INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indiana Pacers didn’t let one other home-court alternative slip away Thursday evening.
Not with a raucous crowd on its toes virtually from begin to end, not with Reggie Miller and almost a dozen former Pacers cheering them on and positively not with the primary NBA title in franchise simply two wins away.
So the Pacers dug down, fought by accidents and eventually performed their approach. They knocked down 3-pointers, pressured turnovers and had the closely gold-clad crowd doing high-fives between the third and fourth quarters as Indiana prolonged its season with a 108-91 victory over the the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder.
The winner-take-all Recreation 7 is Sunday evening in Oklahoma Metropolis
This wasn’t only a win-or-go-home state of affairs for the Pacers.
They’ve been motivated all season by the bitter reminiscences of shedding their final two dwelling video games by three factors every within the 2024 Jap Convention finals because the injured Tyrese Haliburton watched helplessly from the sideline. Boston used that four-game sweep to gas its report 18th title run.
They usually blew a seven-point lead within the ultimate 11 minutes of Recreation 3, giving freely the home-court benefit they stole on Haliburton’s last-second winner in Recreation 1.
This time, it wasn’t even shut.
Indiana took management halfway by the second quarter and spent the remainder of the evening pulling away as a smattering of Oklahoma Metropolis followers watched glumly.
Positive, one distinction was Haliburton’s capacity to beat the strained proper calf that made him so ineffective within the Recreation 5 loss that put Indiana on the cusp of elimination.
However after convincing workforce trainers he may play and nonetheless be efficient, the Pacers rebounded from lacking their first eight photographs to make 8 of the following 10. Then, as traditional, it was off to the races.
Indiana pressured 12 first-half turnovers, outscoring the Thunder 16-3 on quick break and 19-3 in bench factors whereas utilizing 11-0 and 6-0 to increase the margin to 64-42 at halftime. Defensively, they have been even higher within the second half.
Although they didn’t power as many turnovers, they held the Thunder scoreless greater than 5 minutes whereas forcing seven straight misses to start out the third quarter — working the gang right into a frenzy as they rolled to a 70-42 lead.
Miller flailed his arms within the air in a Jalen Rose jersey. Metta World Peace waved a towel and Lance Stephenson repeatedly pumped his fists. Even John Haliburton, Tyrese’s father, cherished the second.
However ending their dwelling season with a win is simply the primary a part of the equation. Now they have to go on the street and replicate what they simply did if they’re to attain their final objective — successful a title.
Copyright 2025 The Related Press. All rights reserved. This materials is probably not revealed, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.