{"id":93515,"date":"2025-06-12T11:34:08","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T11:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/93515\/"},"modified":"2025-06-12T11:34:08","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T11:34:08","slug":"how-t-j-mcconnell-pacers-seized-control-of-nba-finals-from-thunder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/93515\/","title":{"rendered":"How T.J. McConnell, Pacers seized control of NBA Finals from Thunder"},"content":{"rendered":"

INDIANAPOLIS \u2014\u00a0T.J. McConnell<\/a> reddened, his veins bulging at the improbable. Of all the teams, of all the stages, the equally unassuming and volcanic guard caught the Thunder<\/a> slipping in the worst way.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He\u2019d pulled off a halfcourt heist, his second inbound steal of the second quarter \u2014 he\u2019d collect a third, game-defining steal in the same fashion later \u2014 coming when he swiped away a pass befitting of the regular season. As deflating a sequence as possible, an edge in effort rubbed in by the 6-foot-1 McConnell. It was merely a microcosm of the way Oklahoma City\u2019s night unfolded.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Thunder\u2019s 116-107 Game 3 loss<\/a>, which gave it a 2-1 deficit in these NBA Finals<\/a>, was delivered by fingernails as dirty as McConnell\u2019s. Blue collar plays that stacked almost endlessly.\u00a0<\/p>\n

These Pacers didn\u2019t need a miracle. No end-of-game voodoo or shot-clock sorcery. Their fortune was man-made, concocted in elbow grease.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They spent the night denying All-NBAers Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a> and Jalen Williams<\/a> the ball. Indiana\u2019s defense hardened as much as it had all series. With just over nine minutes to play, Williams picked up his dribble, aiming for someone, anyone to shake their defender while the Pacers denied every action. He hopelessly aimed to send SGA downhill with a lead pass. He only led Indiana\u2019s revolution.\u00a0<\/p>\n

More: Carlson: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander must ‘apply that pressure back’ for OKC to win NBA Finals<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

McConnell missed a short layup, which was corralled the same way the Pacers hoarded all the fourth-quarter momentous plays, resulting in an Andrew Nembhard jumper that trimmed OKC\u2019s lead. Seconds later, McConnell pulled off the unthinkable, snatching Alex Caruso\u2019s overhead inbound toss.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Said Williams on McConnell\u2019s steals: \u201cThey sucked.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn terms of inexcusable,\u201d said coach Mark Daigneault, asked about the nature of those steals while using a word he essentially scoffed at, \u201ceverybody is out there competing and trying. I’m not going to place blame on those plays. I just thought (Indiana\u2019s) overall tone was better than ours for the majority of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Pacers set that early.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They dropped 40 second-quarter points, among the loosest quarters of OKC\u2019s postseason. Indiana fastened the top button on OKC\u2019s offense.\u00a0<\/p>\n

By the time Gilgeous-Alexander reached half court on most possessions, he\u2019d already put in a day\u2019s work. That was before being asked to shake Nembhard or Aaron Nesmith for a score. His touches resulted in well-timed doubles. His pick-and-rolls were met with face-to-face, high-up coverages. His wiggles to the rim, few and far between in a 24-point, six-turnover performance, were like a sheep slipping past the herding dog.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Williams was tasked with keeping OKC\u2019s eight-point lead intact entering the second. His mid range jumpers, seemingly premature and without exploration, allowed Indiana back in. He went 1 for 5 on non-paint 2s.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And yet, the Thunder entered the fourth with a five-point lead and as much momentum as a visitor can buy in Gainbridge Fieldhouse. OKC\u2019s money is no good there, though.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Thunder offense decayed the way it has in two of these three fourth quarters; it still hasn\u2019t won a fourth quarter in these Finals. In Games 1 and 3, the only two that were within mere possessions late, OKC has been outscored by a combined 24 points.\u00a0<\/p>\n

5 TAKEAWAYS: Thunder falls into 2-1 hole in NBA Finals vs Bennedict Mathurin, Pacers<\/a><\/p>\n

In the final 5:25, OKC missed nine of its last 10 attempts, missed three of its eight free throws and committed a turnover. The Pacers blocked five shots during that span.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The number of winning plays that ensued was worthy of Pacers fans ripping their shirts from their torsos in a triumphant rage. Worthy of ESPN\u2019s Pat McAfee\u2019s rally call. Worthy of now holding a lead in the series.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There was Obi Toppin\u2019s ferocious, uncontested putback dunk with under five minutes remaining; McConnell\u2019s red-faced frenzy; 10 more points from Bennedict Mathurin (he finished with 27), which contributed to 49 bench points; a 3-pointer from Nesmith as Gilgeous-Alexander nearly trampled him; one of the many stepback 3s from Tyrese Haliburton, who finished Wednesday a rebound shy of a 22-point triple-double.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Daigneault, who suggested he\u2019d need to watch film but could only be sure that the fourth quarter was a nightmare, did not seem to care to draw the big picture of his team\u2019s meltdown.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t be down eight with two-and-a-half (minutes) to go if you want to win,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tell that to the Pacers. They picked up a demoralizing, breathtaking Game 1 win \u2014 now seemingly the difference in a series that leaves the Thunder more or less forced to win Game 4 in Indianapolis.\u00a0<\/p>\n

More: How big was Pacers’ bench in Game 3? Inside the stats for Thunder’s NBA Finals loss<\/a><\/p>\n

For one of the few times in these playoffs, the Thunder handily lost a game that was within reach for a full fourth quarter. Not stolen at the last second. Not taken out of distance well before the final 12 minutes. Convincingly secured by a team that seemed branded by hustle.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Thunder has seen this. It survived it. The inflection point of its postseason, the Denver series, almost mirrored this same three-game unraveling.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Caruso admitted that this 2-1 deficit is more frustrating given the stakes. Center Chet Holmgren won\u2019t think to compare them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn’t say that now is the time for emotions to be thinking about how you’re feeling,\u201d said Holmgren, who missed eight of his final 10 attempts after a monstrous first quarter. \u201cEmotional this, emotional that. You kind of have to cut that out and just look at the substance of what it is.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a great opportunity here. The great thing is we have another game coming up, Game 4.\u201d<\/p>\n

The same opportunity a Wednesday night hero like McConnell has to snatch OKC\u2019s inbound \u2014 and title \u2014 hopes. Music to his crimsoned ears.<\/p>\n

Joel Lorenzi\u00a0covers the Thunder and NBA for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joel? He can be reached at jlorenzi@oklahoman.com or on X\/Twitter at\u00a0@joelxlorenzi. Sign up for the\u00a0Thunder Sports Minute newsletter<\/a>\u00a0to access more NBA coverage. Support Joel’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a\u00a0digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"INDIANAPOLIS \u2014\u00a0T.J. McConnell reddened, his veins bulging at the improbable. Of all the teams, of all the stages,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":93220,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2126,407,328,2540,1784,7,1435,363,408,618,366,311,2127,1501,623,2125,619,113,126,832,364,1436,70,85,6,1220,2541,62,67,310,179,61,81,114,622,209,66,83,55,2128,312,833],"class_list":{"0":"post-93515","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-alex","10":"tag-alex-caruso","11":"tag-andrew","12":"tag-andrew-nembhard","13":"tag-basketball","14":"tag-bennedict","15":"tag-bennedict-mathurin","16":"tag-caruso","17":"tag-chet","18":"tag-chet-holmgren","19":"tag-city","20":"tag-enabled","21":"tag-finals","22":"tag-gilgeous-alexander","23":"tag-highlights","24":"tag-holmgren","25":"tag-indiana","26":"tag-indiana-pacers","27":"tag-jalen","28":"tag-jalen-williams","29":"tag-mathurin","30":"tag-national","31":"tag-national-sports","32":"tag-nba","33":"tag-nba-finals","34":"tag-nembhard","35":"tag-neutral","36":"tag-news","37":"tag-oklahoma","38":"tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","39":"tag-overall","40":"tag-overall-neutral","41":"tag-pacers","42":"tag-shai","43":"tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander","44":"tag-sports","45":"tag-sports-news","46":"tag-story","47":"tag-story-highlights-ai-enabled","48":"tag-thunder","49":"tag-williams"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}