The Indiana Pacers have a prime opportunity to take the lead in their series versus the Oklahoma City Thunder. They will play their first game at home in this series, and the pressure will be on for them to take advantage of this chance. Below, we discuss the keys for game 3 of the NBA Finals, but first, we look back at the first 2 of this battle.

In game 1 of the Finals, Tyrese Haliburton gave us another magical moment in this historic playoffs for him and his squad. Haliburton is now 6/7 on game-winning or tying shots in these playoffs, and has hit one in each of the 4 series that the Pacers have played in. 

This win didn’t come easily for the Pacers, as they had to orchestrate another improbable comeback to get the job done in OKC. They were down 9 with 2 minutes left, and with clutch shots from both Myles Turner and Andrew Nembhard, they were able to close the gap for some more Haliburton magic.

This was a historic turnover margin in favor of the Thunder, who seemed to have everything going right for them, until the final quarter. The Pacers committed 25 turnovers, to the Thunder’s 7. The Pacers also shot 16 fewer field goals overall compared to the Thunder, which adds to the mystery of how the Pacers pulled this one out. One factor in this game that favored the Pacers was both assists and shooting from behind the arc. The Pacers shot over 10% from deep, while shooting 9 more attempts than OKC. They also had 9 more assists.

In game 2 of these finals, the Thunder made easy work of the Pacers, bouncing back from a devastating comeback in game 1. This is a trend for the Thunder, as they haven’t lost back-to-back games in these playoffs so far. Shai had another great performance, with 34 points and 8 assists. He is now averaging 36 points and north of 5 assists in the two games in this series. 

Look for more Pacers magic at home tonight at 8:30 pm EST.