INDIANAPOLIS — An unbothered Tyrese Haliburton sang along to 50 Cent’s “Many Men” as it blasted through the speakers inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse before tipoff.
Many men. Many, many, many, many men wish death upon me.
The lyrics likely resonated with Haliburton, who knew all too well what was coming his way in Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday. From Lu Dort to Cason Wallace to Alex Caruso, OKC tried to bury the star guard with a dogpile of defenders throughout the night.
But they all failed. Indiana earned a 116-107 home win thanks in large part to Haliburton, who nearly posted a triple-double with 22 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds.
Indiana now holds a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. It’ll host Game 4 at 7:30 p.m. CT Friday (ABC).
Here are four more takeaways from the game:
OKC unleashed Chet Holmgren early on
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC’s decorated floor general, didn’t even cross into enemy territory during a fastbreak early in the first quarter.
He just let his tank do the work.
That was Chet Holmgren, who snagged a defensive board and went on a one-man rampage up the floor. The 7-foot-1 forward then collided with Myles Turner under the rim, pivoted and sank a turnaround shot.
In a game that featured All-NBA players such as Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Haliburton, Holmgren was the most lethal weapon early on. He erupted for 13 points in the first quarter on 4-for-5 shooting from the field to help OKC claim a 32-24 lead.
Holmgren ultimately finished the game with 20 points, 10 rebounds and two assists. All of those numbers are personal bests in this series.
Indiana’s bench outplayed OKC’s bench
T.J. McConnell took a while to join his teammates on the bench during a timeout early in the second quarter.
The backup guard was too busy waving his hands in the air and hyping up the crowd. Not too far from him was one fan who proudly displayed a sign.
“It’s T.J. time.”
No kidding. Indiana outscored OKC 40-28 in the second quarter to claim a 64-60 lead, and McConnell swung the momentum in his team’s favor.
He ran laps around the Thunder like he was at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He picked even the most protected pockets of players such as Gilgeous-Alexander and Wallace. And he was a gold mine for his teammates with an array of assists.
McConnell finished the night with 10 points, five assists and five steals. Bennedict Mathurin added a game-high 27 points and four rebounds. They helped Indiana outscore OKC’s bench, 49-18.
OKC suffered a rare loss in the turnover battle
After having success at feeding Holmgren in the pick and roll during the first half, OKC went back to its big man midway through the third quarter.
Or at least it tried to. Gilgeous-Alexander sailed a pass to Holmgren and watched as it was intercepted by Haliburton, who read the play to perfection.
Indiana’s star guard then cruised to the rim for his easiest bucket of the series. That marked one of the 17 turnovers committed by OKC compared to Indiana’s 13 turnovers.
The Thunder usually has a huge advantage in that department. This is only the second time all postseason that it has lost the turnover battle.
The other time was during OKC’s 143-101 road loss to Minnesota in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals. The Thunder committed 15 turnovers compared to the Timberwolves’ 10 turnovers.
OKC is in dangerous, unfriendly territory
The Pacers are in the driver’s seat after their Game 3 win.
OKC now trails 2-1 in the best-of-seven series, and it’ll try to respond on the road in Game 4.
Of course, that’s easier said than done. Indiana is 7-2 at home this postseason, and many of its runs Wednesday were fueled by the crowd at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
It’ll be as close as it gets to a must-win game for OKC. A total of 298 teams have fallen behind 3-1 in the playoffs throughout NBA history, and only 13 of them (4.4%) have rallied to win the series.
Justin Martinez covers sports for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Justin? He can be reached at jmartinez@oklahoman.com or on X/Twitter at @JTheSportsDude. Sign up for the Thunder Sports Minute newsletter to access more NBA coverage. Support Justin’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
