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Indiana Pacers force Game 7 of NBA Finals with Oklahoma City Thunder

The Associated Press The Pacers’ Obi Toppin rebounds over OKC’s Cason Wallace.

INDIANAPOLIS — Obi Toppin scored 20 points, Andrew Nembhard added 17 and the resilient Indiana Pacers sent the NBA Finals to a winner-take-all Game 7 by rolling past the Oklahoma City Thunder 108-91 on Thursday night.

Pascal Siakam had 16 points and 13 rebounds for Indiana, while Tyrese Haliburton — playing through a strained calf — scored 14 points for the Pacers, who started slowly and then turned things into a blowout.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 21 points for the Thunder, who pulled their starters after getting down by 30 going into the fourth. Jalen Williams added 16.

Game 7, the first one in the NBA Finals since 2016, will be Sunday night in Oklahoma City. Good news for the Thunder: home teams are 15-4 in the ultimate game to decide a title. Bad news for the Thunder: Cleveland won at Golden State in the most recent NBA Finals Game 7 and one of the three other home-team losses was in 1978 — by Seattle, the franchise that would move to Oklahoma City three decades later.

Pittsburgh native TJ McConnell, the spark off the bench again, finished with 12 points, nine rebounds and six assists for Indiana.

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