The Pacers dominate with a fully dialed-in defensive mindset in Game 6 as they force a return to OKC.
INDIANAPOLIS — For the 20th time in league history, the NBA Finals are going to Game 7.
With their season on the line, the Indiana Pacers summoned up one of their best defensive performances yet and handed the Oklahoma City Thunder a decisive 108-91 defeat in Game 6 on Thursday.
Through the first five games, the Thunder had scored less than a point per possession in just two of the 20 quarters. But in Game 6, they were held under a point per possession in each of the first three periods, forcing them to waive the white flag after just 36 minutes.
They scored 31 points on 27 possessions with their deep bench on the floor in the fourth quarter, and this was still their worst offensive performance in their 104 games this season (90.1 per 100).
Here are some notes, numbers and film on how Indiana got stops and booked one more trip to Oklahoma City for Game 7 on Sunday (8 ET, ABC) …
1. The Pacers have active hands, too
T.J. McConnell talks with NBA TV after his standout performance in Game 6 of the NBA Finals.
The Thunder averaged 21.4 deflections per game in the regular season, the most for any team in the last nine seasons. Through the first two games of this series, they had 27 more deflections than the Pacers (48-21).
But the Pacers have had more deflections in three of the last four games, with their 21-12 advantage on Thursday being their biggest of the series. Both Tyrese Haliburton and T.J. McConnell have had their issues defensively, but they accounted for eight of those 21 deflections in Game 6.
After scoring just two points on their first seven possessions of the game, the Pacers turned things around and took the lead for good with a 24-7 run. After they scored on five straight possessions, the Thunder got a stop. But as he ran back on defense, McConnell kept an eye on Jalen Williams, who tried to toss an outlet pass to Alex Caruso.
McConnell reached up and deflected it, chased down the loose ball, and hit Obi Toppin for a transition 3 that put the Pacers up six …
The Thunder were back within one early in the second quarter, but then scored just once on their next 11 possessions, a stretch that included a Haliburton steal that led to another transition 3, this one from Aaron Nesmith.
The Pacers continued to roll, the biggest highlight of the night came just before halftime, and it started with another steal from Haliburton.
He was trailing the play after missing a shot on the other end of the floor, and instead of running back to his man (Lu Dort), he freelanced a soft double-team on Williams. When Williams tried to get the ball to Dort, Haliburton reached out and deflected the pass. After chasing down the loose ball, he found Pascal Siakam on the break for a thunderous dunk on Williams’ head.
Defense, especially deflections, can turn into offense, and the Pacers had 32 transition points on Thursday, per Synergy tracking. That’s the high for either team in the Finals and 14 more than Indiana had in any of the previous five games.
2. Doubling the MVP pays off
Through the first five games, the Thunder scored a fairly efficient 1.14 points per chance (82 on 72) whenever the Pacers double-teamed Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Indiana continued to send doubles whenever the reigning Kia MVP took Andrew Nembhard into the post on Thursday and swarmed Gilgeous-Alexander on some drives, but the Thunder couldn’t make them pay.
Oklahoma City missed a couple of decent shots when Gilgeous-Alexander passed out of a crowd. But often, the ball never escaped.
Midway through the Thunder’s second-quarter drought, Gilgeous-Alexander attacked Nembhard one-on-one. Nembhard gave up some ground, but stayed in front of the MVP, allowing McConnell to come from the blind side and take the ball away …
Trailing by 22 at the half, the Thunder gave themselves a chance to get back in the game by holding the Pacers scoreless on their first six possessions of the third quarter. But Oklahoma City went scoreless on its first eight possessions of the period, with another Gilgeous-Alexander turnover included.
Again, he attacked Nembhard one-on-one, backing him down to the right block. This time, Nesmith came with the double-team, and his active hands deflected Gilgeous-Alexander’s (somewhat lazy) kick-out pass to Williams …
Gilgeous-Alexander’s eight turnovers in Game 6 tied his career high and were two more than he had in his previous 44 playoff games. And with big advantages in both turnovers (11-21) and offensive rebounds (11-4), the Pacers had 18 more shooting opportunities (field goal attempts or trips to the line) than the Thunder in Game 6. That was Oklahoma City’s biggest discrepancy this season by a wide margin.
The Thunder scored just 11 points on 18 chances when the Pacers double-teamed Gilgeous-Alexander on Thursday, and we should expect to see more double-teams in Game 7.
3. Thunder fail to help themselves
Some of the Thunder’s offensive issues were self-inflicted, with Gilgeous-Alexander’s one-handed pass on the play illustrated above being one example.
His first turnover of the game came when he attacked a gap that wasn’t there. After Isaiah Hartenstein set a high screen for him, Gilgeous-Alexander tried to split the defenders, something he’s been successful at most of the series. But there wasn’t enough space, Myles Turner got his hands on the ball and Nembhard eventually picked it up.
There was some bad spacing and some forced drives into the chests of stout defenders.
There was also some lack of recognition when an advantage was there to be had.
When neither team had scored through the first 2 1/2 minutes of the third quarter, the Thunder had a five-on-four opportunity because Siakam was on the ground on the opposite end of the floor. But instead of moving the ball until it found a good shot, Chet Holmgren tried to attack Turner one-on-one.
After Turner stopped his drive, Holmgren found a cutting Alex Caruso, but Turner was still under the basket and swatted Caruso’s layup attempt…
This series has come with a huge contrast regarding ball movement, with the Pacers having thrown 718 more passes than the Thunder over the six games. More ball movement doesn’t necessarily correlate with better offense, and the Thunder have had success playing one-on-one, but they’ve also missed some opportunities to get better shots.
The Pacers’ offense vs. the Thunder defense was the highly anticipated matchup of this series. But it continues to be the other end of the floor where games have been determined, with Oklahoma City having scored 19.4 more points per 100 possessions in its three wins (120.4) than it has in its three losses (101.0).
Game 7s can be ugly, but the last time they played a Game 7 (at New York last year), the Pacers set a playoff record by shooting 67.1%. A repeat in that regard is highly unlikely, but the Thunder will still need to be better offensively than they were on Thursday.
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John Schuhmann is a senior stats analyst for NBA.com. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.
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