By Kondwani Mzumara
Sports Capital Journalism Program
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Pacers in Game 3 shifted the NBA Finals series momentum back in their favor during a dominant second quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 3.
The second quarter of Wednesday’s game could prove to be a turning point in this series for Indiana. The Pacers, who had not led at halftime in the series until Game 3, were able to prove that they could be dominant against the No. 1 team in the NBA by outscoring the Thunder 40-28 in the second quarter.
Their dominant second quarter performance began with the play of their bench players, specifically forward Bennedict Mathurin and guard T.J. McConnell, who made impactful plays in the quarter that shifted the momentum.
In this quarter McConnell set up Mathurin, who quickly scored 7 points within 2:39. Mathurin scored his first basket 34 seconds into the second quarter on a cutting layup that was assisted by McConnell.
Mathurin was able to make his presence known quickly into his substitution in a pivotal Finals game despite not having played in the first quarter.
“Just whenever my number is called, go into the game and do the right things and try to help my team win. That’s the whole mindset,” Mathurin said.
Mathurin finished the second quarter scoring 14 points off the bench in 10:05 minutes played.
Mathurin, who missed last season’s playoffs run due to injury last March, showed how valuable his scoring contribution is coming off the bench.
“I think as much as I was out last year, not being able to play, I learned a lot,” Mathurin said.
“Just being on the bench and being next to the coaches who were able to run me through the game and stuff like that. It was an unfortunate situation, but I was fortunate enough to learn a lot and be ready for this year.”
Mathurin finished the game with a career playoff high of 27 points.
Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle commented about Mathurin’s determination to return to basketball following his injury last season during his postgame remarks. He brought up the time that the Pacers guard had a calendar in the Pacers training room that used to count down the days until he was cleared to begin practicing.
“He was counting the days down to being cleared sometime in August and then be able to begin training camp, begin five-on-five with our guys in September and then be in training camp, really, with his eyes firmly set on an opportunity in the playoffs,” Carlisle said. “And so, he’s putting in a lot of work to be ready for these moments, and tonight he was an absolute major factor.”
McConnell also contributed key plays in the second quarter, scoring six points and recording six steals in helping shift the momentum of the game in favor of the Pacers. He finished the game with 10 points, five assists and five steals, the first bench player to do so in the Finals since steals became a statistic in the 1973-74 season.
McConnell provided much needed energy for the Pacers into the second quarter after the Pacers trailed to start the quarter. Specifically, when he was able to apply defensive pressure to get steals and deflections which energized the sold-out Indiana crowd who watched the Pacers play in an NBA Finals game in Indiana for the first time in 25 years.
In the previous two games, mainly it was Thunder who were active on defense and when it came to getting lose balls and steals. The Pacers showed in this game they were going to match the intensity that they had endured themselves. Their play in the second quarter showed that Indiana is not shying away from playing physical basketball.
“I feel like throughout the series, to start the game you could really say OKC was getting all the 50-50 balls, the second-chance points,” McConnell said. “It goes in waves. You have to have a concerted effort from the group to kind of dig deeper and go to another place competitively. That’s what we need to continue to do.”
One of the key plays that shifted the momentum came in the just under 10 minutes left in the second quarter when McConnell was able to steal the inbounds pass from Thunder guard Cason Wallace after Aaron Nesmith scored a cutting layup that was assisted by McConnell.
Plays like that one was what his teammates credited for helping get the Indiana crowd into the game.
“I think his energy is unbelievable,” Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton said. “He does a great job of bringing energy to this building. And I think people feed off that. And he had a couple unbelievable steals.”
While the win is significant as far as getting the Pacers closer to winning the championship, they understand that they still have work to do as Game 4 approaches.
“As much as this is a dream right now, I’m not trying to live in my dream,” Mathurin said. I’m trying to, like, live in the present and make sure the dream ends well, which means winning the next game and winning a championship.”
