Call it careless. Call it chaotic. Call it whatever you want, just don’t call it championship basketball. The Oklahoma City Thunder coughed up the ball 19 times in Game 3, and every single one felt like a gut punch. Bounce passes into traffic, jump passes with no plan, soft swings on the perimeter… it was like a live demo of how not to handle the moment. But Indiana? They pounced! The Pacers dropped 40 in the second quarter alone, destroyed OKC with a 32-18 fourth, and pulled off a 116-107 win to snatch a 2-1 series lead. And Mark Daigneault? Well, he couldn’t get any realer.
“The turnovers were uncharacteristic,” said Mark Daigneault, post-game. The Pacers called them dinner. And dessert. And maybe even the leftovers. Indiana feasted on OKC’s mistakes—19 of them, to be exact—turning giveaways into daggers and momentum with 21 points off those mistakes. Indiana did it after Game 1, so of course, OKC had to do this after their Game 2 win.
TJ McConnell flat-out stole the Thunder’s heart—racking up 5 steals by crashing passing lanes, disrupting inbounds plays, and injecting chaos wherever he went. And just when OKC thought it couldn’t get worse, Bennedict Mathurin came out firing. After missing last year’s playoff run while rehabbing from shoulder surgery, he dropped a loud 27 points off the bench—a statement game for anyone who forgot just how deep and dangerous the Pacers really are.
And yes, the Thunder have been here before. But the way they lost this one? That’s what should raise eyebrows. Because this? This was sloppier, louder, more exposed, and, importantly, the Finals. You give up 49 bench points, lose the turnover battle like that, and expect to keep pace?
Mark Daigneault: “The turnovers were uncharacteristic.” pic.twitter.com/NJL2g38Enj
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) June 12, 2025
Now it’s backs against the wall again. And if Game 4 doesn’t come with cleaner handles and cooler heads, they might not get another shot at swinging back. Turnovers didn’t just cost them Game 3. They lit the match on a momentum shift, and the Pacers were all too ready to fire. What’s next? Come back here to find out!
(This is a developing story…)
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