The NBA Finals shifted back to Indianapolis on Wednesday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse for Game 3. The series was tied 1-1 with all the pressure on the Pacers to keep home-court advantage in their favor. How would they do that after a beating they took in Game 2? They did so by controlling the pace of Game 3, Would the blue and gold be able to get back to controlling the pace which is how they have been winning all year? Let’s dive into it.
Pacers Control the Pace
The key to the whole series for the Pacers to win is controlling the pace of the game. There are serval factors that go into controlling the pace of the game. The first is to play with defensive pressure the whole game meaning pick your guy up full court for all 48 minutes.
The second wave of controlling the pace is having your bench come in and win those minutes when the Thunder stars are on the bench. That is exactly what Bennedict Mathurin did in Game 3. Mathurin would come in and score 27 points the most in the NBA Finals since Jason Terry in 2011. The Blue and Golds bench outscored the Thunder 49-10 in Game 3.
The last wave of control comes in the way of steals and the Pacers got plenty. The blue and gold had 13 steals in Game 3 with the Thunder only getting six. TJ McConnell had five by himself off the bench. Those steals would turn into fast break points which the blue and gold had 17 with the Thunder only having 10.
Final Thoughts
The pace of game three was the blue and golds to control. They did that with what I talked about above and it worked perfectly. The blue and gold will look to keep control of the pace of Game 4 which will tip off on Friday at 8:30 inside of Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Stay tuned on Total Apex for my reaction of game four of the NBA Finals.
