The Pacers were on their way to taking a commanding 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals Friday night when their offense inexplicably hit a wall, writes James Boyd of The Athletic. The crisp passing and constant motion they’ve displayed throughout the series disappeared in the fourth quarter, allowing Oklahoma City to rally for a 111-104 victory and head back home with the series tied.
“We just got too stagnant,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “The ball was not being advanced quickly enough. We weren’t creating problems, and we were up against the clock a lot. So things got very difficult, but you gotta give Oklahoma (City) credit. They made it very difficult.”
The numbers tell an ugly story as Indiana was outscored 31-17 during the final 12 minutes. Tyrese Haliburton, who went 3-of-7, was the only Pacers player to make more than one shot during the fourth quarter as they registered just one assist and committed three turnovers. Ten of their 27 fouls came in the fourth quarter, and they shot just 5-of-18 as a team while missing all eight of their three-point attempts.
“I gotta do a better job of keeping pace in the game,” Haliburton said. “I thought I did a much better job of that last game, especially down the stretch. Keeping pace, getting rebounds and really pushing (the ball). I think we gotta do a better job of when we do get stops, getting out and running. A lot of times in that fourth (quarter), we were fouling too much, taking the ball out, having to kind of run (a set play) versus just random basketball.”
There’s more on the Pacers:
- Even with the late struggles, Indiana was positioned for another miracle finish when Bennedict Mathurin went to the foul line trailing by four points with 24 seconds remaining, per Kyle Neddenriep of The Indianapolis Star. Mathurin missed both shots, but got another opportunity a few seconds later with a five-point deficit. He split those attempts, effectively killing any hope of a Pacers comeback. “It’s very tough,” said Mathurin, who had been connecting at 89% from the line throughout the playoffs. “I’ve made those free throws, and I love making tough free throws. The only thing I can do is to knock them down next time.”
- During Friday’s broadcast, ABC announcer Mike Breen shared a conversation with Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith, who credited Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla for helping him early in his career, relays Brian Robb of MassLive. Nesmith played two seasons in Boston before being traded to Indiana in 2022.
- Carlisle has been preparing his players for a lengthy series, which will last 18 days if it goes the full seven games, according to Jamal Collier of ESPN. Carlisle believes his team will be mentally ready when play resumes Monday night. “It’s long. It’s arduous. But it’s the greatest opportunity going,” he said. “It’s really hard, and it’s supposed to be hard. This is where we’re going to have to dig in and circle the wagons and come back stronger on Monday. This is a big disappointment, but there’s three games left. This series is going to come down to the basics. … This kind of a challenge is going to have extreme highs and extreme lows. This is a low right now, and we’re going to have to bounce back from it.”