Haliburton adds 22 as Pacers rally in the 4th, beat Thunder in Game 3 of NBA Finals

The lanky 6'5 guard came to Iowa State as *** three-star prospect out of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, rated the 166th best player nationally in his class. Eric Steyer was on that team. Danielle Robinson was an assistant coach that summer in 20. The first few weeks was *** struggle for all the freshmen, like all freshmen. We thought maybe he would be *** guide to uh red shirt. By the time we started practicing in the fall, you knew you had something there. The first time I met him was at we had our basketball kids camp. Um, and just seeing him interact with like the kids, you could just kind of tell right away that he's gonna bring good vibes. It was our 2nd game of the season, he was coming off the bench and um the starter Lindell Wiggington had *** foot injury, and we put him in the lineup, and then, man, the, the rest was history. He actually made history that freshman season with the school record 17 assists in *** single game. He would know where *** player was supposed to mean. You know more than they would know themselves, he was very confident. His sophomore season, he was leading the Big 12 in assists and steals while scoring over 15 points *** game until his season was cut short by *** broken wrist. He declared for the draft. Sacramento picked him 12th overall, but two years later traded him to Indiana. There he blossomed into an NBA superstar in this postseason, another level 4. Game winning or tying shots in the final 3 seconds. The only other player to do that in every round of *** single postseason, Michael Jordan. I'm not surprised, man. I loved him. We were calling him Captain America by the midway through his sophomore year. He's such *** competitor. I have uh more of *** sense of being really proud of him. Tyrese, also an Olympic gold medalist, is proud to be *** cycler. This past season, he came back. And saw his jersey retired. I don't know, it's hard to put into words because like I said, this place really means *** lot to me. Um, I generally have *** lot of love for this place. I've met some of my closest friends, the love of my life. I wouldn't change that for the world. The Thing about Tyrese too is he's still *** guy that I can text him and he'll text me back and. Um, when he came into Cleveland to play the Cavs last year when George Nyang was on the team, he left us tickets down there, took his time to take pictures with me and the family and stuff, you know, how could you not root for *** guy like that?

Updated: 10:32 PM CDT Jun 11, 2025

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Haliburton adds 22 as Pacers rally in the 4th, beat Thunder in Game 3 of NBA Finals

Updated: 10:32 PM CDT Jun 11, 2025

Editorial Standards ⓘ

Bennedict Mathurin scored 27 points off the bench, Tyrese Haliburton added 22 and the Indiana Pacers reclaimed the lead in the NBA Finals by beating the Oklahoma City Thunder 116-107 in Game 3 on Wednesday night.Haliburton also had 11 assists and nine rebounds for the Pacers, who got 21 points from Pascal Siakam and enjoyed a whopping 49-18 edge in bench points. The Pacers, who lost Game 2 in Oklahoma City, improved to 10-0 since mid-March in the game immediately following a loss.Jalen Williams scored 26 points, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 24 and Chet Holmgren had 20 for the Thunder, who led by five going into the fourth.Related video above: Tyrese Haliburton's former Iowa State teammate, assistant coach celebrate his NBA successGame 4 is back in Indiana on Friday night.History says the Pacers are in control of the series now; in the 41 previous NBA Finals that were tied at a game apiece, the Game 3 winner went on to hoist the trophy 33 times — an 80.5% clip.Advantage, Pacers.It was back-and-forth much of the way, at times looking like an absolute classic. There were 15 ties; to put that in perspective, there were 13 ties in the five-game entirety of last year's finals between Boston and Dallas.TJ McConnell finished with 10 points, five assists and five steals for Indiana; since all those stats started being charted, nobody had ever come off the bench and done all that in an NBA Finals game.The Pacers' Aaron Nesmith fouled Alex Caruso — a hard foul, for certain — with 2:35 left, and officials took a long look to determine if it met the criteria for a flagrant foul. A common foul was the final call and instead of two free throws plus the ball, it was just two free throws for Caruso. He made both, cutting the lead to 110-104.But the Pacers — at home in an NBA Finals game for the first time in 25 years — kept control the rest of the way. A familiar face was in the crowd Wednesday night. Former Hawkeye and current Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark was sitting courtside with a few of her teammates.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) —

Haliburton also had 11 assists and nine rebounds for the Pacers, who got 21 points from Pascal Siakam and enjoyed a whopping 49-18 edge in bench points. The Pacers, who lost Game 2 in Oklahoma City, improved to 10-0 since mid-March in the game immediately following a loss.

Jalen Williams scored 26 points, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 24 and Chet Holmgren had 20 for the Thunder, who led by five going into the fourth.

Related video above: Tyrese Haliburton's former Iowa State teammate, assistant coach celebrate his NBA success

Game 4 is back in Indiana on Friday night.

History says the Pacers are in control of the series now; in the 41 previous NBA Finals that were tied at a game apiece, the Game 3 winner went on to hoist the trophy 33 times — an 80.5% clip.

Advantage, Pacers.

It was back-and-forth much of the way, at times looking like an absolute classic. There were 15 ties; to put that in perspective, there were 13 ties in the five-game entirety of last year's finals between Boston and Dallas.

TJ McConnell finished with 10 points, five assists and five steals for Indiana; since all those stats started being charted, nobody had ever come off the bench and done all that in an NBA Finals game.

The Pacers' Aaron Nesmith fouled Alex Caruso — a hard foul, for certain — with 2:35 left, and officials took a long look to determine if it met the criteria for a flagrant foul. A common foul was the final call and instead of two free throws plus the ball, it was just two free throws for Caruso. He made both, cutting the lead to 110-104.

But the Pacers — at home in an NBA Finals game for the first time in 25 years — kept control the rest of the way.

A familiar face was in the crowd Wednesday night. Former Hawkeye and current Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark was sitting courtside with a few of her teammates.

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - JUNE 11: Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever looks on during the second quarter in Game Three of the 2025 NBA Finals between the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on June 11, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Maddie Meyer

Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever looks on during the second quarter in Game Three of the 2025 NBA Finals between the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on June 11, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

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