Wild scenes as 50-1 no hopers take NBA Finals lead and impartiality goes out window
Updated . First published at
The Indiana Pacers moved within two wins of perhaps the most unlikely title in NBA history, stunning the Oklahoma City Thunder 116-107 in game three of the finals on Thursday (AEST).
The Pacers were 50-1 outsiders at the start of the season but are running opponents off the court with their unselfish, high tempo brand of play under coach Rick Carlisle.
According to ESPN, no team in the last four decades has won the title after starting the season at such long odds.
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Yet Indiana are now 2-1 up in the best-of-seven series with game four also in Indianapolis on Saturday (AEST).
Neither the Pacers or Thunder have won the NBA championship.
Indiana icon Reggie Miller was courtside in a Pacers singlet, cheering every Tyrese Haliburton bucket as impartiality went out the window.
Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers celebrates with former NBA player Reggie Miller. Getty
Miller covered the conference championships as a TV analyst for TNT.
"This crowd has been standing most of the fourth quarter," caller Mike Breen said on ESPN.
"They've waited 25 years for a finals game at home... they are celebrating here in Indianapolis. The Pacers' dream of their first NBA title very much alive. They're two wins away from a championship."
Bennedict Mathurin scored 27 points off the bench and Haliburton added 22 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds.
The Pacers also got 21 points from Pascal Siakam and enjoyed a whopping 49-18 edge in bench points.
"So many different guys chipped in," Haliburton said.
Myles Turner of the Indiana Pacers reacts during the fourth quarter. Getty
Jalen Williams scored 26 points, league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 24 and Chet Holmgren had 20 for the Thunder, who led by five points going into the fourth.
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 three winner went on to hoist the trophy 33 times - an 80.5 per cent clip.
Advantage, Pacers.
Coach Mark Daigneault of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Getty
It was back-and-forth much of the way, at times looking like an absolute classic.
There were 15 ties and to put that in perspective, there were 13 ties in the five game entirety of last year's finals between the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks.
TJ McConnell finished with 10 points, five assists and five steals for Indiana.
Lu Dort battles for a loose ball with Ben Sheppard and Pascal Siakam. Getty
Since all those stats started being charted, nobody had ever come off the bench and done all that in an NBA Finals game.
"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.
TJ McConnell and Aaron Nesmith of the Indiana Pacers react. Getty
But the Pacers kept control the rest of the way.
"This is the kind of team that we are," Carlisle said.
"We need everybody to be ready. It's not always going to be exactly the same guys that are stepping up with scoring and stuff like that. But this is how we've got to do it."
Coach Rick Carlisle of the Indiana Pacers. Getty
The Thunder were 61-2 when leading going into the fourth quarter in the regular season.
They're 1-2 when leading going into the fourth quarter in this series.
Indiana, with Miller, Caitlin Clark, Oscar Robertson and many other stars in the crowd -simply owned the final 12 minutes.
"We had a lot of good stretches of the game," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said.
"But they had more good stretches than we did - and outplayed us over the course of 48 minutes.
"I thought it was an uncharacteristic night in a lot of ways for us. We've got to learn from it and then tap back into being who we are in game four. If we do that, I think we'll have a much better chance to win.
"We'll watch it. It wasn't all bad. But we definitely have to play our style and impose our will for more of the 48 minutes if we want to come on the road and get a win."
Indiana outscored OKC 32-18 in the fourth, holding the Thunder to 35 per cent shooting with the game and control of the series on the line.
"There's a lot of areas we can clean up. Everybody who stepped out there can be better," Holmgren said.
