MANILA, Philippines – The Indiana Pacers kept their title hopes alive with a wire-to-wire 108–91 win in Game 6, bouncing back from a tough Game 5 loss. Dominating both ends of the floor, the Pacers forced a winner-take-all Game 7 against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday, June 20, 2025 (Manila Time).
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| Tyrese Haliburton bounces back from a quiet Game 5 with a strong showing, guiding the Pacers to a crucial win and forcing a Game 7. Photo Credit: NBA.com |
Indiana started strong as Pascal Siakam and Andrew Nembhard found early rhythm to give the Pacers the edge. Nembhard hit back-to-back threes to open the scoring, while Siakam and Turner attacked the paint aggressively.
The Pacers led most of the quarter, capitalizing on OKC’s early turnovers and poor perimeter shooting. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was quiet for most of the frame but picked up steam in the last 2 minutes.
TJ McConnell and Obi Toppin gave Indiana a boost off the bench, especially on the defensive end and in transition.
Oklahoma ended the quarter on a high note with an Aaron Wiggins three and a buzzer-beating floater from Gilgeous-Alexander to grab a 28–25 lead.
Indiana held a narrow 3-point lead at the start of the second quarter, 28–25, and opened the period aggressively with McConnell, Haliburton, and Siakam all contributing buckets early.
Midway through the quarter, Jaylen Williams powered OKC’s run inside while Gilgeous-Alexander added timely jumpers and free throws to keep it close.
Indiana stayed composed and kept the lead for most of the quarter, thanks to timely scoring from Siakam, Nesmith, and Nembhard. Their bench also gave them valuable minutes and hustle plays, especially on second-chance points.
By the end of the quarter, Siakam nailed a turnaround jumper to beat the buzzer and gave the Pacers a 64–42 lead at halftime, clearly dominating the frame despite some OKC mini-runs.
Both teams came out flat to open the third quarter, remaining scoreless for the first four minutes until Haliburton finally broke the drought with a smooth floater.
After Haliburton’s icebreaker, Indiana strung together a few more buckets to stretch the lead close to 30, forcing Coach Mark Daigneault to burn a pair of timeouts to halt the Pacers' momentum.
Oklahoma finally broke their scoring drought in the third at the six-minute mark with a thunderous alley-oop slam from Isaiah Hartenstein, followed by four foul shots to chip away at the deficit.
OKC responded with an 8–0 scoring blitz to trim the lead down to 20, as the Pacers suddenly went cold after a red-hot start to the third quarter.
Sensing Oklahoma starting to chip away at the lead, Coach Rick Carlisle urged his squad to stay aggressive and close the quarter strong. The Pacers responded, regaining control and ending the third with a commanding 90–60 lead.
McConnell, though the shortest player on the floor, has been the biggest revelation of the series. The Pacers guard continued to anchor his team in the fourth quarter with support from Ben Sheppard.
With a dominant lead in the final quarter, Coach Carlisle pulled his starters and let the reserves close out the game. On the other end, Coach Daigneault followed suit, signaling surrender by sending in his bench unit.
Obi Toppin led Indiana’s second unit with 20 points, helping seal the Game 6 win and setting the stage for a high-stakes, do-or-die Game 7.
The Indiana reserves held their ground in the final minutes, maintaining the lead with composed play on both ends. They successfully closed out the game and secured a 108–91 win, putting the finishing touches on a dominant Game 6 performance.
The Finals decider is set for June 23 (Manila Time) on the home floor of the Oklahoma City Thunder. With the series tied 3–3, the championship will be decided in a high-stakes Game 7.
— Joey Boy Capos, The Summit Express