OKLAHOMA CITY — At this point, it's inevitable. Believing in false hope, Indiana's faint chances to be the second team from the East to beat OKC were quickly erased away. A signature third-quarter avalanche filled with defensive disruptions and a run-and-gun offense turned this into another snoozer.
The Oklahoma City Thunder enjoyed a 132-111 win over the Indiana Pacers. The former's win streak has reached nine in a row despite their center room being nearly extinct in the second half due to hip injuries.
After a slow start on offense, the Thunder woke up to end the first quarter with a 29-27 lead. The opening six minutes were the most adversity they faced — and most of it was self-inflicted as they woke up to rub the eye boogers off. That continued in the second frame with 32 points to enter halftime with a 61-49 advantage.
Like most games, the Thunder waited until the second half to take this contest seriously. It's become a tradition that they throw their best punch in the third quarter and that happened again. A 17-6 run to end the period pushed their lead to over 20 points.
Fresh off a franchise-best 162 points, the Pacers succumbed to the Thunder's league-best defense. Quality looks were seldom produced and plenty of passes were intercepted. Lu Dort and Isaiah Joe took turns on the other end one-upping each other from the outside. They entered the fourth quarter with a 102-80 lead after Shai Gilgeous-Alexander beat the buzzer with a tip shot.
The Thunder's lead hovered around 20 points the rest of the way. Leading by as many as 25 points, it became a classic stat-padding time for Gilgeous-Alexander and the rest of the starters. The Pacers waved the white flag with around five minutes left and the Thunder did the same afterward.
The Thunder shot 51% from the field and went 17-of-36 (47.2%) from 3. They shot 19-of-23 on free throws. They had 26 assists on 48 baskets. Six Thunder players scored double-digit points.
Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with an efficient 33 points. Jalen Williams had 18 points and six assists. Dort scored 22 points and Joe scored 19 points mostly from hot outside shooting. Cason Wallace had 14 points in the start and Kenrich Williams tallied 10 points and eight rebounds off the bench.
Meanwhile, the Pacers shot 45% from the field and went 14-of-42 (33.3%) from 3. They shot 19-of-26 on free throws. They had 27 assists on 39 baskets. Seven Pacers players scored double-digit points.
Tyrese Haliburton was limited to 18 points and three assists. Andrew Nembhard only had 16 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Pascal Siakam was shut down with just 11 points and nine rebounds. Same can be said about Myles Turner's 11 points and five rebounds.
Beating up on an upper one-third team in the league fresh off an offensive explosion would be most contenders' prime candidate for the best win of the season. For the Thunder, it was just another day in the office. They inch closer to another historic marker of being the only team in history to have only one loss to the opposing conference throughout the season. That's about all the drama left for the ...
