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Philippines, 01 Jul 2025 |
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Oklahoma Pulls Away From Indiana, 123-107; Ties Finals Series, 1-all By Teodoro Medina Reynoso PhilBoxing.com Mon, 09 Jun 2025  Tyrese Haliburton again came alive in the final quarter but there was no rally or even a threat of one for Indiana this time. League MVP Shai Gilgeous Alexander made sure of that as he again came up with a performance worthy of such billing scoring a game high 34 points and game high 8 assists in leading Oklahoma City Thunder to a 123-107 runaway victory at the Paycom Center, squaring the series at 1-all heading to the next two games in Indianapolis. Gilgeous Alexander got solid support from reserve guards Alex Caruso and Aaron Wiggins and fellow starters-center Chet Holmgren and forward Jalen Williams in thrusting OKC into ballooning leads in the first three quarters which it sustained into the payoff period for the comfortable victory. From a 33-27 lead two minutes into the second quarter, Williams, Wiggins, and Holmgren conspired with Gilgeous Alexander for a 19-2 blast to put Oklahoma ahead with its first huge lead at 52-29 with 4:48 before the half. Pascal Siakam and Aaron Nesmith countered with 10-0 bomb to make it 52-39 but Gilgeous Alexander and Williams sandwiched a Siakam free throw to make it 57-40. A William layup and a Nesmith free throw ended the half, 59-41 for OKC. Indiana tried hard to make a fight of it in the third quarter but OKC merely traded the Pacers basket for basket to retain control of the game. Haliburton who was limited to three points in the first half and had only eight points by the end of three quarters, came alive in the final quarter with nine points as Indiana tried vainly to wage a comeback. But the OKC lead was just too huge to whittle down. OKC outscored Indiana in all but the fourth quarter, after establishing a huge 59-41 half time lead before settling to 93-74 margin by the end of third quarter. Again Indiana won the fourth quarter outscoring OKC 33-30 with Haliburton pouring 9 points. Oklahoma's game long dominance was never in doubt despite the fact that seven Indiana players were able to score in double figures although the highest scorer was Haliburton at just 17 points. After Gilgeous Alexander's 34 points, Caruso poured 20 points, Williams had 19, Wiggins 18 and Holmgren was good for 15. Center Isaiah Hertenstein scored just 3 points but pulled down a night high 8 rebounds Haliburton finished with team high 17 points for Indiana. Myles Turner had 16, Siakam 15, Nesmith and Bennedict Mathurin both had 14 and TJ McConnel and Andrew Hembrand added 11 points each. Obi Toppin was not a factor with just 3 points, same as Ben Sheppard. The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.  |
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