game 2, the Pacers bounced back in a huge way, running away from the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 3 thanks to an 18-9 run in the final few minutes of the ballgame en route to a 116-107 victory. This has been quite the underdog story already for the Pacers, but they're not quite done writing the ending just yet. Advertisement The Pacers have stayed true to their identity all year long, forcing other teams to adapt to them instead of the other way around. And suffice to say, they are even posing problems for the Thunder, a team that's perceived to have no weaknesses following their offseason acquisitions of Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein. And Magic Johnson posted a brief summary of what worked for the Pacers in Game 3, celebrating how they managed to outplay OKC. 'The Indiana Pacers defense was amazing tonight forcing 17 turnovers which got them into their transition game. The Pacers were faster, quicker and more aggressive overall,' Johnson wrote. Johnson also gave a huge shoutout to both Bennedict Mathurin, TJ McConnell, and Obi Toppin, three guys who came off the Pacers bench to give them a major lift when they were struggling to get much going in the first quarter. 'They also had major contributions from their unsung heroes off the bench – Bennedict Mathurin scored 27 points, TJ McConnell had 10 points and Obi Toppin finished with 8 points. The Pacers' reserves outscored OKC's reserves 45 to 18!' Johnson pointed out. Advertisement But the Pacers can only go as far as their two best players can take them, and both Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam showed up to power Indiana to victory lane. 'Haliburton had his best Finals performance tonight ending with 22 points and 10 assists. Pascal [Siakam] chipped in 21 points for the Pacers 116-107 win and they now lead the Series 2-1!' Johnson narrated. Pacers look to make history Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images It's not too often that a fourth-seeded team makes it deep into the playoffs like the 2025 Pacers have. Only five other teams have done so in the history of the NBA, and of those five, only two finished the job. The Pacers will look to make it three out of six, especially when they're sitting in an advantageous position heading into Game 4 and having homecourt advantage after stealing Game 1. Advertisement The Pacers never get ahead of themselves, and they are a team that sticks together and sticks to the task. Thus, the result of Game 4 will be crucial and they know that they are going to have to bring their A-game, especially when the Thunder won't want to go back to Paycom Center down 3-1 in the NBA Finals. Related: LeBron James calls out media who can't sell NBA Finals Related: Pacers' Bennedict Mathurin not trying to 'live in my dream' amid title pursuit
Miami Herald
6 days ago
- Sport
- Miami Herald
NBA Finals ratings rise for Game 3; series still down
The viewership numbers made a modest comeback in Game 3 on Wednesday night as the Indiana Pacers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 116-107 to take a 2-1 lead in the NBA Finals. The game in Indianapolis averaged 9.19 million viewers on ABC, a 5 percent increase from Game 2, according to a report from Front Office Sports on Friday. That's still a 20 percent drop from the 11.43 million who watched Game 3 of the 2024 NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks. It was the least-watched Finals Game 3 since the 2020 COVID 'bubble' year when 6.08 million tuned in for the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers -- a contest that occurred on an NFL Sunday in October. The Pacers' Game 3 win peaked with 11.54 million viewers during the 11 p.m. ET quarter-hour. That surpassed the final minutes of Game 1 (11.1 million) as the highest point of the series so far. The three-game average for the best-of-seven series is up to 8.95 million viewers, a 23 percent decline from 2024. Game 4 is Friday night in Indianapolis and Game 5 is Monday in Oklahoma City. Field Level Media 2025 - All Rights Reserved
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
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. Advertisement Here's a look at some of the other numbers behind OKC's Game 3 loss: Pre-order book on the Thunder's journey to the NBA Finals 5 TAKEAWAYS: Thunder falls into 2-1 hole in NBA Finals vs Tyrese Haliburton, Pacers 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. Advertisement 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. More: Thunder vs Pacers score: Tyrese Haliburton, Indiana take NBA Finals Game 3, series lead 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. Advertisement 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. More: Celebrate OKC Thunder's amazing season and run to NBA Finals with our commemorative book 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. Advertisement 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. CARLSON: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander must 'apply that pressure back' for Thunder to win NBA Finals 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. Advertisement More: How 2025 NBA Finals became Canadian showcase with OKC's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, others 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. Advertisement Ryan Aber covers OU athletics for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Ryan? He can be reached at raber@ 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 . This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Inside NBA Finals Game 3 stats in Indiana Pacers' win vs OKC Thunder
New York Post
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Stephen A. Smith under fire for playing game on his phone during NBA Finals while Kevin Durant joins the mocking
Stephen A. Smith may not have played his cards right. The polarizing ESPN personality is being criticized for playing the popular card game Solitaire during the Thunder's 111-104 road win over the Pacers in Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Friday, with even rival NBA player Kevin Durant joining in on the mocking. Advertisement Durant posted to his Instagram story the image of Smith playing the game while at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. 'CMON STEVE,' Durant wrote on the bottom of the photo. Smith maintained he only turned to the mobile version of the game during a stoppage in play in a response to a quote tweet from popular NBA aggregator on X @LegionHoops showing him playing cards. 'Yep! That's me. Who would've thought….I can multi-task. Especially during TIMEOUTS!' Smith wrote in a quote tweet of the post. 'Hope y'all are enjoying the NBA Finals. This is going 7 games now, peeps!' Advertisement 5 The photo of Smith playing Solitaire. @LegionHoops/X However, not everyone is buying that response. The community note on Smith's post claims he's fabricating his story and linked to a video showing Smith playing the game during in-game action. Advertisement 'Stephen A. Is lying. This photo was taken during gameplay, NOT during a timeout,' the community note states. The video linked in the post came from user @feellikedrew, who posted a video showing the Thunder going for a basket before cutting to Smith with the game on his phone. The end of the clip showed the Pacers running a play. Advertisement 'Bro talks about knowing ball,' the caption read. 'He's playing solitaire during the NBA finals.' 5 The action happening while Smith was shown playing a card game on his phone. @FeelLikeDrew/X Smith attempted to get the last laugh by posting just after midnight a photo showing a Solitaire hand with an inset image from when the Pacers led, 87-80, with 11:36 remaining in the game. The Thunder outscored the Pacers, 12-1, in the final three minutes to even the series at 2-2. Pacers fans and Durant are upset with the controversial Smith for comments he's made. Smith would not classify Indiana star Tyrese Haliburton as a superstar and then fired at Haliburton after the guard chirped at NBA pundits — he didn't name Smith specifically — after pulling the Game 3 upset. Advertisement 'Oh, by the way, just in case he was talking about me. My brother, I'm not going away,' Smith said on 'First Take' on Thursday. 'I'm going to be here for a while. .. Players far more accomplished and far more superior have made their efforts trying to call me out. How has that worked out?' 5 Kevin Durant posted this shot to his Instagram Story. @easymoneysniper/Instagram 5 Kevin Durant and Smith have feuded plenty. Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Advertisement The feud between Durant and Smith goes back years and the NBA star called him out in April for being too distracted to digest enough basketball after Smith mocked his leadership. 'Steve is trying to run for president, u think he actually paid attention to a struggling team??' Durant said in reference to the Suns. 'It's called propaganda.'
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Thunder Players React To Crushing Loss In Game 3 Of The Finals
Thunder Players React To Crushing Loss In Game 3 Of The Finals originally appeared on Fadeaway World. The Oklahoma City Thunder came up short in Game 3 after a 116-107 showdown in Indiana. With a 2-1 deficit for the series, the Thunder are in a weakened position. After the crushing defeat, each of OKC's young stars shared their reactions to the loss. Advertisement Thunder star and league MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, had this to say about the team's performance in Game 3 while speaking at the post-game press conference. 'They were aggressive. They were high on the pick-and-rolls, they really were, like the coach said, more aggressive, more forceful. It starts with me, but we gotta apply that pressure back." Gilgeous-Alexander has been one of the best players in the series. After breaking records for scoring in the NBA Finals after his first two games, the Thunder guard seemed to have hit a roadblock in Game 3. With only 24 points on the night, he struggled to get going, shooting an underwhelming 9-20 from the field as well. Although he managed to contribute eight rebounds, four assists, and three blocks to the effort, the OKC guard seemed oddly restricted in Wednesday night's game. Advertisement To say that the loss could only be attributed to Gilgeous-Alexander is also unfair. A lot of things went wrong for the Thunder, and OKC's big man, Chet Holmgren, opted to take responsibility for his mistakes. He said, "It starts with me, I've got to be better," reiterating the sentiments expressed by Gilgeous-Alexander. "There were a couple of opportunities that we gave on the inbounds, taking care of the ball. You could look at every single breakdown and see the opportunity to be better." "We've got to understand that no game's going to be perfect. Next game's not going to be perfect. But we have to watch the film and see what we can do to be in a better position to win the game." Holmgren's performance for Game 3 was solid, putting up 20 points and 10 rebounds to go with one steal on the night. While his stats were impressive, it is evident that his shortfalls in establishing himself as a defensive presence had an impact on the result. Advertisement Holmgren's maturity came through in his comments. Although the Thunder's loss sees them in a troublesome position, the big man emphasized the need to revisit and restrategize. Thunder guard Jalen Williams also resonated with what Holmgren said. During his press conference appearance, Williams addressed the loss and said, "We've been in that exact same kind of predicament. This Game 3 was a better Game 3 than the ones we've had, so we'll take that and run with it." "But it's very pivotal. You don't like being down in a series," he added. "But we've been here before, and we'll use that experience and work to get better from it." Williams has been vital to the Thunder's success this season. Earning his first All-Star selection after being the second option behind Gilgeous-Alexander, the guard established his place as one of the team's most reliable pieces. His consistency showed through on Wednesday night, leading the Thunder's scoring effort with 26 points, six rebounds, three assists, and a steal. Advertisement Coming off a solid performance in the previous game as well, OKC seemed primed for success. Although their core of star players brought their best in Game 3, the team saw a shortfall from their bench. Key role players such as Alex Caruso and Aaron Wiggins, who had dominated in Game 2, could not contribute in the same capacity. In many ways, they underperformed as well, with Caruso adding eight points while Wiggins couldn't score at all. Meanwhile, the Pacers' bench went ballistic, with TJ McConnell and Bennedict Mathurin paving the way for the team. Mathurin notched a team-high 27 points while McConnell delivered a remarkable 10 points, five assists, and five steals to carve out the template for Indiana's win. A 2-1 deficit does not bode well for any team, especially in the NBA Finals. However, the Thunder have shown tremendous resilience when facing unfavorable situations this season. Having overcome adversity on multiple occasions, OKC will look to steal a win on the road in Game 4 on Friday at 8:30 pm ET. Advertisement Related: Tyrese Haliburton Silences Low-Scoring Critics As Pacers Win Game 3 Of NBA Finals: "I Couldn't Care Less" This story was originally reported by Fadeaway World on Jun 12, 2025, where it first appeared.
