The pacers sail in front of thunder, send finals to match 7

Obi Toppin scored 20 on the bench to lead a balanced offensive effort while the Pacers Indiana equalized the NBA final with a 108-91 victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder in match 6 Thursday in Indianapolis.

The finals will go to a seventh winning match for the first time since 2016.

Match 7 is Sunday in Oklahoma City.

There was little drama on Thursday, when Indiana took the lead in the first quarter and never abandoned the advance.

Andrew Nembhard added 17 points while Pascal Siakam collected 16 points and 13 rebounds to move the Pacers in a victory of their first NBA title. Tyrese Haliburton, playing by a calf injury, raised 14 points and five assists, and TJ McConnell contributed 12 points, nine rebounds, six assists and four interceptions.

Indiana forced 21 reversals.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 21 points, but has had a career in the playoff series, the eight reversals and only two assists. Jalen Williams, who scored 40 points in match 5, finished with only 16 points.

By dragging by 30 entering the last quarter, Thunder’s coach Mark Daigneault, pulled his starters, choosing to save them for match 7.

Oklahoma City pulled only 8 for 30 (26.7%) beyond the arc-1 for 11 in the first half.

The Pacers took control in the second quarter, turning the tables on thunder.

Oklahoma City won matches 4 and 5 in the same way that he had a lot this season – increasing the pressure on the defense and using it to feed his attack.

In the last eight minutes, before half-time, the defense of Indiana paved the way on a 30-9 race to embark on half-time with an advance of 64-42.

The Pacers scored 11 of their 36 points in the second quarter of the seven Thunder reversals.

Haliburton, who had struggled at the start of the games for a large part of the series before even tending his right calf at the start of match 5, helped set the defensive tone for Indiana.

In the last minute of half-time, Haliburton rose near the touchline to steal a pass from Williams, then quickly pulled on Siakam while he fell limits.

Siakam finished the game with an emphatic dunk to stretch the advance at 20, then caught a rebound of a Chet Holmgren Miss on the other side and buried an 18 feet just before the buzzer to send the pacers to the locker room with a dominant advance.

The Indiana, which committed 23 reversals in match 5, had only two reversals in the first half on Thursday.

The Pacers were slow to start in attack, spending almost four minutes after the match without a basket and missing their first eight shots while taking delay of 10-2.

But it didn’t take long to fill the gap, marking eight consecutive points to equalize the match less than a minute after reaching its first basket.

A few moments later, the Pacers took the lead for the first time and what turned out to be good.

After having passed aimlessly on the field in match 5, Haliburton missed his first four shots Thursday before taking a quick flow from Myles Turner from an offensive rebound and burying a 3 pointer with a little more than four minutes in the first quarter to put the Indiana 24-17.

The Pacers continued to stretch their advance in the third, holding Oklahoma City at only 18 points.

Indiana James Johnson was expelled in the last minute after an altercation with Isaiah Joe of Oklahoma City.

– field level media