The Oklahoma City Thunder crowned a stunning season with an NBA title on Sunday, pulling away relentlessly in the second half to beat the injury-riddled Indiana Pacers 103-91 in game seven of the NBA Finals. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points and dished out 12 assists, and the Thunder’s stinging defense finally proved too much for a Pacers team that lost talisman Tyrese Halliburton to a leg injury just seven minutes into the contest. The underdog Pacers held a 48-47 lead at halftime, but the Thunder outscored them 34-20 in the third quarter and pushed the lead to as many as 22 points in the fourth.
“It doesn’t feel real, so many hours, so many moments, so many emotions, so many nights of disbelief,” Gilgeous-Alexander said, her voice breaking “it’s crazy to know that we’re all here.
“But this group worked for it, this group put in the time and we deserve it.”
Gilgeous-Alexander placed himself among some of the game’s greats as he earned Finals Most Valuable Player honors along with his regular-season MVP and scoring title along with his first championship.
Jalen Williams scored 15 of his 20 points in the second half and Chet Holmgren added 18 points, eight rebounds, one steal and five of the Thunder’s eight blocked shots.
The crowd of 18,203 at Peckham Center was treated to some exciting moments as the Pacers chipped away at the deficit, but 23 Indiana turnovers turned into 32 Thunder points that were ultimately too much for the Pacers to overcome.
The Thunder, who led the league with 68 regular-season wins, captured their first title since the club’s controversial move to Oklahoma City in 2008, when the franchise won it all in 1979 as the Seattle SuperSonics.
The Pacers, three-time American Basketball Association champions in the 1970s — seek their first title since joining the NBA through the NBA-ABA merger.
– Halliburton injured –
Halliburton, already nursing a right calf strain while the Pacers won six games to force their first Finals game since 2016, scored nine points — all on three-pointers — when he went down trying to drive past Gilgeous-Alexander.
Halliburton’s right leg gave out and he sprawled forward, slapping the court in pain and frustration.
Teammates gathered around him, supported him on one leg with a towel over his head, and jumped before helping him off the court and into the locker room.
In his absence, the Pacers dug in. Down by three after the first quarter, they took a 43-42 lead on a three-pointer by Benedict Mathurin with 2:02 left in the second quarter.
Oklahoma City would retake the lead before Andrew Nembhard drilled a step-back three-pointer with 4.3 seconds left to put the Pacers up 48-47 at halftime.
The first half featured 10 lead changes, with both teams putting everything at stake and showing determination on the defensive end.
The three-point shot was an early difference maker for the Pacers, who connected on eight of 16 from beyond the arc in the first half, but had just three after the break.
The Thunder struggled early from long range, but Gilgeous-Alexander made his first three-pointer of the night with 8:16 left in the third, Holmgren took a trey and Jalen Williams added another — a quick 9-0 run gave Oklahoma City a 65-56 lead that set the stage for the rest of the game.
“We had 24 minutes to get it — we had 24 minutes to end our season,” Gilgeous-Alexander said of the Thunder’s mentality in the third.
“It’s either going to be bad or it’s going to be beautiful. We did what we could.”
Benedict Mathurin led the Pacers with 24 points off the bench. Pascal Siakam and TJ McConnell added 16 points and Andrew Nembard scored 15.
But the famously resilient Pacers, who rallied from a 10-15 start to the season and authored a string of sensational comeback wins, ultimately came up short.
(Except for the headline, this story was not edited by NDTV staff and appeared on a syndicated feed.)
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