It all comes down to this. The Indiana Pacers have a major challenge in front of them, but also a major opportunity. They have taken their season just about as far as it can possibly go, and it’s officially “win or go home” time for the blue and gold. They trail the Oklahoma City Thunder 3-2 in the NBA Finals, and have to win in Indianapolis on Thursday night to force a deciding Game 7 on Sunday. If they can find a way to win Game 6 in front of their home fans, anything can happen in a final game with a championship on the line.
The major question right now is the health of Tyrese Haliburton. Indiana’s star point guard suffered a strained calf in the last game, and his status is unclear for Thursday night. Head Coach Rick Carlisle and Haliburton himself recently suggested he would play, but now Carlisle is saying they will monitor him closely leading up to Game 6, and will plan for multiple scenarios. On one hand, it’s the NBA Finals and you never know when the Pacers will get this opportunity again. On the other hand, you risk a more severe injury to your star player, and he was ineffective trying to play through the injury last game.
To complicate things even more, we have seen how badly this team needs Haliburton to produce in order to win games this year. During the regular season, the Pacers went 25-3 when Haliburton scored 20+ points. They are now 8-1 in the playoffs when he scores 20+, making that a combined 33-4 record for the whole season. It’s difficult enough for any player to score 20 points against this elite OKC defense, but especially difficult when playing through an injury. Could a heavier dose of TJ McConnell help keep hope alive? We’ve seen what Andrew Nembhard has done in the past when playing the point, but he’s also struggled in the last few games.
Despite all of these challenges, this has been a resilient team all season long. They prefer to play with their backs against the wall. Thursday night will be the final home game of the season, and it’s going to be a huge celebration of this incredible year. Like the Pacers, Oklahoma City is trying to earn their first NBA Championship. Will the Thunder have that killer instinct on Thursday night, or will they relax a little bit knowing they still have another game at home? Will the controversial NBA officiating actually aid the Pacers for a change, since the league would probably love a Game 7?
If the Pacers end up losing this series, they will forever be haunted by the Game 4 ending. They had a 10-point lead in the closing seconds of the third quarter, and still maintained a lead in the final few minutes. They got outscored 12-1 by the Thunder to close the game, and the opportunity to go up 3-1 was wasted. After losing Game 5 on the road, the Pacers now trail in a series for the first time in their entire playoff run. They’ve also lost back-to-back games for the first time in three months.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are (statistically) one of the best teams of the last decade or more. I wouldn’t blame you if you thought this series was over, but we’ve seen the Pacers do the unthinkable time and time again over the last few months.
Has the magical journey finally run its course, or is there still a little magic left in the tank? We’ll find out Thursday night. Has it been an incredible season either way? Yes ‘Cers.
Tyler Smith covers the Indiana Pacers and Indiana Hoosiers for IndySportsLegends and is a frequent contributor to the Journal Review. He is also the youth and sports pastor at New Hope Christian Church.
