INDIANAPOLIS — T.J. McConnell, the little pest who constantly invigorates the Indiana Pacers, made a nice spin move in the paint, freeing himself for an open 2-foot shot. McConnell missed it, as the Thunder hordes descended.
But this was Indiana’s night, and the loose ball bounded out to Andrew Nembhard, who sank an open 13-footer.
Then trusty Alex Caruso lofted an inbounds pass that the 6-foot-1 McConnell tipped, caught right by the baseline and put in the basket. Four points in maybe four seconds for Indiana. And the Thunder never led again.
With sloppy and uninspired play in a huge Game 3 of the NBA Finals, the Thunder put itself in jeopardy of losing out on a championship that most of the NBA intelligentsia figured was headed to Oklahoma.
The Pacers beat OKC 116-107 Wednesday night in Gainbridge Fieldhouse, with a dominant fourth quarter. The Thunder had a five-point lead going into the final period and still led 95-91 with less than nine minutes left.
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But this was a game in which the Pacers, not the Thunder, applied the game-deciding defensive pressure. Indiana constantly picked up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (and others) full court, and the Pacers trapped SGA and Jalen Williams consistently just past the midcourt line.
The Thunder shot the ball well (10 of 22 from deep) but gave it away all night. OKC finished with 19 turnovers, including some giveaways at crucial moments.
When the Thunder led 95-91, the Pacers put heavy pressure on Williams at midcourt. He turned and pivoted in obvious distress, like a swimmer in trouble, but no teammate broke free. Williams finally tried a bounce pass to a cutting Gilgeous-Alexander, but SGA didn’t cut, and Pascal Siakam had a steal that set up the Pacers’ turnaround.
This was a team defeat. The Thunder defense was awful in the second quarter; the Pacers scored 40 points in the period, making 14 of 25 shots. Then the Thunder offense was awful in the fourth quarter; OKC scored 18 points and had almost as many turnovers (five) as baskets (six).
The role-player advantage that was with OKC in its Game 2 rout, switched to Indiana. The Pacer bench outscored the Thunder bench 49-16. Bennedict Mathurin, barely a factor in two Oklahoma City games, had 27 points for the Pacers.
Add it all up, and the Thunder seemed ill-prepared to take command of this series. If OKC doesn’t win Game 4 Friday night here in HoosierLand, it goes home down 3-1, from which few Finals teams have recovered.
berry.tramel@tulsaworld.com
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