๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฎ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐น ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ป
The Loud City emerged from the smoke of a fully-stretched finals as champions, leaving scorched dreams and silent hearts in their wake.
The Oklahoma City Thunder became the menace of the night as they crushed the Indiana Pacers' dream in a devastating Game 7, 103-91, to bag the NBA championship title yesterday in the Paycom Center in Oklahoma.
Oklahoma ripped off the brakes in the fourth quarter, going full throttle on both defense and offensive torque to establish a runaway lead in the early stages of the quarter.
The result, in addition to securing the NBA title, was a Finals MVP trophy for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to add to his trophy case.
It is the franchise's first NBA title since it moved from the Seattle Supersonics to Oklahoma City Thunder in 2008.
"We never skipped steps... we grew the hard way. This group wanted it on their own terms, and they got it," Mark Daigneault said, praising the team's hardwork.
"Weโve carried the weight of this city, of every draft night and rebuild. And tonightโwe finally brought it home," an emotional statement from the MVP.
The home team exceeded the voltage mark in the last period after they catapulted an 8-0 run, slashing through the Pacers' defense to stamp a 21-point advantage, 89-68.
Closely after Thunder's explosive fourth opener, Bennedict Mathurin then forged a window of opportunity for the yellow-clad troups after he stacked eight points to slim the lead to 13, 91-79, under five minutes.
However, Indiana's late surge ended up being in vain as the top-seeded squad held onto the lead as the time winds down to zero, making it too hard for them to overcome.
Earlier, it was a slugfest for both teams, as neither of the two gave up space for their opponents to attack, swarming the court with a suffocating defense, just before OKC gained the wire-to-wire control, 25-22, to seal the first stanza.
Even without their superstar on the court, Indiana chiselled out an 8-3 run in the second, with TJ McConnell leading the way for the visiting team; Andrew Nembhard added flavor to the momentum with a buzzer-beater triple, 48-47.
Midway in the fourth saw the rampage of Thunder's big three as they each nailed a three-pointer consecutively under eight minutes, sending the Pacers into a timeout.
Though TJ McConnell struck again with a back-to-back field goal for Indiana, 90-76, shortly before the Thunder gutted out a 7-nil run to end the third quarter with 81-68.
"This was a team of belief. That belief didnโt vanish tonightโit just hurts more because we were right there," Rick Carlisle acknowledging the pain of the loss.
"We didnโt lose togetherโwe grew together. This hurts now, but itโs part of something bigger than one game," Pascal Siakam holding back the tears after the loss.
On the losing end, Tyrese Haliburton, who suffered a non-contact leg injury in a drive against SGA in the first quarter, appears to have a torn Achilles, making his return next season doubtful.
Oklahoma then celebrates its second franchise-wide chip since 1979, also making it the seventh different NBA champion in seven seasons, highlighting the new era of basketball.
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