By Tim Reynolds
Bennedict Mathurin scored 27 factors off the bench, Tyrese Haliburton added 22 and the Indiana Pacers reclaimed the lead within the NBA Finals by beating the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder 116-107 in Sport 3 on Wednesday evening.
Haliburton additionally had 11 assists and 9 rebounds for the Pacers, who obtained 21 factors from Pascal Siakam and loved a whopping 49-18 edge in bench factors. The Pacers, who misplaced Sport 2 in Oklahoma Metropolis, improved to 10-0 since mid-March within the recreation instantly following a loss.
“So many different guys chipped in,” Haliburton mentioned.
Jalen Williams scored 26 factors, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 24 and Chet Holmgren had 20 for the Thunder, who led by 5 going into the fourth.
Sport 4 is again in Indiana on Friday evening.
Historical past says the Pacers are in command of the collection now; within the 41 earlier NBA Finals that have been tied at a recreation apiece, the Sport 3 winner went on to hoist the trophy 33 instances — an 80.5% clip.
Benefit, Pacers.
It was back-and-forth a lot of the way in which, at instances trying like an absolute traditional. There have been 15 ties; to place that in perspective, there have been 13 ties within the five-game entirety of final yr’s finals between Boston and Dallas. The final time there was a finals recreation with extra ties: Sport 1 between Cleveland in Golden State in 2018, which was knotted 17 instances.
TJ McConnell completed with 10 factors, 5 assists and 5 steals for Indiana; since all these stats began being charted, no person had ever come off the bench and achieved all that in an NBA Finals recreation.
“We just had guys make plays after plays,” Haliburton mentioned. “Our bench was amazing.”
The Pacers’ Aaron Nesmith fouled Alex Caruso — a tough foul, for sure — with 2:35 left, and officers took an extended look to find out if it met the factors for a flagrant foul. A typical foul was the ultimate name and as a substitute of two free throws plus the ball, it was simply two free throws for Caruso. He made each, reducing the result in 110-104.
However the Pacers — at residence in an NBA Finals recreation for the primary time in 25 years — saved management the remainder of the way in which.
