Sports Poets Society

MADDIE MEYER/GETTY IMAGES  Thunder players walk to the bench during a timeout in the first quarter against the  Pacers  in Game 3 of the NBA Finals on June 11 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. 13 Jun 2025 Jenni Carlson The Oklahoman USA TODAY NETWORK INDIANAPOLIS — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander caught the ball with Andrew Nembhard charging toward him. A screen freed the Thunder superstar momentarily, and he dribbled toward one of his comfort spots, the free-throw line. He could stop and pop. He could pull up off the dribble. He could even create his own adventure as he so often does, making highlights almost as frequently as baskets. Any of those options would’ve been acceptable with the Thunder trailing midway through the fourth quarter in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. But instead, as Tyrese Haliburton closed quickly on Gilgeous-Alexander and Nembhard chased him down, SGA opted instead to pick up his dribble and put himself in a spin cycle, pivoting but taking one too many...

DYLAN BUELL/GETTY IMAGES - Bennedict Mathurin of the Indiana Pacers shoots the ball against Oklahoma City’s Isaiah Hartenstein (55) and Jalen Williams (8) during Game 3 of the NBA Finals on June 11 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. 13 Jun 2025 The Oklahoman Joe Mussatto and Jenni Carlson The Oklahoman USA TODAY NETWORK INDIANAPOLIS — Now things get interesting for the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals. After getting outscored by 14 points in the fourth quarter of a 116-107 loss to the Indiana Pacers in Game 3 Wednesday night, OKC now trails the best-ofseven series 2-1. Game 4 is set for Friday night, but let’s get to the Game 3 grades first. Taking care of the basketball: D The Pacers beat the Thunder at OKC’s own game. OKC was sloppy with the basketball. Indiana scored 21 points off of OKC’s turnovers. It was an uncharacteristic night for the Thunder both in the number of turnovers it committed and the lack of turnovers (13) it forced. — Joe Mussatto, Columnist Containing Bennedict Math...

13 Jun 2025 Joe Mussatto Columnist The Oklahoman USA TODAY NETWORK INDIANAPOLIS — A sea of gold-clad Pacers fans, their chests puffed, spilled onto the concourse after Indiana’s 116107 Game 3 win Wednesday night in Indianapolis. Amid the cacophony of chatter and cheers, I heard something that struck me. “I still think they think they’re supposed to win,” one Pacers fan said. They, being the Thunder. I don’t know if the Thunder ever thought it was supposed to win these NBA Finals — that kind of entitlement is contrary to OKC’s organizational dogma — but not until Wednesday night, filing out of Gainbridge Fieldhouse, did I entertain the idea that the Pacers could actually win this series. That the Thunder could actually lose it. Maybe the Pacers are a team of destiny. Maybe the Thunder is beatable. I picked the Thunder in five before the series, and even after Indiana got a split in Oklahoma City, I stuck with my prediction. Thunder in five is no longer mathematically possible. Pacers in...

KYLE TERADA/IMAGN IMAGES -  Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) reacts during the third quarter of the June 11 game against the Indiana Pacers in Game 3 of the 2025 NBA Finals at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. ROAD WORK AHEAD  Thunder needs to impose its identity for all 48 minutes “At the end of the day ... we have to be who we are and who we’ve been all season. I think we got back to that in that series. If we want to give ourselves a chance in this series, it has to be the same thing.”    - Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Thunder guard 13 giu 2025 - The Oklahoman USA TODAY NETWORK Joel Lorenzi INDIANAPOLIS – Be who you are, Mark Daigneault likes to tell his players. Lean into the identity that won 68 regular-season games and spurred a run to the NBA Finals. It’s easier said than done, though behind exhales and faces resting in palms, it might not even be so easily said anymore. The Thunder faces a 2-1 deficit through three games, with a Game 4 ...

DYLAN BUELL/GETTY IMAGES Pacers fans react after a made basket against the Thunder by T.J. McConnell (9) during the  second quarter in Game 3 of the NBA Finals on June 11 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. NBA Finals trajectory is being altered by Caruso, McConnell After a Game 3 loss in Indianapolis, the Thunder looks to bounce back to tie the series in Game 4.  ROLE WITH IT 13 Jun 2025 - The Oklahoman USA TODAY NETWORK Jenni Carlson Columnist INDIANAPOLIS — Pacers pest TJ McConnell could walk into the Y for a pickup basketball game almost anywhere, and people might not realize he was an NBA player. “Yeah, same,” Thunder agitator Alex Caruso said. Neither Caruso nor McConnell looks like a guy who is drawing an NBA paycheck. Caruso stands 6-foot-5 but weighs only 185 pounds. McConnell tips the scales at around 190 pounds but is just 6-1. They aren’t the prototype. They are Everyman. But in these NBA Finals, they are game-changers. “They’re both self-made guys,” Indiana ...

Joel A. Erickson 13 Jun 2025 - The Indianapolis Star INDIANAPOLIS — A page-a-day calendar sat in the Pacers’ training room last year. A marker for Bennedict Mathurin. Every day after undergoing surgery to repair the torn labrum that ended his season and kept Mathurin out of Indiana’s surprising run to the 2024 Eastern Conference Finals, the Pacers guard would walk by the calendar and rip off a page. “He was counting down the days to being cleared sometime in August, and then to begin 5-on-5 with our guys in September, and then to begin training camp, really, with his eyes firmly set on an opportunity in the playoffs,” Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said. Mathurin finally reached the peak of his hike in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, pouring in 27 points off the bench to lead Indiana to a 116-107 win over Oklahoma City in front of a raucous Gainbridge Fieldhouse crowd Wednesday night. The Pacers have spent the entire season telling anybody who would listen that a healthy Mathurin would make a b...

13 Jun 2025 - The Indianapolis Star Kyle Neddenriep  Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.  Get IndyStar’s Pacers coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Pacers Update newsletter. Indianapolis Star USA TODAY NETWORK INDIANAPOLIS – T.J. McConnell’s night started inauspiciously enough. A turnover, barely a minute after he entered Game 3 of the NBA Finals, ended the first quarter with a whimper for the Pacers. An eight-point deficit looked like a mountain against an Oklahoma City Thunder team that quieted — or at least subdued — the raucous Gainbridge Fieldhouse crowd anxious to celebrate the Pacers’ first NBA Finals home game in 25 years. But the second quarter was a different T.J. McConnell. A Clark Kent-to-Superman turn, perhaps. Teammate Tyrese Haliburton had a different superhero name in mind after McConnell’s brilliant second quarter helped key the Pacers’ comeback in an eventual 116-107 win and a 2-1 series lead. “I jokingly call him the ‘Great White ...

CHRISTINE TANNOUS/INDYSTAR -  Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton passes the ball on June 11 while being defended by Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort (5) during Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. 13 Jun 2025 - The Indianapolis Star Pacers Insider Joel A. Erickson Dustin Dopirak Indianapolis Star USA TODAY NETWORK  Indianapolis Star USA TODAY NETWORK INDIANAPOLIS — Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton knows what to expect from the online and television discourse every time he has a performance like he had in Game 2 of the NBA Finals -- when his scoring and field goal attempt numbers take a dip and he doesn’t make the impact he wants to. During the regular season it’s more of a local phenomenon, but once the postseason hit, the discourse became more national with every round. How is it possible someone capable of so much magic in a historically improbable lategame comeback such as Game 1 of this series when Haliburton hit a game-winnin...

Tadej Pogacar (à droite), Remco Evenepoel (à gauche) et Jonas Vingegaard  vont se disputer le classement général à partir d’aujourd’hui. À L’ÉPREUVE DES ALPES En retrait depuis le contre-la-montre de mercredi, le champion du monde a trois étapes dans les Alpes, à partir d’aujourd’hui, pour renverser la tendance. Il dit ne pas paniquer, penser avant tout au Tour de France, mais son orgueil ne lui commandera-t-il "On va peut-être essayer de faire une journée super  dure si on en est capables (avec son équipe  UAE)"    - TADEJ POGACAR 13 Jun 2025 - L'Équipe ALEXANDRE ROOS MÂCON (SAÔNE-ET-LOIRE) – Le Critérium du Dauphiné est un jeu de piste géant, où l’on renifle chaque trace, scrute chaque geste, à la recherche d’un indice, d’un signe pour connaître l’issue de la course cette semaine, mais surtout du Tour de France dans un mois et demi. La prudence, et avec elle la patience, n’est plus une vertu cardinale, on veut savoir, disséquer, extrapoler. Dans cette grande e...

Berceau du basket lycéen et universitaire, l’État de l’Indiana a vu grandir la légende de la NBA et des Boston Celtics (68 ans).  «L’Équipe» est partie sur ses traces, dans sa ville d’enfance, à la rencontre de ceux qui l’ont côtoyé et vu débuter "Son petit frère Eddie était plus costaud et talentueux"     - BUTCH HEMMONS, PREMIER       ENTRAÎNEUR DE LARRY BIRD 13 Jun 2025 - L'Équipe DE NOTRE ENVOYÉ SPÉCIAL MAXIME AUBIN REPORTAGE INDIANAPOLIS (USA) – Partir sur les traces de Larry Bird dans l’Indiana revient à faire un saut dans le temps. Au départ d’Indianapolis, l’Interstate 69 nous conduit vers le sud à travers une campagne au vert éclatant, avant de laisser place à de petites routes cabossées et entourées de fermes amish, cette minorité religieuse qui utilise encore la calèche comme moyen de transport. Un peu plus de deux heures plus tard, la fin de l’itinéraire réserve un tout autre spectacle: au beau milieu de la végétation se dresse un dôme...