Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points, Jalen Williams added 20 and the Oklahoma City Thunder became NBA champions by wearing down the Indiana Pacers with a withering defense to pull off a 103-91 win in Game 7 yesterday (Philippine time).
The NBA championship is the franchise’s first since moving to Oklahoma for the 2008-2009 Season and first since winning the 1979 title as the Seattle SuperSonics.
The Thunder forced 23 Pacers turnovers while committing just eight and outscored Indiana 32-10 off turnovers.
The Pacers, who remain without an NBA title, lost star point guard Tyrese Haliburton to a right leg injury in the first quarter, when he scored nine points.
After turning the ball over eight times in a Game 6 blowout loss on the road in the best-of-seven NBA finals, point guard Gilgeous-Alexander was much better.
The NBA Most Valuable Player this season, Gilgeous-Alexander finished just 8-of-27 from the floor and 2-of-12 from beyond the arc but had 12 assists and just one turnover.
Indiana trailed by as many as 22 points in the fourth quarter but cut the deficit to 12 with less than five minutes left and 10 with just more than two minutes remaining.
But the Pacers couldn’t get any closer.
Chet Holmgren added 18 points for Oklahoma.
The Thunder took over in the third quarter, using the same suffocating defense that helped them earn the NBA’s best record at 68-14 and pushed them through their playoff run as the favorite to win the crown.
Oklahoma scored 18 points off eight Indiana turnovers as it outscored the Pacers, 34-20, in the third.
The Thunder, whose offense looked out of sort through much of the first half after struggling in a Game 6 loss, also thrived at the other end of the floor.
Oklahoma didn’t commit a turnover in the third, and Williams scored nine points in the quarter, including hitting a critical three-pointer during the stretch that put the Thunder ahead for good.
Gilgeous-Alexander spun in the lane, drawing an “oooh” from the home crowd.
But instead of flipping up a shot, as he has done countless times during his MVP Season, Gilgeous-Alexander instead flipped to Williams in the corner.
Oklahoma’s other All-Star quickly fired up a three-pointer, which bounced high off the rim before draining through, sending the crowd into a frenzy as the Thunder’s lead stretched to nine after back-to-back-to-back Thunder three-pointers broke a tie.
It could’ve been worse for the Pacers if not for point guard T.J. McConnell, who scored 12 points in the third, hitting six of Indiana’s eight field goals in the frame.
Indiana’s Haliburton started off hot, hitting three three-pointers in a little more than five minutes to start the game.
But two minutes later, as the Pacers’ point guard was starting to drive outside the top of the arc, he came crashing onto the court and screamed.
The ball popped out to Alex Caruso, who quickly fired to Gilgeous-Alexander, who found Williams streaking up court for a dunk as Haliburton remained crumpled on the ground with a non-contact injury.
After the play, Haliburton was helped off the court. The Indiana star, who suffered a right calf strain in Game 5 but had been playing through it, couldn’t put weight on his right leg as he was helped to the locker room.
Haliburton did not return with what the Pacers classified as a “right lower leg injury.”
On the ABC broadcast, it was reported Haliburton had suffered a torn Achilles.
Even without Haliburton, though, the Pacers kept the game tight, leading by one at halftime and tying the game early in the third before the Thunder began their onslaught.
Bennedict Mathurin led the Pacers with 24 points off the bench. Pascal Siakam and McConnell added 16 each.
The Thunder became the first team to score 100 or more points in an NBA Finals Game 7 since 1988, when the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Detroit Pistons, 108-105. (Field Level Media / Reuters)