Thunder roar to first NBA title in franchise history
(UPDATED 11:09 A.M.) MANILA, Philippines — Thunder, indeed, up.
The Oklahoma City Thunder won their first NBA championship after blasting the Indiana Pacers, 103-91, in Game 7 of the NBA Finals Monday morning (Manila time).
Regular season Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander came up huge for the Thunder with 29 points, 12 assists and five rebounds. Jalen Williams chipped in 20 markers, four boards and four dimes, while Chet Holmgren tallied 18 points and eight rebounds.
“It doesn’t feel real. So many hours, so many moments, so many emotions, so many nights of disbelief. It’s crazy to know that we’re all here but it’s good work for this group, putting the hours. We deserve this,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.
The Thunder pulled away late in the third quarter and never looked back.
“We had 24 minutes to go get it. Twenty-four minutes to finish our season. It was either be bad or pretty. We did everything we could,” added Gilgeous-Alexander, who capped off a stellar season by also becoming Finals MVP.
With Indiana leading by one, 48-47, at the half, the game looked primed to be a down-the-wire affair.
But slowly, the Thunder clamped down on defense and made huge shots to keep the Pacers at bay.
Indiana cut a nine-point lead to four, 66-70, after a TJ McConnell jumper in the third frame.
Oklahoma City then detonated massive 20-2 bomb to grab full control of the contest, 90-68, with 7:41 remaining.
The Pacers, however, went down swinging, unleashing an 11-1 run to slice the deficit to 12, 91-79.
The Thunder, though, built just enough lead to keep their distance.
Alex Caruso and Cason Wallace produced 10 points and three steals apiece.
Indiana’s woes started very early, with guard Tyrese Haliburton leaving the court at the 4:55 mark of the first quarter due to an injury.
He did not return to the game after the lower leg injury, and he finished with nine points in seven minutes.
In the absence of Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin top-scored for the Pacers, providing spark off the bench with 24 points and 13 rebounds. Pascal Siakam and McConnell recorded 16 points each, while Andrew Nembhard had 15.
This is the first Larry O’Brien trophy for Oklahoma City.
Back in 2008, the Seattle Supersonics, who won the 1979 NBA championship, relocated to Oklahoma City to be the Thunder.
Just two seasons ago, the squad failed to make it to the NBA playoffs after falling in the play-in tournament.
Last season, they finished first in the West but fell in the conference semifinals against the Dallas Mavericks.
With this championship, the future is still very bright for the Thunder as they hold a war chest of future first round draft picks.
Indiana had taken the best-of-seven series to a decider with a battling victory in Game 6 last Friday, when Haliburton fought through a calf strain to inspire a 108-91 win.
That left the Pacers needing to reproduce a repeat of their game one win on the road at top seeds Oklahoma City to clinch their own maiden NBA title.
But the scale of the task before the Pacers became even more daunting after Haliburton crumpled to the Paycom Center court in agony in the first quarter before limping out of the game.
The Pacers said Haliburton had suffered a "lower right leg injury", although ESPN cited the player's father as saying his son had suffered an Achilles injury.
Although the Pacers battled bravely to lead 48-47 at halftime, the Thunder pulled away, outscoring Indiana 34-20 to open up a hefty 13-point lead heading into the final quarter.
The Thunder were in no mood to let that advantage slip and they led by as many as 22 points in the fourth quarter before holding on to win. — With a report from AFP
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