By Peter Sblendorio Tribune News Service
Just how pivotal is Game 3 of the NBA Finals?
In the previous 41 instances that a Finals series was tied 1-1, the winner of Game 3 went on to win the championship 80.5% of the time.
That’s what is on the line for the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
The Pacers handled their business by splitting the first two games of the series in Oklahoma City, but their lopsided 123-107 loss in Game 2 renewed concerns about their ability to keep up with the NBA-best Thunder.
Indiana managed only 34 points in the paint for the second game in a row.
Its bench — so often one of the team’s strengths — was outscored 48-34 by the Thunder reserves.
The Pacers had few answers for Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the NBA’s MVP.
And star Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton scored just five points on 2-of-7 shooting through three quarters.
“Through the course of a series, even in the games that you lose, you’re trying to learn from there,” Haliburton said after Game 2. “See where you can get better.”
After the Game 2 loss, Haliburton and others stressed the need to be better in the paint, where the Pacers averaged 51 points per game in the regular season and 44.6 points per game over the first three rounds of the playoffs.
Oklahoma City, the best team in the NBA at limiting paint scoring, forced the Pacers to settle for 3-pointers throughout Game 2. Indiana finished 14-of-40 (35.0%) on 3-point attempts in the loss.
“It’s a lot easier said than done,” Haliburton said of improving in the paint.
“Our offense is built from the inside-out, and we’ve got to do a better job getting downhill. They collapse and make plays from there. I thought we could improve a lot there. But yeah, man, they are flying around. They’ve got great point-of-attack defenders. They’ve got great rim protectors.”
Haliburton also said he needs to get off to better starts, describing his first halves in both games as “really poor.”
The image of Haliburton’s game-winning jumper with 0.3 seconds left in Game 1 will live on forever, but the clutch basket has at least somewhat shielded the All-Star point guard from criticism in what’s been an otherwise underwhelming Final thus far.
Haliburton is averaging 15.5 points, 6.0 assists and 4.0 turnovers per game against the Thunder’s NBA-best defense — all worse than what he averaged against the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Thunder have thrown different looks at Haliburton, used multiple defenders — including Lu Dort, Cason Wallace and Jalen Williams — on him, and forced the ball out of his hands.
“Most of the guys I guard have the ball most of the time,” Dort said. “My main thing is to stay in front of him, make everything tough. He’s a great player. He is going to make some tough shots. He’s going to make some great reads, so I just have to stay in front of him.”
Haliburton’s quiet showing loomed large in Game 2 as his counterpart at point guard, Gilgeous-Alexander, erupted for 34 points on 11-of-21 shooting and eight assists.
Gilgeous-Alexander has totaled 72 points thus far, setting a record for the most points in a player’s first two Finals games.
“I would trade the points for two Ws, for sure,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “But this is where our feet are.”
After a 68-win season, the Thunder entered the Finals as a heavy favorite and have led for all but one minute and 54 seconds in the series. The Pacers trailed by 15 points in the fourth quarter of Game 1 before Haliburton’s go-ahead shot capped a furious comeback.
“You can’t be a team that’s reactive and expect to be successful or have consistency,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said after Game 2. “We’re going to have to be a lot better on Wednesday.”
Still, Indiana now owns home-court advantage in this series, and the Pacers are 6-2 at home this postseason.
In the prior Finals to be tied 1-1, a win in Game 3 for the home team has led to a championship 66.7% of the time.
When the road team won Game 3, meanwhile, it went on to win 91.3% of those series.
Gainbridge Fieldhouse figures to be rocking for Game 3 as the Finals return to Indianapolis for the first time since 2000.
“To make it this far in the season, it’s gonna take a supreme level of focus to reach an ultimate goal,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “\[The Pacers are\] a display of that to the highest form. They play a full 48 minutes. You can’t just throw the first punch. You’ve got to try to throw all the punches.”