Indiana Pacers backups star and take team to 2-1 NBA Finals lead

INDIANAPOLIS – National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals marquees are not for backups. However, as the 20,000 golden T-shirts at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse said on June 11, “But this is Indiana”.

Reserve guards Bennedict Mathurin and T.J. McConnell helped Indiana’s bench break out with 49 points, as the Indiana Pacers topped the Oklahoma City Thunder 116-107 to claim a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Indiana star Tyrese Haliburton finished one rebound shy of a triple-double and did not entirely shed his play-off cape. He provided ample heroics with 22 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds, and Pascal Siakam added 21 points for the Pacers, who have not lost consecutive games since March.

Still, the game swung in a serious way on the fearless energy and competitive teeth of the Indiana bench.

“Those guys were tremendous,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said of his reserves.

“T.J. just brought a competitive will to the game. This is the kind of the team we are. This is how we have to do it. We have to make it as difficult on them as we can.”

Thanks to 27 points from Mathurin and the kind of effort the Pacers have grown to adore from reserve point guard McConnell, Indiana have the advantage in the series entering Game 4 on June 13.

“His energy was unbelievable. I joke with him, I call him the Great White Hope,” Haliburton said of McConnell, a fan favourite. “He does a great job of just giving us energy plays consistently, getting downhill, making hustle play after hustle play.”

Mathurin, who was injured and did not play in the 2024 post-season, checked into the game for the first time in the second quarter.

“Just playing hard, it’s a group of guys that play extremely hard,” he said of the Pacers’ second unit.

“That’s our job. Just get in the game, have that mindset once you get in the game. You just have to get in the game with the right mindset, give it all you’ve got to win the game.”

Carlisle said McConnell inspires “a lot of people” with his style of play, and Mathurin echoed the sentiment.

Jalen Williams led the Thunder with 26 points. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 24 points but went to the free-throw line just six times after going 18 of 20 on foul shots in the first two games of the series. Chet Holmgren scored 20 points and pulled down 10 rebounds but converted none of his six three-point attempts.

Gilgeous-Alexander was one of three from the field in the fourth quarter.

“I thought we had some really good stretches, but we just made one too many mistakes,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “And had one too many possessions on both ends of the floor where they were more tied to their identity than we were. But obviously, those are costly plays.”

The Thunder trailed 102-110 with three minutes to go, but Alex Caruso tried to keep the Pacers from a premature celebration with a steal and breakaway into the open court.

Two steps into the paint, Aaron Nesmith closed and forcefully brought both arms down on Caruso to prevent the shot attempt and take him to the floor. Following a review, no flagrant foul was called.

Caruso made both free throws, and Indiana’s Myles Turner subsequently lost the ball out of bounds. However, Turner came up with two blocks of Holmgren on the same possession to keep the lead at six.

Indiana got another stop, and Siakam lit up the arena for good with an easy basket that gave the Pacers a 112-104 lead with 69 seconds left.

Carlisle said post-game that Turner was “under the weather and might not be with us tomorrow” when asked to assess the centre’s up-and-down night.

McConnell was seemingly everywhere, coming up with massive defensive plays all game.

“We preach depth. We’ve talked about it all year,” Haliburton said.

He added further praise for Mathurin, saying: “He was unbelievable, he just made big play after big play. When you have a team with this much depth, it can be anybody’s night. He was a huge reason for our win tonight.”
REUTERS