14 years later, another "Terry" was born

Prior to this year, there have been 44 1-1 draws in the Finals, and 33 of the teams that have won the third game have won the championship. For the 45th time this year, the Pacers won this little Tianwang Mountain, which is also their first G3 win in this year's playoffs.

Generally speaking, when writing post-match comments, you will find some key points on the winning side, such as Haliburton's stunner in the first game, and Alexander's heads-up in the second game. But in today's game, you'd be hard-pressed to find an absolute winner from the Pacers, who took the game to the extreme.

In the first two games, no one from the Pacers scored more than 20 points, and everyone is a soldier with high emotional intelligence. And today, the offensive strong point appeared, even on the bench.

Marceline shot 9-of-12, 2-of-3 from three-point range and 7-of-8 from the free-throw line for 27 points. These 27 points were even scored in the last three quarters, with Matherine not playing in the first quarter, and then the 14 points in a single quarter in the second quarter directly stifled the Thunder's idea of killing the Pacers with a stick.

When the Pacers scored 19 points off the bench, the Thunder scored 0 off the bench, and the game reversed in the second quarter, with Matherine using her offensive firepower to bring the two sides back to the same line.

The last person to get 27+ off the bench in the Finals was Terry in Game 6 of the 2011 Finals, who directly locked up the championship with 27 points in one game. Terry was the Mavericks' leading scorer in that game, and today Mathurin is also the Pacers' leading scorer, and the head coach of both games is Carlisle.

For the Pacers, their biggest advantage over the Thunder may be the head coach position. Carlisle has been coaching in the league for far too long, and when Carlisle coached in the league as an assistant coach, Thunder head coach Daigneault was only 4 years old.

Although the seniority is long enough, Carlisle is not rigid, and when it comes to the use of Pacers players, Carlisle has never been stuck with a lineup, and whoever plays well can get more playing time, such as Toppin who got a playoff high 28 minutes today.

Toppin only scored 8 points today, and he didn't open 0 of 3 from three-point range, but those who watched the game knew that Topin's fast break directly brought the rhythm of the Pacers, and his athleticism advantage was very useful against the Thunder, and the shocking dunk in the final quarter was just the icing on the cake. The three Pacers had the highest plus/minus on the bench, with Toppin +18 being a game-high.

Haliburton's desire to attack has strengthened today, and more importantly, he has regained his touch from beyond the three-point line, making 4-of-8 three-point shooting. After he hit a three-pointer at the top of the arc at 98 in the final quarter, the Pacers never let the Thunder turn over again. Hitting such a three-pointer in the finals can help you find unlimited self-confidence.

Haliburton had 22 points, 11 assists and 9 rebounds today, and when he got 20+10 assists this season, the Pacers were 20-1. In other words, when Haliburton's offense opens up, the Pacers' offense will also blossom in full swing.

The old problem of the Thunder is still that the key ball ability cannot be continued, and Alexander's vitality today is much worse than the previous two games, I don't know if it is a physical problem. But with the same intensity of the game, the Pacers blew up the Thunder today.

The Thunder's best tackles, there are only 6 today; On the other hand, the Pacers had 13 steals today, and in terms of scoring with turnovers, the Pacers also scored seven more points than the Thunder. Before the Finals began, I said that the Pacers were all good at the Thunder stronger, but obviously today the Thunder were all lost.

Jayway's 26 points are the highest player on the team, and Chet, although he also has a 20+10 performance, is 0-of-6 from three-point range. In the head-on confrontation with Turner, he fell into a comprehensive disadvantage, and the three-point block was made in the final moments, and the breakthrough was pressed again, and Turner had five blocks today.

In the end, I want to give all the praise to McConnell, no one could have imagined that he could come out of nowhere with 10 points, 5 assists and 5 steals in such a game, and his steals ignited the passion of the Pacers' home audience again and again, and everyone loved McConnell.

Of the 5 steals, 3 were directly steals from the Thunder's baseline serve, of course, there is a saying that the second steal was that he stepped out of bounds first before smashing the ball on Wallace, which was a misjudgment. These steals all came from McConnell's sense of smell and effort, and the mid-range jumper that didn't slow down before halftime was what he relied on to survive.

In the Eastern Conference finals last season, McConnell shone brightly, and I wrote an article titled "What is the ceiling for ordinary people to play?" 》。 His role with the Pacers has diminished this season, and his average time per game has decreased. But in the first finals of his career, McConnell waited for his moment.

"If I were to look back at the footage of this game five years from now, I would have thought I would have said that I was so proud of TJ's performance today," Marceline said. ”

The Pacers haven't lost in three months, and the Thunder haven't lost in the entire playoffs, and both teams have top-notch adjustment skills, so they can stand on the highest stage.

The next game is the Thunder's turn to solve the problem, and the excitement of this year's Finals can be said to have exceeded everyone's expectations.