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Associated Press
Jun 19, 2025, 11:20 PM ET
INDIANAPOLIS -- Obi Toppin scored 20 points, Andrew Nembhard added 17 and the resilient Indiana Pacers sent the NBA Finals to a winner-take-all Game 7 by rolling past the Oklahoma City Thunder 108-91 connected Thursday night.
Pascal Siakam had 16 points and 13 rebounds for Indiana, portion Tyrese Haliburton -- playing done a strained calf -- scored 14 points for the Pacers, who started dilatory and past turned things into a blowout.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 21 points for the Thunder, who pulled their starters aft getting down by 30 going into the fourth. Jalen Williams added 16.
Game 7, the archetypal 1 successful the NBA Finals since 2016, volition beryllium Sunday nighttime successful Oklahoma City. Good quality for the Thunder: location teams are 15-4 successful the eventual crippled to determine a title. Bad quality for the Thunder: Cleveland won astatine Golden State successful the astir caller NBA Finals Game 7 and 1 of the 3 different home-team losses was successful 1978 -- by Seattle, the franchise that would determination to Oklahoma City 3 decades later.
Indiana missed its archetypal 8 shots and got down 10-2. The arena, roaring conscionable a fewer minutes earlier astatine the start, quieted quickly. Hall of Famer Reggie Miller, sitting courtside successful a Jalen Rose Pacers jersey, was pacing, kneeling, mostly acting much tense than helium ever seemed arsenic a player.
No need.
After the dilatory start, the Pacers outscored the Thunder 68-32 implicit the adjacent 24 minutes. An Indiana squad that hadn't led by much than 10 points astatine immoderate clip successful the archetypal 5 games -- and that double-digit pb was little -- led by 28 aboriginal successful the 3rd quarter. The borderline yet got to 31, which was Oklahoma City's second-biggest shortage of the season.
The worst besides came successful these playoffs: a 45-point spread against Minnesota successful the Western Conference finals. The Thunder came backmost to triumph that series, obviously, and present volition request that bounce-back quality 1 much time.
The Thunder, hopeless for a spark, enactment Alex Caruso successful the starting lineup successful spot of Isaiah Hartenstein to unfastened the 2nd half. There was nary spark. In fact, determination was thing whatsoever -- neither squad scored successful the archetypal 3:53 aft halftime, the sides combining to miss their archetypal 13 shots of the 3rd quarter.
TJ McConnell, the spark disconnected the seat again, finished with 12 points, 9 rebounds and six assists for Indiana.
