Berry Tramel
The Thunder’s 103-91 victory over the Pacers in Game 7 of the NBA Finals was not a masterpiece. Few Game 7s are. Here are the scores of the previous Game 7s: 93-89, 95-88, 83-79, 81-74, 90-84.
So the typical Game 7 on the highest stage is a rock fight. Thus we’re not grading the Thunder like it’s a January night in Toronto. This game was about survival and standing:
Ballhandling: A. The Thunder committed just eight turnovers. In the first and third quarters combined, OKC had just one turnover, and that on a shot-clock violation.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had just one turnover, on a fourth-quarter play in which he slipped to the ground and tried to save the possession with a bounce pass. SGA had 12 assists in one his best point-guard games ever. SGA’s 12:1 assist to turnover ratio matched the best of his career, joining a December 2021 game against Denver. SGA has had three 8:0 games in his career.
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Defensive pressure: A. The Thunder went back to being bullies. Went back to taking the ball from outmatched kids on the playground. The Thunder had five steals in the third quarter alone, when OKC scored 18 points off eight Indy turnovers. In all, the Pacers had 23 turnovers to the Thunder’s eight. OKC also had one more offensive rebound than did Indy. That’s 16 extra possessions. Foul shots were virtually even (31-29, OKC), which means a lot more field-goal attempts for the Thunder (87-70). That’s how the Thunder made six more shots. Takeaways kept supplying the Thunder offense with chances. Cason Wallace, Alex Caruso and Luguentz Dort each had three steals.
Defending McConnell: B. Let’s be honest. The Thunder has no clue how to stop or who to put on the Pacer sparkplug. McConnell had 16 points on 8-of-13 shooting, most of those makes at or near the basket against much-taller players. McConnell scored 12 straight Indiana points in the third quarter, keeping the Pacers close. Over a span of 6:17, McConnell was the only Pacer who scored. But McConnell, having to play increased minutes with the first-quarter injury to Tyrese Haliburton, committed seven turnovers. OKC turned up the heat on McConnell farther from the basket, with even Dort taking heavy minutes dogging McConnell.
Bench offense: B. Indy’s bench outscored OKC’s bench 42-20. Sounds bad. But it wasn’t. The Pacers got 24 points from Bennedict Mathurin, but 16 of those came in the final 6:19 of the game, when the Thunder had the game under control. And McConnell’s 16 points came via increased minutes, 28:06, courtesy of Haliburton’s first-quarter exit.
The Thunder countered with 10 points each from Caruso and Wallace, and those contributions were huge. Caruso hit two early 3-pointers to help the Thunder keep pace with the hot Pacers, and Wallace scored seven points in a six-minute span of the second half as the Thunder broke open the game.
Chet Holmgren: A. Holmgren made six of eight shots, breaking out of a slump in which he had made just six of 24 shots over the previous two games. Even more importantly, Holmgren was a defensive presence at the rim. He blocked five shots in 31 minutes. The Pacers failed to draw Holmgren away from the basket. Indy made just 18 of 42 2-point shots, a harrowing 42%. With Holmgren on the floor, the Pacers made just 13 of 31 2-point shots.
Defending Siakam: A. The Pacers’ top scorer is Pascal Siakam, and he dented the Thunder for seven first-quarter points. Siakam scored nine points the rest of the game and made just two of seven shots. Jalen Williams had most of the defensive duties on Siakam. When Haliburton went down, Indiana needed Siakam’s scoring more than ever, but it never came.
Smelling blood: D. Give the Pacers credit. All those teams that folded in the wake of the Thunder’s mounting pressure? They weren’t Indiana. OKC failed to put away Indy until the very end. When SGA, Holmgren and Williams hit consecutive 3-pointers to pad the Thunder lead to 65-56, McConnell responded with his scoring spree. When the Thunder went up 90-68 early in the fourth quarter, the Pacer defense stiffened and didn’t allow a field goal for more than six minutes. A Holmgren dunk off a Williams pass finally gave the Thunder a 96-84 lead with 2:24 left, and victory was assured.
berry.tramel@tulsaworld.com
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