Pacers blow past Thunder to force winner-take-all Game 7

Thunders vs. Pacers Game 6
Indiana Pacers’ Pascal Siakam shoots over OKC Thunder’s Alex Caruso in Game 6 of the NBA Finals —PHOTO FROM OFFICIAL NBA INSTAGRAM PAGE

Obi Toppin led six Pacers posting double figures to trample the Oklahoma City Thunder at home, 108-91, in Game 6 and lay out an all-or-nothing showdown for the NBA crown—the first in almost a decade.

The last Game 7 in the NBA Finals was in 2016, with the Cleveland Cavaliers winning over the Golden State Warriors on the road. The Pacers are now hoping to achieve the feat when they face a ferocious Thunder team in their own home turf.

“We’ll do what’s necessary to try to get ourselves ready for that environment and that team,” said Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle. OKC boasts a 9-2 record at home this postseason.

“This will be a monumental challenge,” Carlisle said.

The Pacers displayed an offensive masterclass in Game 6 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, on June 20, with Topin stringing 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals off the bench.

Aaron Nembhard put up an efficient scoring night on top of his MVP assignment, scoring 17 points on 5-of-7 from the field and 3-of-5 from beyond the arc alongside 4 assists and 3 steals.

Pascal Siakam notched 16 points while dominating the boards with 13 rebounds and a block as the first-year Pacer continued to be a reliable offensive option for the squad.

With concerns raised over his availability for Game 6, Tyrese Haliburton showed up for Indiana and managed to tally 14 points, 5 assists, and 2 steals despite a right-calf injury.

Full steam ahead

Down 2-10 to start things off, Siakam put up 5 straight points followed by back-to-back 3-pointers from Nembhard to quickly turn things around for the Pacers, 13-12.

Indiana entered the second frame with a 28-25 separation, but OKC kept close by only a point with 9 minutes to go in the quarter, 34-33. The Pacers later carried out a 17-2 run in a 5-minute stretch to go up by 16, 51-35.

The Pacers kept their offensive foot on the gas up to the end of the quarter. Siakam posterized last game’s stand-out Jalen Williams for a 20-point lead, 62-42, and a fadeaway buzzer-beater capped their pivotal first-half outburst.

The second half was no different for the Thunder as they succumbed to a 5-minute drought at the onset while the Pacers pulled away by 28, 70-42.

As if things were not going great enough for the Indiana home crowd, Ben Sheppard drilled a buzzer-beating triple for a whopping 30-point lead, 90-70.

‘We sucked tonight’

With the coveted NBA title just one win away from them, the Thunder had to run into some of the worst offensive and defensive showing they’ve ever seen.

“It was uncharacteristic, it was disappointing, it was collective,” said OKC head coach Mark Daigneault. “It wasn’t one guy. Just we were not where we needed to be on either end of the floor for much of the game. We have to be a lot better before Game 7.”

The final box score did not really show the true story of the Thunder tragedy in their close-out game on the road. Judging by the first-half stats, the Pacers simply outplayed them in multiple areas.

In 3-point shooting alone, Indiana buried 9-of-24 while OKC settled with a measly 1-of-11 production, courtesy of backup guard Aaron Wiggins.

Another uncharacteristic statline by the half was the turnover. Known for their pesky defensive swarm, the Thunder got a taste of their own medicine, giving up 12 turnovers as opposed to the Pacers’ 2. This huge contrast also saw Indiana converting 16 points off of turnovers while OKC only had 2 points.

Then there’s the overwhelming difference between the teams’ bench production: The Pacers’ secondary squad outscored the Thunder’s by 19-3 at the half.

While Toppin and T. J. McConnell were putting in work off-the-bench, OKC had only their main scorers, Jalen Williams and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, to rely on for a combined 31 points at the half.

League MVP Gilgeous-Alexander finished the night with a dim 21 points in 31 minutes of play. The star also had the most turnovers for the Thunder with 8 total, which was higher than his field goals made of 7-of-15.

“The way I see it is we sucked tonight,” said Gilgeous-Alexander.

Following his 40-point explosion, Williams was limited to just 16 points as they failed to finish the job on the road.

The OKC Thunder now only have one final chance in this series at their first-ever championship before the loud Oklahoma home crowd in Game 7 at Paycom Center on June 23.

Read more: Pacers vs Thunder: a matchup of contrasting point guards, clashing play styles

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