Tyrese Haliburton was ready for Game 6.
As were his Indiana Pacers teammates. The Pacers blitzed the Oklahoma City Thunder early Thursday night and never looked back en route to a 108-91 Game 6 win in the NBA Finals.
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It was an overwhelming effort from the Pacers against what, by many measures, is the NBA’s best team. But don’t tell the Pacers that.
At a minimum, the win ensured there would be no Thunder championship celebration on Indiana’s home court. And it puts the Pacers alongside the Thunder, one win away from an NBA championship in a winner-take-all Game 7 for the title.
“We didn’t want to see these guys celebrate a championship on our home floor,” Haliburton said.
With Haliburton ailing with a strained right calf that in part limited him to just four points and a Game 5 Pacers loss, few picked Indiana to win Thursday night. But few have picked the Pacers to reach multiple milestones in their playoff journey. In hindsight, it should be no surprise Indiana refused to relent on its home court with its season on the line.
But the manner in which the Pacers won was still stunning.
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The Thunder looked like a team ready to deliver a knockout blow in the game’s opening moments as the Pacers missed their first eight field-goal attempts and Oklahoma City seized a 10-2 lead. But the Pacers got aggressive on defense and caught fire from deep for a 24-7 run to take control of the game at 26-17. They never gave it back.
Indiana extended its lead to 64-42 at the half with a second-quarter surge that ended with a poster dunk by Pascal Siakam and a halftime buzzer-beater from the Indiana forward on consecutive possessions.
The 13-point lead Indiana took earlier in the quarter was previously its largest of the Finals. By halftime, the lead reached 22. And the Thunder didn’t score their first bucket of the third quarter until 7:15 remained.
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By the end of the third quarter, the Indiana lead had stretched to 90-60 as the Pacers held the Thunder to their lowest point total of the entire season through three quarters.
The fourth quarter was a celebration for a Pacers home crowd watching their team in person for the final time this season. The fans will get one last chance to watch them on TV on Sunday (8 p.m. ET, ABC) as the Pacers and Thunder play for the NBA championship. It will mark the 20th Game 7 in NBA history.
And fortunately for the Pacers, it was a chance for celebration and rest for Haliburton. Haliburton went to the bench with 5:25 remaining in the third quarter with a wrap around his torso and another around his ailing right calf. He didn’t play again.
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The margin of victory allowed Haliburton to rest his body for the remainder of the game and limit his risk of further injury ahead of Sunday’s Game 7. And it appears a two-day break between Games 5 and 6 did him wonders after he sustained a strained calf in Game 5.
Haliburton’s status for Game 6 was in question until late on game day. When head coach Rick Carlisle announced that he was available, the question then became: How effective will Haliburton be?
The answer turned out to be plenty. In 23 minutes, Haliburton tallied 14 points, five assists and two steals. He shot 5 of 12 from the field and 3 of 7 from 3-point distance.
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It was far from an overwhelming effort on a night where the signs of his limitations were evident. But it was more than enough as he found his spots to make an impact on the game.
Now he has two more days to rest and get ready for Game 7.
The Pacers didn’t need a huge game from Haliburton. Because that’s not who they are. This unit embodies team basketball from top to bottom, and perhaps no game this season personified that ideal more than Game 6.
There were few metrics in which Oklahoma City was the better basketball team Thursday. Led by a team-high 20 points from Obi Toppin, Indiana’s bench outscored Oklahoma City’s lauded backup group, 48-37. And that number was dramatically skewed by the Thunder emptying their bench in the fourth quarter.
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At halftime, Indiana’ bench had outscored OKC’s, 19-3. T.J. McConnell again came up big on both sides of the ball with 12 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals while shooting 6 of 12 from the field.
The Pacers won the turnover battle, 21-10, while limiting a steal-happy Thunder defense to just four takeaways. They outrebounded the Thunder (46-41), recorded more assists (23-14) and outshot them from 3 (35.7% to 26.7%).
It was a stellar show for the home crowd one last time this season.
Will the Pacers’ effort translate to Game 7?
The Thunder have been here before, having been handily beaten by the Denver Nuggets in Game 6 of their second-round series only to turn around and blow out the Nuggets at home in Game 7.
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It’s safe to say a Thunder team that was quite apparently aware that it had a home Game 7 in its back pocket Thursday night will not be the same one that shows up on Sunday. Gone was the swarming defense. Gone was the good shot selection. Gone was the accuracy and efficiency from the field and from deep.
Even MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was off his game in a relatively sloppy effort that produced 21 points, two assists and eight turnovers. None of his teammates was up to the task either.
Jalen Williams went scoreless after a 16-point first half. Luguentz Dort attempted just five shots and made one in a three-point effort. Alex Caruso (zero points, zero steals) and Cason Wallace (two points, one steal) were non-factors off the bench.
“We sucked tonight,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.
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No, this is not the same Thunder team the Pacers should expect when they return to Oklahoma City for Game 7. They should fully anticipate the unit that won 68 games in the regular season and survived a Western Conference playoff gantlet to show up Sunday.
In that case, it will be up to the Pacers to dig deep for another effort like they produced in Game 6 to compete for the franchise’s first NBA title.
