In Game 3 of this NBA championship series, the Indiana Pacers played well in only two quarters.

But they were two monster quarters.

And now they find themselves two steps from winning it all, against an Oklahoma City Thunder team that has been described as one of the best the league has seen in years.

Indiana scored 40 points in the second quarter, behind 61% shooting, against the NBA's best defensive squad, and then racked up a 32-18 margin in the final period, shooting a shade under 62% there..

The 116-107 victory gives them a 2-1 advantage as we go into Game 4, which is scheduled for 8:30 PM ET on Friday at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

In the NBA Finals odds that have been posted on this game by the people at BetOnline, OKC is again laying points as the visitor:

Oklahoma City Thunder -6 (-109)
Indiana Pacers +6 (-111)

Over 225.5 Points -110
Under 225.5 Points -110

On the money line.....

OKC -230
Indiana +192

OKC came out quickly in Game 3 and looked like they might run away with things. They were ahead by eight points at the end of the first quarter. But Indiana came roaring back in the second period to take a halftime lead. The big boost on this particular evening came from Bennedict Mathurin, the Canadian by way of the University of Arizona, who scored 14 of his game-high 27 points in that quarter.

After the Thunder went ahead with a surge in the third quarter, the Pacers took over again. And OKC went cold. Chet Holmgren had been very assertive in the first period, with 13 points and four rebounds. In the fourth quarter, the Thunder's centers (Holmgren and isaiah Hartenstein) combined for just five points and a single rebound. That was somewhat similar to the lack of production they had in the fourth quarter of Game 1, where they actually went scoreless. To make it even worse, OKC went without a three-pointer in the fourth as well.

And speaking of "scoreless," that best describes Aaron Wiggins, who as such a big factor off the bench in OKC's 123-107 win in Game 2, with 18 points in 20-1/2 minutes. In Game 3 he played a little under ten minutes, committed three fouls and missed both of his field goal attempts.

Reserves played a huge part for Pacers

The bench was a very big story in Wednesday night's contest. Powered by Mathurin, the Pacers' reserves outscored the Thunder's by a massive 49-18 margin. And Mathurin (who had ten points in 5:55 in the final period, by the way) wasn't the only guy who came up big; guard TJ McConnell, also out of Arizona, had ten points, five assists and five steals in just 15 minutes of action. Obi Toppin's plus/minus for the game was +18, better than anyone on the floor.

Okay, but what about the big guns?

Indiana's Tyrese Haliburton just missed a triple-double in Game 3, with 22 points, eleven assists and nine rebounds. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (SGA) had 24 points and committed six turnovers. Neither player led his team in scoring; we've already mentioned Mathurin, and Jalen Williams poured in 26 for OKC.

No OKC player had a plus/minus for the game that was better than +1. Alex Caruso, regarded as a defensive stopper (amd an All-Defensive team selection on two different occasions) was at minus-15.Indiana center Myles Turner had 15 points in Game 1 and 16 in Game 2. He only had three field goals and two rebounds in Game 3, but came up with five blocked shots.


Indiana didn't need the threes as much

At the start if the series we mentioned that Indiana could find a way to win if they could make enough three-pointers, especially from the corners. Well, after hitting 32 triples over the first two games, they went only 9 of 27 from three-point range in Game 3. And just one of those successful treys came from the corner area (by Turner). So they obviously found other ways to win.

They played the short and mid-range game extremely well; Indiana made 60.3% of its shots inside the arc. And this comes against an opponent that was best in the NBA at defending two-pointers this season (allowing just 51.3%). The Pacers had made 49% and 55% of their deuces in the first two contests.

And they were +4 in the turnover department, which always helps.

So what now?

Well, you know, our thing in this series has been to go under the total, because the defense was a factor that may have been underrated. We got an under in Game 1, because - among other reasons - both of these teams were able to contain the other team's fast break. In Game 2, we had a lot of garbage time in the fourth quarter, and defense often gets forgotten about, OKC and Indiana combined for 63 points in that period, and 130 in the second half, as the Thunder had a big lead.

In Game 3 there were only 99 points in the second half of play. It's not that the teams shot so badly, but the pace of play seems to have slowed, as there were only five fast break points scored, and 8 for 26 from beyond the arc, which is a lower percentage than you would expect.

But the fast break points were up on an overall basis. after just 34 in the first two games, there were 27 in Game 3. Will both teams adjust to slow the other down? We know the linemakers have adjusted the total a little.

Interesting - in Game 1, these teams played at a faster pace than they had in the regular season, AND there were 180 shots taken (compared with 164 in each of the last two) yet we got an under. Indiana did significantly better in the paint on Wednesday. I don't think they'll go three-point crazy here.

Therefore, I'll continue to go "under" as we move into Game 4.

In the current series odds, Oklahoma City as the favorite despite being down a game. They are listed at -215, with Indiana at +183. That's at BetOnline, which has all kinds of betting choices for you on the NBA Finals, including props galore. And one of the best things about it is that you can join up using your debit card, or any of sixteen great cryptocurrency options!