Pacers show up big to earn return trip to OKC for Game 7
The Pacers gave the Fieldhouse faithful one more magical performance in person in their last home game of the season. One game remains on the road. Game 7.
Rick Carlisle wasn’t interested in talking about the Pacers, 108-91 win over the Thunder in Game 6 of the NBA Finals. A win that staved off elimination to force Game 7 in OKC on Sunday.
Biggest win of the year? Biggest win ever for the Pacers?
“We played better,” Carlisle said to the initial postgame inquiry about the win.
Carlisle didn’t want to talk about any details whether regarding what had just happened in Game 6 or any big picture stuff that has lead to his team playing in the last possible game of the 2025 NBA season.
The Pacers missed their first eight shots and fell behind 10-2 early, even though the process to get those misses looked good. That process maintained and the Pacers made eight of their next ten shots, leveled the score and then started asserting their will on the game.
That was in the past, didn’t matter after the game.
Tyrese Haliburton was able to play and make an impact despite playing with a reported calf strain. After missing a couple of threes, Haliburton joined the shot parade, making a trio of threes in the first half that was part of an impressive team effort that had the Pacers up 64-42 at the half.
The Pacers had just two turnovers for two OKC points at the half, but aggressiveness at both ends appeared to overwhelm the Thunder on this night. Scrapping the full court pressure and sending help to clog the driving lanes rattled the Thunder, creating 12 first half turnovers for 16 Pacer points.
And some of those pointes…WOW! Haliburton had two steals which ignited two of the prettiest transition buckets you will ever see. One steal after a loose ball scramble turned into a four pass, no dribble fast break that ended with Aaron Nesmith splashing a corner three.
The second Haliburton saw Hali swipe the ball around midcourt, gain his balance and dribble up the sideline with Jalen Williams and Dort around him. The break turned magical when Pascal Siakam sprinted harder than any other player on the court, allowing Ty to deliver a spinning ‘no look-ish’ pass that Siakam slammed home despite getting body slammed by Jalen Williams. No foul…but the Fieldhouse was on fire.
The dunk put the Pacers up 20 with 40 seconds left in the half, then after yet another stop, Siakam had the last shot on his hands, went to his patented fade away on the left wing to push the lead to 22 just as the buzzer sounded. Madness at the Fieldhouse.
The Pacers came out of the half struggling to score but so did the Thunder. The Pacers finally broke the ice with a classic give and go from Ty to Nesmith back to Ty for a layup. Their next bucket came thanks to Myles Turner running the floor and receiving a no-look bounce pass from Andrew Nembhard for a dunk. The next bucket came thanks to another stop which had the ball in Haliburton’s hands on the left sideline. Meanwhile on the right sideline, Ben Sheppard started sprinting while Jalen Williams was merely running back. Williams started sprinting too late when he saw Haliburton push a long pass ahead to Sheppard for an uncontested layup.
The Thunder took their second timeout and finally scored on their next possession but the game was on lock. The Pacers effort and execution was too much and they were getting it from the full rotation. Obi Toppin and TJ McConnell played a huge role in pushing out the lead in the first half and maintaining it in the second.
Topping made 4 threes and finished with 20 points and 6 rebounds, including a third quarter three that answered a little Thunder surge before it became a run. McConnell had 12 points, 9 (!) rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals which is some sort of ‘statigami’ line no reserve has had in the Finals before.
More than the numbers, McConnell and Nembhard executed a different game plan for the Pacers which had them handling the ball more while playing alongside Haliburton. Turns out Tyrese is a pretty good shooting guard, too. Nembhard made a couple of threes early to get the Pacers going and finished with 17 points and 3 steals while digging in defensively against SGA AFTER he crossed halfcourt with the ball.
The Pacers appeared willing to live with SGA and Jalen Williams scoring as long as they worked for it, but after some early success the struggle set in for the two Thunder stars. SGA finished with parlay crushing 21 points and 8 turnovers in the game. Williams had 16 points and 3 turnovers while clocking in with a +/- of -40 for the game.
It was such a magical (there’s that word, again) night at the Fieldhouse. With the Larry O’Brien trophy and champagne on ice in case the Thunder won, the Pacers made sure there would be no celebration cleanup needed by the Fieldhouse crew. There were many more Thunder fans in attendance than in the earlier games, but they were never heard from.
From the tip, the fans, the game operations folks and the players, made for an incredible environment for the Pacers to end their home schedule. So many former Pacers in the ‘House including Reggie Miller at halfcourt in a Jalen Rose jersey, up and clapping to encourage the Pacers. Simply fitting for the historic nature of the win.
Carlisle didn’t want to talk about any of it, though. What he didn’t say, but revealed after the game, was the mindset and focus has was delivering to his team that was suddenly one win, one 48 minute effort similar to what they just delivered, from an NBA championship.
No past plays or adjustment matter now. No statistical analysis about road/ home splits, shooting efficiencies, turnovers or anything else matter because you can’t predict what will happen in Game 7. Just prepare for the counters and the counters to the counters, but more importantly prepare to focus on playing at the highest level possible.
“One game," Carlisle said. “I mean, this is what it's all about.”
NBA FINALS Game 7: Pacers vs. Thunder
Where: Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, OK
When: Sunday, June 22, 2025 - 8:00 p.m. ET
TV: ABC
Radio: 93.5/107.5 The Fan
Odds: Pacers +7.5
Projected Starters
Pacers: Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam, Myles Turner
Thunder: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Cason Wallace, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren
Injuries
Pacers: Jarace Walker (ankle) - out, Isaiah Jackson (Achilles) - out
Thunder: Nikola Topic (knee) - out