Haliburton leads the Pacers to victory in Game 3

The Indiana Pacers were victorious at home against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 3 of the NBA Finals with a final score of 116-107. After each of Indiana’s five losses in these playoffs, they have stormed back to win the following game.

Despite a slow start to the Finals, Tyrese Haliburton came alive in Game 3. After no Pacer scored 20 points in the first two games, Haliburton dropped 22 points along with 11 assists in last night’s effort. Pascal Siakam added 21 for Indiana, although the Pacers best performance was not from a starter.

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A spark from the bench

A key to the Pacers game three win came from off the bench.  Bennedict Mathurin was dominant for Indiana as he put up 27 points with the Thunder having no answer.

TJ McConnell provided a spark as well, finishing with 10 points, five assists, and five steals in the game. Between Mathurin and McConnell, Indiana’s second unit dominated after taking their first lead of the game in the second quarter. By the final buzzer, the Pacers bench managed to outscore the Thunder’s by a staggering 49-18.

Pacers close out…again

Game 3 was a back and forth affair. There were 15 ties in the game, the most since Game 1 of the 2018 Finals between Cleveland and Golden State.

Going into the fourth quarter the Thunder were up by five with a record of 61-2 in the regular season when they led going into the fourth. However, in the NBA Finals alone they have a record of 1-2. Indiana continues to dominate in the fourth quarter as they outscored the Thunder 32-18 in the fourth.

Coming Up

Game 4 of the NBA Finals will be played in Indiana again as the Pacers will look to carry the momentum from Game 3 and go up a controlling 3-1 in the series. Whereas, the Thunder will look to tie this series back up at 2-2 in an arguably must-win game.

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