On Sunday night, theOklahoma City Thunderfinished what they started back in late October and put the rest of theNBAon notice that there’s a new sheriff in town.
With an average age under 26, the Thunder capped off one of the winningest seasons in league history with a seven-game triumph over a pesky Indiana Pacers team to win the Larry O’Brien trophy.
It was a tight affair in the early-going, indicative of the back-and-forth nature of the entire series, and then disaster struck for Indiana.
Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton, who had been instrumental in a string of incredible comeback wins for the Pacers this postseason, went down with a non-contact injury to his lower right leg.
He writhed in pain, slapping the floor in a mixture of frustration, heartbreak and physical discomfort. His father later confirmed to broadcaster ESPN what many had suspected – it was an Achilles injury for the 25-year-old.
With every excuse to throw in the towel, the Pacers instead rallied around their injured leader. Led by Eastern Conference Finals MVP Pascal Siakam and a hard-nosed defense, Indiana took a surprising 48-47 lead into halftime.
As the adrenaline began to wear off though, the Thunder started to impose their will in the third quarter of the game.
In the blink of an eye, the game went from tied at 56-56 to a nine-point OKC lead after three consecutive long range shots from the Thunder’s “Big 3” ofShai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams.
The Thunder never looked back from that point.
OKC, which boasted the league’s best defense in the regular season, began swarming all over the short-handed Pacers. The Thunder held Indiana scoreless for the first 4:31 of the fourth quarter as Oklahoma City’s lead grew to 22 points.
The Pacers showed their trademark determination and never quit, trimming the deficit down to 10 points with two-and-a-half minutes left.
But without their late-game hero Haliburton, the mountain was just too steep to climb for the Pacers, and the Thunder ultimately won the game 103-91.
Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said afterwards, “The way this season started and everything, (the Thunder) may have had those buses painted up back in December. So they will have a great parade. They have great fans. This was a great series.”
Gilgeous-Alexander had a game-high 29 points and earned Finals MVP honors, becoming the first player since LeBron James in 2013 to earn both regular season and Finals MVP awards.
SGA also became just the fourth player in NBA history to win the league MVP trophy, the scoring title and win the Finals, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan and Shaquille O’Neal.
“It doesn’t feel real,” Gilgeous-Alexander told ABC’s Lisa Salters after the game when asked about accomplishing his childhood dream of winning an NBA title. “So many hours, so many moments, so many emotions, so many nights of disbelief, so many nights of belief. It’s crazy to know we are all here. But this group worked for it and this group put in the hours and deserved this.”
After looking listless at halftime, the Thunder closed their season in the same fashion that they had been playing since October: Intense defense, lightning quick runs and leaning on Gilgeous-Alexander’s near-perfect basketball to take home the title.