Tyrese Haliburton reacts after nailing a 3-pointer during the second half of the Pacers' Game 3 win over Oklahoma City Wednesday in Indianapolis.
Tyrese Haliburton reacts after nailing a 3-pointer during the second half of the Pacers' Game 3 win over Oklahoma City Wednesday in Indianapolis.Michael Conroy/Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS — Bennedict Mathurin scored 27 points off the bench, Tyrese Haliburton added 22, and the Indiana Pacers reclaimed the lead in the NBA Finals by beating the Oklahoma City Thunder, 116-107, in Game 3 Wednesday night.
MATHURIN FOR 25 AND A NEW PLAYOFF CAREER HIGH!
Gives the @Pacers the lead in the 4th 🔥🍿 pic.twitter.com/MpQ8BK8vJ1
— NBA (@NBA) June 12, 2025
Haliburton also had 11 assists and nine rebounds for the Pacers, who got 21 points from Pascal Siakam and enjoyed a whopping 49-18 edge in bench points. The Pacers, who lost Game 2 in Oklahoma City, improved to 10-0 since mid-March in the game immediately following a loss.
“So many different guys chipped in,” Haliburton said.
HALIBURTON DOES IT ALL FOR INDY!
🏎️ 22 PTS
🏎️ 11 AST
🏎️ 9 REB
🏎️ 2 STL
🏎️ 4 3PM
Guides the @Pacers to a 2-1 series lead in the #NBAFinals presented by @YouTubeTV. pic.twitter.com/triaern6Ru
— NBA (@NBA) June 12, 2025
Jalen Williams scored 26 points, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 24, and Chet Holmgren had 20 for the Thunder, who led by five going into the fourth.
Game 4 is back in Indiana on Friday night.
History says the Pacers are in control of the series now. In the 41 previous NBA Finals that were tied at a game apiece, the Game 3 winner went on to hoist the trophy 33 times — an 80.5 percent clip.
Advantage, Pacers.
It was back-and-forth much of the way, at times looking like an absolute classic. There were 15 ties; to put that in perspective, there were 13 ties in the entirety of last year’s five-game finals between Boston and Dallas. The last time there was a finals game with more ties: Game 1 between Cleveland in Golden State in 2018, which was knotted 17 times.
TJ McConnell finished with 10 points, 5 assists, and 5 steals for Indiana. Since all those stats began being charted, nobody had ever come off the bench and done all that in an NBA Finals game.
T.J. DID IT AGAIN!!!
HIS 5th STEAL AND THE BUCKET TO TIE IT 🤯
Thunder (1-1) Pacers going down to the wire on ABC 👀 pic.twitter.com/Z8RXXqmLjI
— NBA (@NBA) June 12, 2025
“We just had guys make plays after plays,” Haliburton said. “Our bench was amazing.”
The Pacers’ Aaron Nesmith fouled Alex Caruso — a hard foul, for certain — with 2:35 left, and officials took a long look to determine if it met the criteria for a flagrant foul. A common foul was the final call and instead of two free throws plus the ball, it was just two free throws for Caruso. He made both, cutting the lead to 110-104.
Indiana's Aaron Nesmith (left) delivers a hard foul on Thunder guard Alex Caruso in the fourth quarter. The officials reviewed the play, but the call remained a common foul.
Indiana's Aaron Nesmith (left) delivers a hard foul on Thunder guard Alex Caruso in the fourth quarter. The officials reviewed the play, but the call remained a common foul.Michael Conroy/Associated Press
But the Pacers — at home in an NBA Finals game for the first time in 25 years — kept control the rest of the way.