Game 3 Observations from the NBA Finals: Thunder vs. Pacers

Things are getting really interesting...

Photo by Maddie Meyer / Getty Images

Two days ago, on our local sports television podcast, when we talked about the broad appeal of these NBA Finals between two small market teams, I called them a niche, NBA Twitter hipster kind of Finals. If you're here for the glamour and megastars going head-to-head, you're probably not even watching. But for basketball people, coaches, and sickos, this has been a fascinating clash of styles, a battle between two teams with clear identities, and especially a chance to watch the Pacers continue to win in their unique way.

Last night’s Pacers win, putting them up 2-1 in a series most people predicted they would lose in four or five, especially after a Game 2 Thunder win that felt like the universe was back in balance, made these Finals even more interesting. It turned this into a series that even people who weren’t paying attention at the start now have to follow. At least I would recommend you do, because if not, you’re missing out on a lot of fun.

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Today’s notes:

1. The pace(rs) game. And the script.

2. A masterclass in on-ball pressure (🎞️VIDEO)

3. Bennedict Mathurin the wild card

4. The Ballad of T.J. McConnell (🎞️VIDEO)

5. Myles Turner’s resilience

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1-The pace(rs) game. And the script.

After Game 2, I pointed out two things. First, that for this series to stay competitive, the Pacers would need to have at least one pace(r) game at home. And second, that their path to winning is to find every possible way to stay close until late and then expose what might be the Thunder’s only real flaw, which is their late-game execution.

Last night, both things happened, but there were also some surprises in the script, which is another reason why this series has been so much fun.

Somehow, the surprising part (though not really if you’ve been following the Pacers closely) was that Indiana turned into the aggressors and beat the Thunder with their own brand of basketball. They pressed full court all game (more on that in the next point), played with much more force, and here comes the truly surprising part—they won the turnover battle convincingly. OKC finished with 19 turnovers, their second-highest total this season, both in raw numbers and overall turnover rate across regular season and playoffs. Indiana won all of the hustle categories. They had a huge 24-11 edge in stocks (steals plus blocks), and a positive margin in both points off turnovers and second chance points. By generating turnovers, the Pacers were finally able to get loose in transition for the first time in this series.

2-A masterclass in on-ball pressure (🎞️VIDEO)

My loyal readers know how often I talk about on-ball pressure and how important it has become in today’s NBA. The stars are so skilled and so good that if you don’t make it difficult for them from the start—by making them work, disrupting initial actions, and stealing a few seconds off the shot clock—you simply have no chance. In my NBA Trends Series, I shared data on the rise of on-ball pressure across the league, and how two teams I follow closely, the Lakers and Mavericks, are still behind the curve. On the other hand, I highlighted OKC and Indiana as two of the frontrunners.

And last night, Andrew Nembhard, with additional help from Ben Sheppard and T.J. McConnell, delivered a masterclass in 48 minutes of 94-foot, full-court ball pressure. Nembhard set the tone right away by pressuring and denying Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, forcing a turnover on the very first possession, and the Pacers kept that intensity going until the final buzzer. Look at these clips and tell me watching defense can’t be fun.

I’ve mentioned OKC’s late-game process as being their weakness, something we saw last year against the Mavericks and again against the Nuggets earlier in these playoffs. Last night, they scored just 18 points in the fourth quarter and only 7 in the final 5 minutes, shooting 1-of-11 down the stretch. I agree with the observation that fatigue, combined with the constant pressure applied to SGA and the others all game long, made that late-game process look even worse than usual.

3–Bennedict Mathurin the wild card

Wild might be the best way to describe Mathurin, because the man is fearless and knows only one speed. And depending on the night, that can either help or hurt his team. Last night, Mathurin swung the game in the Pacers’ favor, scoring 27 points on 9-of-12 shooting.

Mathurin reminds me of the irrational confidence guys, like Jordan Poole on the 2022 Warriors, Bobby Portis on the Bucks’ 2021 title team, or Kyle Kuzma from the 2020 Lakers — players who can go off at any moment and win you an important playoff game. You could argue that Mathurin is even more important for this Pacers team, because he can create his own shot outside of their system, the system that makes this Rick Carlisle team so unique and effective. Throughout this series, we’ve seen OKC disrupt the system. And while Mathurin stepping outside of it will often get him on the wrong end of Carlisle’s leash, he might be Indiana’s best isolation scorer. His ability to create and make shots at the end of the clock has become crucial in this series.

4-The Ballad of T.J. McConnell (🎞️VIDEO)

“We need all of our guys to bring whatever is their thing to our thing.” - Rick Carlisle, post-Game 3