Pacers Surge Late to Seize 2-1 Lead Over Thunder in NBA Finals
The Indiana Pacers didn’t need one of their trademark late-game rallies to win Game 3 of the NBA Finals. Instead, they flipped the script — and the series — by controlling the closing moments, putting the once heavily favored Oklahoma City Thunder on their heels.
Behind a dominant fourth-quarter performance in front of a raucous home crowd in Indianapolis, the Pacers clamped down defensively and capitalized on Thunder miscues to earn a 116-107 victory and take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Historically, that margin is significant: Teams that win Game 3 of a Finals tied 1-1 have gone on to win the series more than 80% of the time.
Game 4 is set for Friday in Indiana.
The Thunder managed just 18 points in the final quarter, connecting on only 6 of 17 attempts from the field. Indiana outscored them by 14 during those decisive 12 minutes. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the newly crowned MVP, was limited to just three shots in the fourth and finished with 24 points on 20 attempts, along with six costly turnovers — a testament to the relentless pressure from Pascal Siakam and Indiana’s defense.
The Pacers improved to 24-3 this season when holding opponents under 110 points, and they remain undefeated (14-0) at home in such games.
“It wasn’t all bad,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “But we’ve got to play our game for more of the 48 minutes if we want to win on the road.”
Tyrese Haliburton responded to a quiet Game 2 with a near triple-double — 22 points, 11 assists, and nine rebounds — showing the aggression Indiana needed. Still, it was Bennedict Mathurin who stole the show.
After sitting out the first quarter entirely, Mathurin exploded for 27 points in just 22 minutes, marking the highest-scoring game by a bench player in the Finals since 2011. His outburst led to a lopsided 49-18 scoring edge for Indiana’s reserves.
At halftime, Indiana held a 64-60 lead and looked far sharper than the team that split the first two games in Oklahoma City. They piled up 17 fast-break points — nearly matching their total from Games 1 and 2 combined — and had 30 bench points by the break, nearly half their total offense and far outpacing the Thunder’s reserves.
TJ McConnell and Mathurin played key roles in the turnaround. Entering the game with Indiana down eight, McConnell’s energy shifted momentum, especially on defense where he logged three steals, two of them in the backcourt. Each takeaway ignited the crowd as Indiana surged back into contention.
Mathurin, who had made just five field goals combined in the series’ first two games, connected on five of six attempts in the first half alone.
“This is who we are,” said Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle. “It’s going to be different guys stepping up at different times. That’s the way we’ve built this team — we win together, and we make life as tough as possible on the other guys.”
Indiana’s strong first half gave them control, but a late third-quarter slump — just five points in the final five minutes — handed the Thunder a five-point lead heading into the fourth.
For Oklahoma City, playoff inexperience may have finally shown. The Thunder committed a postseason-high 19 turnovers, several of them unforced. But there were also flashes of their resilience. Third-year star Jalen Williams helped steady the team late in the third and brought them level again midway through the fourth with a tough layup.
Still, Indiana answered with poise — something usually associated with their opponents this postseason. Key offensive rebounds with five minutes to play led to four second-chance points and extended Indiana’s lead to eight with just over three minutes left.
“I was proud of the way we bounced back after a rough stretch in the third,” Carlisle said. “That kind of thing could’ve rattled us.”
By the time the buzzer sounded, the Thunder had been thoroughly outplayed in the fourth quarter — and left facing the pressure of another early-series deficit. They trailed 2-1 in their second-round matchup with Denver but managed to rally. Now, they’ll need another comeback to avoid watching the Pacers edge closer to a title.
“They just outworked us late,” Daigneault admitted.
