INDIANAPOLIS — After receiving Tyrese Haliburton’s deep pass, Pascal Siakam didn’t need to do much in the one-on-one situation. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander attempted the steal. Once that failed, Indiana’s second-best player converted the transition layup to seal the result.

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s frustrations finally boiled over in a 116-107 Game 3 loss to the Indiana Pacers. They’re right back to playing catch-up in the 2025 NBA Finals with a 2-1 series deficit.

“I give them credit. I thought they played really well. They played with great energy. They were physical. They pressured. They sustained it for much of the 48,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “I thought we did some good things. We got off to a really good start, then got off to a really good start in the third. We really controlled the first and third quarters and had a really hard time in the second and the fourth. We’ll watch it. It wasn’t all bad. But we definitely have to play our style and impose our will for more of the 48 minutes.”

After starting strong, the Thunder eventually crumbled in the final moments. Meanwhile, the Pacers stepped up at the biggest moments once again. That’s been their narrative throughout the playoffs and has continued despite a change in competition.

Everything went right for the Thunder to start. Chet Holmgren was a scoring machine. The role players didn’t look frightened. They built a 32-24 lead after the first quarter. That was despite Gilgeous-Alexander’s slow start. The vibes quickly changed in the second frame. The Pacers got hot. They tore apart the league’s best defense. Indiana’s role players stepped up while OKC’s bench was nonexistent. Backed by a loud crowd, the Pacers scored 40 points in the frame to completely rewrite this game’s script.

The Thunder entered halftime under a 64-60 deficit. A blessing considering how badly they were outplayed. The Pacers thoroughly dominated the frame and were the much better team. To only be down by four points was considered a win.

It looked like the Thunder would take advantage of that. Jalen Williams got in a groove with back-to-back buckets to open the second half. Gilgeous-Alexander soon followed. Just like that, they opened the second half with the first eight points. to retake the lead.

This was the best the Thunder looked all game. They scored 29 points in the frame. Williams capped it off with a nasty step back 3-pointer in the final seconds. After three quarters, OKC held an 89-84 lead over Indiana. After a bit of rockiness, things appeared to be in firm control. Until they weren’t.

The Pacers didn’t need long to tie it up. On a third bad inbound pass, TJ McConnell made something out of nothing with a layup. The Thunder called avoidable turnovers like touchdowns. Let’s just say they were killed on go routes all game long. And then gave up the two-point conversion for the cherry on top.

McConnell’s steal-andscore tied it up at 95 points apiece with a little under nine minutes left. They juiced the Indiana crowd. The Pacers’ role player had his Alex Caruso moments with a few inbound steals. After both teams exchanged buckets, Indiana created distance on the scoreboard with seven straight points to make it a 107-100 score with a little under five minutes left.

The Thunder were stuck in the mud the rest of the way. Not only did they miss shots, but the quality of those attempts was flat-out bad. The Pacers forced OKC to taste its own medicine with shutdown defense as it won the fourth quarter, 32-18, to seal the Game 3 win.

“In the fourth quarter, I just thought they really outplayed us on both ends. I thought they were in character in terms of their physicality, their pressure on defense,” Daigneault said. “Then they were in character in terms of their pace on offense. They just stacked way more quality possessions in the fourth quarter than we did.”

The Thunder shot 47% from the field and went 10-of-22 (45.5%) from 3. They shot 23-of-30 on free throws. They had 16 assists on 37 baskets. Four Thunder players scored double-digit points.

Gilgeous-Alexander was limited to 24 points and eight rebounds. Williams stepped up with 26 points and six rebounds. Holmgren had a 20-point double-double. Lu Dort scored 12 points all on outside makes.

Meanwhile, the Pacers shot 52% from the field and went 9-of-27 (33.3%) from 3. They shot 19-of-22 on free throws. They had 24 assists on 44 baskets. Four Pacers players scored double-digit points.

Haliburton finished with 22 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds. Siakam went off for 21 points, six rebounds and four assists. Bennedict Mathurin was an unlikely hero with an efficient 27 points off the bench. McConnell also helped with 10 points, five assists and five steals.

This was a bit of a role reversal for both sides. The Pacers became a steal machine. They won the possession battle and shut the Thunder’s offense down in the final moments with great defense. Meanwhile, the Thunder almost won from good outside shooting, but too many inexcusable turnovers ruined that benefit. The defense also had too many slip-ups in the final moments.

We have ourselves an NBA Finals. Viewed as a lopsided affair at first, the Pacers have shown they can square off against the heavy title favorite Thunder. Now it’s the latter’s turn to return the favor and split its road trip with Game 4. They enter a must-win scenario or risk being on the verge of an all-time upset.

“I thought it was an uncharacteristic night in a lot of ways for us. We got to learn from it and then tap back into being who we are in Game 4,” Daigneault said. “If we do that, I think we’ll have a much better chance to win.”

Game 4 will be back in Indiana on Friday with a game start of 7:30 p.m. and will be televised on ABC and ESPN2.

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