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 on Thursday night.
Pascal Siakam had 16 points and 13 rebounds, while Tyrese Haliburton — playing through a strained calf — scored 14 points in 22 minutes, 52 seconds for the Pacers, who started slowly and then turned things into a blowout.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 21 points for the Thunder, who pulled their starters after getting down by 30 going into the fourth. Ex-Saint Mary’s star Jalen Williams added 16.
Game 7, the first one in the NBA Finals since 2016, will be Sunday in Oklahoma City.
Good news for the Thunder: Home teams are 15-4 in the ultimate game to decide a title. Bad news for the Thunder: The Cleveland Cavaliers won on the road against the Golden State Warriors in the most recent NBA Finals Game 7, and one of the three other home-team losses was in 1978 — by Seattle, the franchise that would move to Oklahoma City three decades later.
The Pacers missed their first eight shots and got down 10-2. The arena, roaring just a few minutes before at the start, quieted quickly. Hall of Famer Reggie Miller, sitting courtside in a Jalen Rose Pacers jersey, was pacing, kneeling, generally acting more nervous than he ever seemed as a player.
No need.
After the slow start, the Pacers outscored the Thunder 68-32 over the next 24 minutes. A Pacers team that hadn’t led by more than 10 points at any time in the first five games — and that double-digit lead was brief — led by 28 early in the third quarter. The margin eventually got to 31, which was the Thunder’s second-biggest deficit of the season.
The worst also came in these playoffs: a 45-point hole against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference finals. The Thunder came back to win that series, obviously, and now will need that bounce-back ability one more time.
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The Thunder, desperate for a spark, put Alex Caruso in the starting lineup in place of Isaiah Hartenstein to open the second half. There was no spark. In fact, there was nothing whatsoever — neither team scored in the first 3:53 after halftime, the sides combining to miss their first 13 shots of the third quarter.
TJ McConnell, the spark off the bench again, finished with 12 points, nine rebounds and six assists for the Pacers.
