THE INDIANA PACERS In 49 states, it's just basketball. But this is Indiana. And in Indiana, there's magic. The Pacers lead the NBA Finals 2-1 after a 116-107 Game 3 win over the Thunder in which they outscored Oklahoma City 32-18 in the final quarter.

Former Pacers Star Reacts to Myles Turner's Chet Holmgren Block originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Myles Turner scored just nine points in Game 3 of the 2025 NBA Finals between the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder Wednesday night, but he made his presence felt on the defensive side of the floor.

TJ McConnell and Bennedict Mathurin couldn’t seem more different. Together, they were a two-man bench wrecking crew for the Indiana Pacers in Game 3 of the NBA Finals.

Mathurin missed last year's Eastern Conference finals because of a torn labrum. In Game 3, he led the Pacers to a 2-1 finals series lead.

However, what won the 68 games and got them to the Finals was their defense, and the Pacers torched that for a long stretch of Game 3. Indiana took better shots and capitalized on them, finishing with a 116 offensive rating (9.5 points higher than the Thunder allowed on average during the playoffs coming into the game).

The Indiana Pacers obviously have a talented roster full of good shooters and defenders from Tyrese Haliburton to NBA Finals Game 3 star Bennedict Mathurin. But it might be Caitlin Clark (!) who's carrying this team to an NBA title in 2025.

The Pacers' reserve has athleticism, fearlessness and a level of defiance toward the law of gravity. In Game 3, Indiana needed all three.

That play set the tone for the night. As much as the Pacers are known for their free-flowing up-tempo offense, they lead the NBA Finals 2-1 because they played an elite defensive game Wednesday night.