The Pacers are two games away from hoisting the Larry O’Brien in Indiana. They defeated the OKC Thunder with big contributions from the bench players, particularly Bennedict Mathurin and T.J. McConnell.
Mathurin led the Pacers with 27 points, followed by Tyrese Haliburton, who was one rebound away from a triple-double with 22 points, 9 rebounds, and 11 assists. Pascal Siakam added 21 points and 6 rebounds. But it was McConnell’s presence on the defensive end that made the difference; he scored 10 points and added 5 steals, an NBA Finals record.
It was a very close game, where the biggest lead by either team was just 9 points. But in the 4th quarter, the Indiana Pacers tightened their defense and limited Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to just 3 field goal attempts and OKC as a team to just 18 points against the 32 points by the Pacers.
"HE'S DONE IT AGAIN!"
Andrew Nembhard gets the bucket and T.J. McConnell snatches the inbound and turns it into two more 🔄 pic.twitter.com/4YsYOtRn0V
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) June 12, 2025
Bennedict Mathurin opens Q4 with the three-point play 💪 pic.twitter.com/jg065nNRRR
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) June 12, 2025
Except for Cason Wallace, every OKC starter had double-digit points, led by Jalen Williams with 26 points and 6 rebounds, while the league MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, scored 24 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists. Chet Holmgren added 20 points and 10 rebounds. But that same OKC team was limited by the Pacers’ defense to just 7 points in the last 5 minutes of the game.
Game 4 will still be at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indiana, where OKC will try to even the series and prevent the Pacers from going up 3-1 in the NBA Finals.