Thunderstruck: OKC take Game 7, win franchise's first-ever NBA title
After seven grueling games, OKC outlasts Indy to hoist the Larry O’Brien.
Whew — what an NBA Finals.
After seven grueling games, the Oklahoma City Thunder eventually outlasted the Indiana Pacers to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy.
But early on, the game looked comfortable for Indiana.
In the opening act, Tyrese Haliburton hit a triplet of three-pointers, Pascal Siakam was getting whatever he wanted, and the Thunder looked a bit out of sorts offensively. The Pacers were controlling the opening portion of the game.
But then — the worst case scenario happened for both NBA neutrals and Pacers fans alike.
With just over 5 minutes left in the first quarter, Haliburton took a swing pass from Obi Toppin, tried to plant on his right leg and drive left, when he suddenly felt a pop in his lower right leg. He let go of the ball, fell to the floor, and punched the ground repeatedly with tears in his eyes.
As the Indiana medical staff rushed the floor to check on their star player, everyone watching at home knew exactly what had just transpired. The heart and soul of the Indiana Pacers was done for the night. The entire Pacers squad huddled around their guy as he lay crestfallen and defeated on the floor.
It was like watching your favorite character in a TV show die. Absolutely heartbreaking.
But that didn’t stop the feisty lads from Indiana.
Thanks to the gritty performances of the Pacers supporting cast, they scratched and clawed their way to a 48-47 halftime lead. Bennedict Mathurin and Andrew Nembhard were getting to their bag work, and Pascal Siakam was hitting timely shots. But most importantly, Rick Carlisle’s group was defending like a team possessed. OKC couldn’t buy a bucket to close out the half.
Even seeping into the third quarter, the Pacers continued to hang around. And with just over 8 minutes left in the third, a Myles Turner three ball tied the game at 56-56.
But that’s when the young OKC core decided to deliver a substantial haymaker.
In the span of a minute, SGA hit a step back three in Siakam’s mitt to regain the lead, followed by a pair of Chet and J Dub threes on back-to-back possessions.
Just like that, OKC had a commanding 9-point lead.
And despite a brief TJ McConnell heater and some more Bennedict Mathurin bag work, it never really felt like Indiana had a genuine chance after that. The Thunder took control of the game on both ends, and never looked back.
The Pacers offense looked — well — like a team without their best player. They were dysfunctional and clunky. OKC hounded them and made them take difficult shots, often near the end of the shot clock.
And when the final buzzer sounded, the Thunder were crowned NBA Finals Champions for the first time in their franchise’s history.
And while it’s easy to have this pervasive feeling that if Tyrese Haliburton were healthy, this would have been a very different game, we have a very worthy champion and a potential dynasty on our hands in the OKC Thunder. They were historically good for the entire season, and they will forever be remembered that way.