The Indiana Pacers are two wins away from their first-ever NBA title.
Behind a second quarter spark and a barrage from its bench, Indiana controlled the Oklahoma City Thunder on June 11 in the pivotal Game 3 of the NBA Finals, 116-107.
Backup Pacers shooting guard Bennedict Mathurin led all players with 27 points, while Tyrese Haliburton added 22 and Pascal Siakam chipped in 21.
And for the Pacers, this was massive; when NBA Finals have been tied at 1-1, the winner of Game 3 has gone on to win the title 80.5% of the time.
The Pacers are now 5-0 this postseason when coming off a loss. They still have not trailed in any of the four series they have played these playoffs.
Here are the winners and losers from the crucial Game 3 of the 2025 NBA Finals between the Pacers and Thunder:
WINNERS
Bennedict Mathurin, T.J. McConnell and the Pacers bench
The Pacers’ bench, overall, was outstanding, yes. They outscored Oklahoma City’s reserves by a margin of 49-18. But two players, above all, lifted Indiana and were key in a second quarter run that changed the course of the game.
Bennedict Mathurin led all players with 27 points on an absurd 9-of-12 shooting night — outscoring the entire Thunder bench — in 22:24. T.J. McConnell scored 10 timely points, but his five steals, three of them off inbounds passes, and five assists invigorated Indiana.
Simply put, the Pacers’ bench won them this game.
“Those guys were tremendous,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said after the game. “T.J. just brought a competitive will to the game. Mathurin jumped in there and was immediately aggressive and got the ball in the basket. This is the kind of team we are: we need everybody to be ready. …
“This is how we’ve got to do it, we’ve got to do it as a team.”
For at least one night, the Indiana defense was better
It looked, at least for one game, that it was the Pacers who were the No. 1 defense in the NBA. Indiana put forth a monstrous team effort, particularly on NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, sending multiple players at him, swarming and swatting at the ball when he had it in vulnerable spots.
After Game 2, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said of Gilgeous-Alexander that “you can mark down 34 points before (the Thunder) even get on the plane.” Perhaps it was a subtle way of sending a message to his players, but Indiana held SGA to 10 points fewer than that, on 9-of-20 shooting.
The Pacers rotated players on Gilgeous-Alexander and put full-court pressure on him basically the entire game, and the spike in energy appeared to tire Gilgeous-Alexander, especially late. He had just three attempts in the fourth quarter and did not register an assist
“Their overall tone was better than ours for the majority of the game,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said after the game.
Tyrese Haliburton finds his shot — early
In Games 1 and 2, Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton had combined for just nine first half points. On Wednesday night, Haliburton had scored 12 on 5-of-8 shooting, adding seven assists, before intermission.
It set the tone. When Haliburton — who finished with 22 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds — is aggressive and gets his shot, the Pacers tend to win. This season, they are 20-1 when he scores at least 20 points and dishes out at least 10 assists.
LOSERS
Thunder offense sputters without massive SGA game
Oklahoma City has actually had nice spurts of offense this series from role players. Luguentz Dort has shot 10-of-17 (66.7%) from 3. Aaron Wiggins popped off for 18 points in Game 2. Alex Caruso poured in 20 in Game 2.
But this felt like a game that, for the Thunder to have a chance to win, Gilgeous-Alexander was going to have to go off and score 35 or more. Oklahoma City shot just 35.3% from the field in the fourth quarter. With players pressing some, the Thunder also committed five turnovers in the period.
Thunder ball protection
The steals off the inbounds were indicative of a larger issue for Oklahoma City: the turnovers were debilitating.
“They sucked,” Jalen Williams said. “Just bad, unforced turnovers.”
Indiana had lost the turnover battles in Games 1 and 2 by 19 combined. But Wednesday night, the Thunder were more careless with the ball, committing 19 turnovers — compared to Indiana’s 14. Not surprisingly, the Pacers won the battle in points off turnovers, 21-14.
The decision to start Cason Wallace over Isaiah Hartenstein
The Thunder — the team with the best record (68-14) in the NBA — had rolled through the NBA playoffs, going 12-4 before the start of the Finals.
Center Isaiah Hartenstein had started each of those games, but Thunder coach Mark Daigneault opted to start Cason Wallace in all three games against the Pacers. It now seems like an overcorrection and perhaps even something of a panic move.
Though it was just by two points, the Pacers outscored the Thunder in the paint for the first time this series, 50-48. Oklahoma City had carried a plus-20 advantage prior to Wednesday night. Keeping Indiana out of the paint and forcing them to settle for jump shots will be key for the Thunder in Game 4. Hartenstein, who played just 22 minutes and was not a factor, makes that prospect much easier.
The biggest stories, every morning. Stay up-to-date on all the key sports developments with USA TODAY’s sports newsletter. Your inbox will approve.
