The Oklahoma City Thunder’s youthful vitality was on full show Sunday evening – each on the court docket and within the locker room – as they celebrated a 103-91 win over the Indiana Pacers in Game 7 to seize the NBA championship.
Their inexperience prolonged even to the champagne.
“No one knew how to open them,” heart Isaiah Hartenstein stated with amusing, recalling the group’s postgame confusion with the celebratory bottles.
Enter 31-year-old Alex Caruso – the group’s oldest participant and the one one with prior championship expertise – who stepped in to help.
“AC did a great job of giving us a tutorial,” Hartenstein stated.
The title is the franchise’s first since relocating to Oklahoma City for the 2008-09 season and its first total since successful in 1979 because the Seattle SuperSonics.
Though their youth confirmed in stretches – even throughout Game 7 – the Thunder’s relentless protection and well timed execution proved decisive.
Oklahoma City wore down Indiana with suffocating strain and large performs from a number of contributors, led by star duo Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams.
Gilgeous-Alexander, the league’s Most Valuable Player and newly topped Finals MVP, capped off a dominant postseason with 29 factors, 12 assists, and only one turnover. Williams added 20 factors, and the pair linked on the evening’s signature second.
Late within the third quarter, with the Thunder starting to tug away, Gilgeous-Alexander drove into the lane and spun previous his defender, drawing a roar from the house crowd. But as a substitute of going up for a shot, he kicked it out to Williams within the nook. Williams launched a 3-pointer that bounced excessive off the rim earlier than dropping in, sparking a frenzy and stretching the Thunder’s result in 9.
That triple was a part of a back-to-back-to-back 3-point barrage, with Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren, who completed with 18 factors, sinking the opposite two.
The Thunder closed the third quarter on a 25-12 run, taking management of the sport and finally constructing a lead as giant as 22. The Pacers made a late push within the fourth to trim the deficit to 10 however received no nearer.
“The whole run I’ve tried to help the guys just be who we are, and that’s all we needed – to be who we are,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault stated.
Oklahoma City didn’t commit a turnover within the third quarter, outscoring Indiana 34-20 within the interval. Williams scored 9 factors within the body, together with the important thing 3-pointer that gave the Thunder a lead they’d not relinquish.
The Thunder capitalized on Indiana’s errors, scoring 18 factors off eight third-quarter turnovers and successful the general turnover battle 23-8.
“The game just came down to winning coverages and winning closeouts,” stated Caruso, who recorded three steals – one in every of three Thunder gamers to take action.
The Pacers, nonetheless searching for their first NBA title, had been dealt a significant blow within the first quarter when star level guard Tyrese Haliburton exited with a proper leg harm. He had opened the sport sizzling, hitting three 3-pointers and scoring 9 factors within the first 5 minutes.
But minutes later, Haliburton collapsed to the court docket whereas driving past the arc and screamed in ache. The ball popped free to Caruso, who handed to Gilgeous-Alexander, who discovered Williams streaking for a dunk whereas Haliburton remained on the ground with a non-contact harm.
He was helped off the court docket with out placing weight on his proper leg. Haliburton, who had been enjoying by a proper calf pressure suffered in Game 5, didn’t return. ABC later reported he had suffered a torn Achilles.
“What happened with Tyrese is…” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle stated earlier than pausing. “All of our hearts dropped. He will be back. I don’t have any medical information about what may or may not have happened. But he’ll be back in time.”
Despite Haliburton’s absence, the Pacers hung robust. They led by one at halftime and tied the sport at 56 within the third earlier than the Thunder pulled away.
Guard T.J. McConnell saved Indiana afloat, scoring 12 of his 16 factors within the third quarter and hitting six of the Pacers’ eight discipline objectives within the interval. Bennedict Mathurin led the group with 24 factors off the bench.
The Thunder turned the primary group to attain 100 or extra factors in an NBA Finals Game 7 since 1988, when the Los Angeles Lakers edged the Detroit Pistons 108-105.
Caruso, a 2020 champion with the Lakers, hopes this 12 months’s celebration is only the start.
“We’ll get some rest, try to do it again next year,” he stated with a smile. “We’ll be better at it next year.”
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