Finals Game Three: Back and Forth Battle

June 16, 2000. That's the last time the NBA Finals hit the state of Indiana. Back then, it was Reggie Miller leading a team that consisted of, among other players, Rik Smits, Dale Davis, and Antonio Davis. The Pacers were up against the Shaq and Kobe-led Lakers that year, and in that game--Game Five of that year's Finals, the Pacers actually won it. However, that win only cut their series deficit in half, and in Game Six, the Lakers clinched the championship; the team's first since 1988 and their first of three straight in the Shaq and Kobe era.

Since then, the Pacers have had their ups and downs, but haven't come close to this point until now. After splitting the first two games of this year's NBA Finals, the series now shifts to Indianapolis for the first time in just a hair under 25 years. Reggie Miller has now spent several years calling games for TNT, and this Pacers group is led by Tyrese Haliburton, and has key players such as Pascal Siakam (who is looking for his second ring) and Myles Turner. Their opponents, the Oklahoma City Thunder, are led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the current reigning MVP of the National Basketball Association.

The game saw the Thunder get off to a good start, which had been the case all series. Regarding this game, it was the Thunder up by eight after the first 12 minutes of the game, but the second quarter was pretty much all Pacers. Forty points scored by the Pacers in that second frame! Pacers led by four at the half in front of a crowd that included notable ex-Pacers such as Al Harrington, Lance Stephenson, Mark Jackson, Dale Davis, and of course, Reggie Miller.

The third quarter was wild. Actually, the entire second half was crazy. I saw multiple occasions where the lead changed hands, and the score was tied. I found myself hoping for overtime even though it was close to the heart of the third quarter. OKC led by five entering the fourth, but the Pacers took that quarter over. Indy ended up outscoring OKC, 32-18, in a very intense fourth quarter; they never looked back after regaining the lead.

The Indiana Pacers won Game Three, 116-107, and now take a 2-1 lead in this year's Finals. The Pacers came through when it mattered most, and while the game saw Tyrese Haliburton (22 pts) and Pascal Siakam (21 pts) show out as usual, the top scorer in Game Three for the Pacers was actually Bennedict Mathurin. The Montréal-born Mathurin put up 27 points from the bench, with the entire Indy bench putting up 49 total points. On the Thunder side, SGA added another 24 points, but he was not the lead scorer for OKC. For the first time in this series, someone other than SGA had 20+ points. Two someones, to be more specific. Jalen Williams led the way with 26 points, while Chet Holmgren had 20 points and 10 rebounds.

As mentioned before, when the NBA Finals is even at 1-1, the winner of Game Three wins the series 80.5% of the time. As of now, 10 out of the NBA's 30 teams have never won the NBA Championship. One of those teams, the Indiana Pacers, now stand two wins away from becoming champions for the very first time.

Game Four is Friday in Indianapolis.

If you like this story, click the heart and the subscribe button, and feel free to comment below! Tips and pledges would be greatly appreciated, as they help support my writing, but only if you want to do so!