1-2 behind! The Thunder Third Young Master scored 72+24, Harry was a quasi-double, and Turner set a new record in team history!

On June 12, 2024, the NBA Finals entered Game 3, and the Indiana Pacers returned to home to face the Oklahoma City Thunder. The first two games each won one victory, and the two sides tied 1-1 with a big score, which was particularly critical. It is particularly worth mentioning that since losing to the Lakers in the 2000 Finals, the Pacers have once again ushered in the finals at home after many years. This moment is hard-won. But judging from the performance in the first two games, the Pacers' overall strength seems to be slightly inferior to the Thunder. In the combined 96 minutes of the game, the Pacers led by only 1 minute and 56 seconds, and one of the wins was relied on Halliburton's final 0.3 seconds.

Nevertheless, the resilience shown by the walkers is also expected. The team made several counterattacks in the playoffs. Every time they fell behind in big scores, they always magically turned the tables and had extremely strong recovery ability. This spirit of never giving up has become a major highlight for them. Before the game, the US media's prediction of this game gave a 44.8% winning rate to the Pacers (a significant increase from 34.4% in the first game), while the Thunder's winning rate was 55.2%. It can be seen that the media generally believes that the Thunder has a better chance to take away this victory. For the Pacers, it was announced before the game that Isaiah Jackson and Jares Walker would miss the game, with the five starting players including Halliburton, Turner, Nesmith, Siakam and Nembhard. Thunder's Topic is also absent, with the starting lineup being Alexander, Dort, Jewish, Chett and Harten. At the beginning of the game, the Thunder quickly entered the state. Wallace broke through and passed the ball, Dort hit a three-pointer in the open position, and then Chet opened fire with all his energy, scored three consecutive goals, quickly scoring 8 points. The Thunder led 15-6, forcing the Pacers to pause. On the Pacers, Siakam singled Alexander and made a jump shot from the free throw line, becoming one of the few scores at the Pacers' start. After that, Caruso sent out an accurate pass in the counterattack. After Chet received the ball, he took off and completed a dunk, and the score had reached 12 points.

Halliburton showed his personal skills in the inside and rushed into the penalty area and made a difficult throw. Immediately afterwards, the game was controversial - Doult accidentally hit Halliburton in the face while passing the ball, and the latter fell to the ground in pain, but the referee did not award a foul, which caused considerable controversy. Alexander then launched a counterattack, Europe took a step past Turner and Toppin, and scored easily with his left hand. Topin was not willing to be outdone, and quickly responded to a European step and scored an easy layup. At the end of the first quarter, the Pacers trailed the Thunder by 8 points 24-32. Although Alexander performed averagely in the first quarter, with only 6 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist, he maintained the Thunder's lead by scoring free throws. In the second quarter, Chet tried to complete the dunk near the free throw line, but was interrupted by a foul. McConnell passed the ball accurately, Nesmith scored an empty cut, and then he organized a counterattack through a steal. Mathering hit a three-pointer after receiving the ball, and the Pacers quickly narrowed the gap to 1 point. At this time, although Alexander tried to break through and score, Matherin performed well. With a tough board shot, the Pacers successfully scored a 15-4 climax, and instead led the Thunder with a slight advantage by 3 points.

As the game deepened, the Thunder adjusted their tactics, and Isaiah Joe, who came on the bench, made two consecutive three-pointers, helping the Thunder equalize the score. Jewe also got a free throw opportunity during his strong attack, and he also scored more free throws, tied the score again. At this time, Siakam had been replaced for three fouls. Mathering continued to perform well, scoring 14 points in the quarter, becoming the main firepower point for the Pacers' offense. Alexander scored a goal by changing the rhythm. At the end of the game, McConnell made a buzzer-beating jump shot at the last moment. At the end of the half, the Pacers led the Thunder by 4 points 64-60.

After halftime, Alexander, the Thunder's core, contributed 12 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks; Chet supported the team with 15 points, 5 rebounds and 1 assist. For the Pacers, Halliburton scored 12 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists and 1 steal, and his performance was still stable; Mathering helped the team maintain the lead with his outstanding performance of 14 points and 2 rebounds.

At the beginning of the second half, the Thunder once again overtook the score through an 8-0 climax. Halliburton responded quickly, and he successfully stole Alexander's pass, scored a direct fast break dunk, and then hit a three-pointer to help the Pacers take the lead again. Caruso also hit a key three-pointer in the counterattack, and the two teams were in a tug-of-war. Chet cut the empty cut and dunk at the bottom line, and then made a free throw. Jewe also made a three-pointer, helping the Thunder take the lead again. At the end of the third quarter, the Thunder led the Pacers by 5 points 89-84, and the game entered a white-hot stage.

Entered the fourth quarter, and the suspense of the game has not disappeared. Mathering broke through the inside and scored with a standstill. Then McConnell scored easily after stealing the opponent, and the Pacers took the lead again. Chet made a breakthrough layup and was blocked by Turner's big hat, while Halliburton made a shot from outside the three-point line without hesitation, expanding the Pacers' advantage to 7 points again. The Thunder made constant fouls at this time, and Topin also completed the intermission of the dunk at a critical moment, and the Pacers gradually widened the score gap. In the end, the Pacers defeated the Thunder 116-107 and successfully led the big score 2-1. In terms of post-match data, the Thunder's Alexander made 20 shots, hit 9, and scored 24 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks. Despite some mistakes, he is still the offensive core of the team; Jewe contributed 26 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal, performing well; Chet also scored a double-double of 20 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists. However, the highlight performance of the three main players still failed to lead the Thunder to win. On the Pacers, Halliburton's performance was comprehensive. He made 9 of 17 shots, scored 22 points, 9 rebounds, 11 assists, 2 steals and 1 block, almost completing a triple-double; Siakam also contributed 21 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals; Mathering became another highlight of the team with 14 points. In addition, Turner's defense is also very critical, with his five blocks breaking the Pacers' record for single-game blocks in the Pacers' history.