The Indiana Pacers’ win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday was a certified T.J. McConnell game.
The diminutive point guard has long been a spark plug off the bench for the Pacers, beloved by fans for his hard-nosed play and never-ending motor. In the playoffs, McConnell’s role is somewhat diminished, but he’s always good for one or two big-time performances as Indy’s sixth man. He was quiet in the first two games of this year’s Finals, but showed up to play Wednesday to help lead the Pacers to a 116–107 win—and made history in the process.
With a statsheet-stuffing performance of 10 points, five assists and five steals, McConnell became the first player in NBA Finals history to come off the bench and hit those marks. There have been 15 players to record that statline in Finals history, with Jimmy Butler being the most recent in 2020 for the Miami Heat against the Denver Nuggets (all stats via Stathead). But nobody had ever been productive to that degree off the bench until McConnell.
TJ MCCONNELL ALL HUSTLE 😤 pic.twitter.com/RRazUMNF74
— NBA TV (@NBATV) June 12, 2025
His performance was both electric and absolutely needed. Two of McConnell’s steals were momentum-shifters, stemming from the guard lurking in the Thunder backcourt to sneak in and take the ball away. A few of his sequences kept the fans at Gainsbridge Fieldhouse rocking. It was as fun a performance you’ll see from a bench player.
And he wasn’t the only bench player to come up huge for Indiana. Bennedict Mathurin led the team in scoring with 27 points in just 22 minutes, making 9-of-12 shots from the field and going 7-of-8 from the free throw line. Obi Toppin’s +18 plus-minus was the best of any player as the forward contributed eight points, six rebounds, two blocks and one assist. Mathurin (+16) and McConnell (+12) were right behind Toppin in that regard. Indiana’s bench outscored their counterparts by a whopping margin of 49–18.
The Thunder came into this series with a higher rated bench, but after the Pacers took a 2–1 series with their Game 3 victory, it’s clear which team showcased more depth on Wednesday.
