In Game 3, the Indiana Pacers found a way to neutralize the Oklahoma City Thunder's aggressive defense, forcing them into a defensive crouch. The Thunder's defensive strategy isn't primarily about preventing scoring; rather, it's designed to disrupt an opponent's rhythm and impose their will. Their defense feels like offense. The flood of turnovers was the indicator in the first half of Game 1, whereas Indiana's constant struggle for any type of easy shot was the story of Game 2.
T.J. McConnell and Bennedict Mathurin flipped the game to open the second quarter. McConnell had a pair of steals hounding the Thunder full-court, while Mathurin had eight quick points of his own. The Pacers began the quarter down eight and quickly took a three-point lead at 39-36, all while Tyrese Haliburton was out of the game. Haliburton reentered the game with the court suddenly a lot bigger, where he could play with freedom and pace.
Haliburton will float around for games at a time and make you wonder what he's doing. Sometimes, like in Game 1, he will only truly emerge for a clutch shot. Haliburton was unleashed and able to get into the paint to create for himself and begin to spray the ball around.
The Pacers punctuated their 40-point second quarter—an output that seemed impossible before the game began—with McConnell hitting an iso jumper to give them a 64-60 lead at halftime.
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The Pacers and Thunder exchanged punches for most of the third, but the game felt like it was about to tilt permanently toward Oklahoma City after Mark Daigneault substituted Shai Gilgeous-Alexander out of the game with just under a minute left in the third quarter. Gilgeous-Alexander typically plays the entire third quarter, but buying him an extra minute would allow him to reenter the game earlier in the fourth.
On their first possession as they set up a two-for-one, Jalen Williams fired the ball on a drive across the court with his left hand to Chet Holmgren cutting baseline for the and-1 dunk as the Thunder took an 86-84 lead. After getting a stop on a McConnell jumper, Williams hit an iso three-pointer from the top of the arc to close the third quarter 89-84.
Gilgeous-Alexander is one of the NBA's most immensely reliable stars. The peaks the Thunder hit over the coming years will be largely determined by the play and health of Williams and Holmgren. This was a key mini-run to shift the momentum their way going into the fourth quarter. This was a lead that, in the moment, felt like the Thunder wouldn't give up again in the game. The key turning point in the series for the Thunder to take a 2-1 lead with a chance to close it out at home in Game 5. The Pacers had played better than they had at any point in the series, but the co-stars had kept them at bay.
Mathurin and McConnell had other ideas again as they won their minutes to start the fourth, just as they did in the second, while Haliburton rested. The Pacers went on a 7-1 run with an Andrew Nembhard bucket, followed by another McConnell steal and layup, and a quick Mathurin three-pointer on a McConnell assist coming after a Gilgeous-Alexander free throw.
Haliburton came back into the game tied, and everything flowed from there for the Pacers to control all aspects of the game. The Thunder made their last field goal of the game with 3:23 remaining on a Shai midrange jumper, which came after a 2:30 field goal drought.
Mathurin finished the game with 27 points on 12 shots, and McConnell had 10 points, five assists and five steals. The pair contributed directly, but they also helped exhaust the Thunder. They made them think and made them work. Stars receive outsized credit for making role players better, but this time it was the role players who made the stars better.