Thunder strike in 7

OKLAHOMA CITY (AFP) — The Oklahoma City Thunder crowned a dazzling season with a National Basketball Association (NBA) title on Monday (Manila time), pulling away relentlessly in the second half to beat the injury-hit Indiana Pacers 103-91 in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points and handed out 12 assists, and the Thunder’s swarming defense finally proved too much for a Pacers team that lost talisman Tyrese Haliburton to a leg injury just seven minutes into the contest.

The underdog Pacers hung tough and held a 48-47 lead at halftime, but the Thunder outscored them, 34-20, in the third quarter and pushed the lead to as many as 22 points in the fourth.

“It doesn’t feel real, so many hours, so many moments, so many emotions, so many nights of disbelief,” Gilgeous-Alexander said, his voice breaking.

“It’s crazy to know that we’re all here.”

“But this group worked for it, this group put in the hours, and we deserved this.”

Gilgeous-Alexander put himself among some of the game’s greats as he earned Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) honors to go with his regular-season MVP and scoring title, along with his first championship.

Jalen Williams scored 15 of his 20 points in the second half and Chet Holmgren added 18 points, eight rebounds, a steal, and five of the Thunder’s eight blocked shots.

A crowd of 18,203 at Paycom Center was given some tense moments as the Pacers chipped away at the deficit, but 23 Indiana turnovers leading to 32 Thunder points were ultimately too much for the Pacers to overcome.

The Thunder, who led the league with 68 regular-season wins, captured their first title since the club’s controversial move to Oklahoma City in 2008, the franchise having won it all in 1979 as the Seattle Super Sonics.

The Pacers, three-time American Basketball Association (ABA) champions in the 1970s, remain in search of a first title since joining the NBA in the NBA-ABA merger.

Haliburton, already nursing a right calf strain when the Pacers won Game 6 to force the first Finals game seven since 2016, had scored nine points — all on three-pointers — when he went down as he tried to drive past Gilgeous-Alexander.

Haliburton’s right leg gave out, and he sprawled forward, slapping the court in pain and disappointment.

Teammates gathered around him before he was helped off the court and to the locker room, supported and hopping on one leg with a towel over his head.