Finals Game 7 PREVIEW 🍿 + QRich has NO FAITH in the Pacers 🚫 👀 | SportsCenter

Finals Game 7 PREVIEW 🍿 + QRich has NO FAITH in the Pacers 🚫 👀 | SportsCenter

okc is on the brink of a title Indiana is desperate for a game seven We just wanted to protect home court You know we didn’t want to see these guys celebrate a championship on our home floor Facing elimination the Indiana Pacers with a dominant first half We got exactly what we deserve and we have to own that This is a bludgeoning here in game six The magic carpet ride for the Pacers is not over They’ll play for an NBA title on Sunday night They have one game for everything we’ve worked for and so do they the better team Sunday will win All comes down to one game and traditionally traditionally game sevens favor the home team but recent years we’re getting away from tradition Last five postseason road teams have gone a surprising nine and six in game seven But this will be the first game seven in the finals since 2016 when the Cavs went on the road to stun the Warriors an all-time great series But we’ve got one of those coming together and we welcome in Anscape senior writer David Dennis Jr NBA veteran Quinton Richardson our analyst in the house on Sports Center Q I’ll start with you No secret Tyrese Hallebertton’s calf not 100% bothering the Indiana superstar Pacers still able to blow out the Thunder avoid elimination in game six Can Indiana win game seven on the road with the same strategy they had for Hallebertton in game six Yeah I I I I don’t think they can and and also I don’t think they I don’t think Rick Carlilele will deploy the exact same strategy I think obviously you know that that the Thunder will be trying to rebound and prepare and be ready for what they did in game six So I think Carile being the great coach as he is that he is he’ll probably use some of those traits that he used but I think he’s going to come at them differently And also I think Tyrese Hallebertton the way he played last game and the way his calf looks he looked healthier than we thought he would look So I think he’ll be able to do more I think he shows that he can do more So I think I don’t I don’t think they’ll deploy the same strategy I think they’ll do some things different and be ready for the Thunder to counter what the the Thunder do this time For me this is about how the Thunder are going to treat Tyres Hallebertton And I think they kind of let him off the hook The Pacers their defense they shortened that court a little bit with the pickup space that they had and allowed him to get in those passing lanes He had two steals and four deflections But the Thunder did not make him work nearly as hard on defense They didn’t put him in enough ISOs They didn’t target him They didn’t make him run around the court I think what we’re going to see is a Thunder team that says “We like what we do with our offense in general but we’re going to stray a little bit and put him in more ISOs get him on um 101’s with SGA and JDub Let’s test out that Cav Let’s get some hard screens on him and see just how uh durable he is when that gets to late in the fourth quarter.” And and that’s the blessing for Indiana of being up 30 through 3/4 Hallebertton plays 23 minutes not 3637 working his way back from a a calf injury Q I got to get a pick for you man home teams all time in the NBA finals 15-4 in game seven Who wins this one in 2025 Man I’m I’m I’mma go right go right with that stat you just gave Phil I’m going to go with the home team because that’s all I really got to go off of The fact that the the the Thunder are going to be at home They got this crazy crowd They play better at home The others and the support guys play better at home And the way this series has gone man I wouldn’t be surprised with anything that happens If Pacers going in win tonight I I wouldn’t be super surprised But I’m gonna go with the home team With the crowds being the way they’ve been the last couple games and and and that impacting the series and the games the way they have I’m going to go with the home team and say the Thunder pull it out in seven David the home team’s been for most of the series the better of the two teams but Indiana has momentum What’s your pick for game seven It is a tossup I think I’m I’m going with the Pacers because we got to stop looking at them as this scrappy team that is stealing that’s stealing these games since game three They outplayed them in game three They played better for most of game four They got blown out game five and they blew them out game six That’s three out of the four games they’ve been mostly better So you know the Pacers are their equal and most mostly I’m just tired The Pacers have worn me down I’m tired of betting against them I’m tired of making plans based on them losing I’m tired of telling my friends I’m going to be in New York for the finals because the Knicks going to win I’m tired of saying that I’m gonna be at home because it’s going to be a short series I had brunch reservations for this weekend because I didn’t think this was going seven I am tired of betting against this Pacers team The Pacers have the magic and they can go out and win a game late down the stretch as they’ve done I am I’m I’m not betting against this magical run that these Pacers have Hope you’re not too tired The Knicks mess up your New York plans No New York for you because of the Knicks man No New York plans no nothing man The whole summer’s been turned around by this Pacers team I I hope you’re not too tired We got more coming up from you later on Sports Center We’ll talk to you all in a bit Tomorrow 8 Eastern ABC the 20th game seven in NBA Finals history Pacers and Thunder for the season How the series got here Game one Tyresese Hallebertton hit the dagger with 3/10en of a second left sealing a comeback and stealing the series lead after Indiana had trailed by as many as 15 in the fourth nabbing a one-point win Game two SGA held court dropping 34 points a dominant 16-point dub to even up the series improving OKC to 5-0 this postseason after a loss As the series moved to Indian game three Benedict Matan came up huge 27 points as the Pacers outscored the Thunder by 14 in the fourth retaking the series advantage Then game four another OKC bounceback Fourth quarter rally SGA scored 15 points in the final five minutes most for anyone in that stretch in the last 50 years in the finals game Thunder evened things up SGA then and Jaylen Williams lit up game five dropping 31 and 40 points respectively First Thunder duo with 30 points each in a finals game in an 11-point win The Pacers then facing elimination dominated the Thunder in game six leading by 22 at the half and by 30 through three/4ers tied for the largest lead entering the fourth quarter of a finals game in the shot clock era For more on game seven we now welcome in former Pacer great Roy Hibbert into Sports Center And Roy good morning Thanks for being with us Look you played seven seasons in Indiana So just tell us what are the keys now for a Pacers win in game seven tomorrow night Well I have three things real quick I think the first thing it has to be they have to play with pace and just get up and down touch the paint get uh get up and get some easy buckets in transition 22 to 11 fast break points last game was great The games that they’ve lost they have not been aggressive They haven’t been able to get out and finish at the basket find easy buckets to be able uh to relieve that pressure that SGA and the Oklahoma City Thunder you know really bring on the defensive end Now the second thing I’m going to say not many people may know this but I feel like the Pacers need to have a Rick Patino/RJ Lewis mentality and that’s next man up If somebody’s not playing well if they look dazed if they’re out of it their backup is against the wall This all for the marbles This is the end of the season So they need to pull some if somebody’s not playing the way they’re supposed to they need to pull them put them on the bench and play somebody that’s going to bring effort like TJ McConnell He’s really done that the last couple games coming off the bench bring a a big spark He is a man on a mission Been playing well I like to see it And the last thing to me is like take care of the ball 23-11 uh turnovers in game five They cannot do it Uh OKC is such a good defensive team on the in the half court they’re picking you up almost uh uh as soon as you cross the half court line and they’re obviously they leave they don’t give you many opportunities to get offensive rebounds So their defense is just really key They hunt for steals and they put so much pressure on you Okay I love those three keys I wrote them down so I can keep them in mind One guy’s name you didn’t mention but obviously it all comes full circle with is Tyresese Hallebertton And he’s really put himself I feel like out there this season in a lot of different ways especially with all of his lategame heroics this postseason What would an NBA championship mean for his legacy going forward I think it’d be great Obviously it’ be solidified He have um he’d be mentioned probably as one of the great Indiana greats with Reggie Miller uh obviously getting it done where he couldn’t have gotten it where where he didn’t get it done He’s played great One thing I’ve noticed in this playoffs is the team doesn’t necessarily need him to have huge huge games just to win Last game he only had about 16 points but he was defensive He was active on on both ends of the court and he helped this team win The game prior to that not so much He I think he let his foot off the off the pedal a little bit But to me he has to come out strong Does he need to take a bunch of shots to to to get 20 25 points No He needs to distribute the ball and I think his legacy will be will will be solidified The only thing I’ll say about this is yes they don’t need him to to play super super great to win but for his legacy maybe you would like to have that finals MVP next to his name And to be honest with you Pascal Seyakum has been playing really really well He’s been solid Uh you know 18 20 points uh quiet nights you know you don’t see him you know uh uh doing spectacular dunk on against Jaylen Williams slammed it on his head But I feel that for uh Tyrese’s Hallebertton’s legacy he may need to pick it up a little bit more I hope he doesn’t force it but uh uh he wants that finals MVP next to his name Listen on that Pascal Seakum dunk it was Hallebertton with the no look pass that set it up for him And Hallebertton has been so good Maybe not in the entirety of the game but he’s been so good in those last minute last second situations But let’s think big picture here Now the Pacers have never won an NBA title Neither have the Thunder quite frankly But we’ve seen how this crowd and this city have really gotten around this Pacers team So what would an NBA championship mean for this organization Indianapolis and that fan base Well first of all I just want to take a step a tiny step back and uh obviously it would be great for the organization great for the city We’re hardworking bluecollar people But I just want to take a step back and say hey you know these two small market teams it would probably mean a lot to them It shows that these front offices need to be elite Just as elite as those players are on the court they need to be shrewd Sam Prey has been done a good job of bringing people in and the Pacers front office has done a good job of staying underneath the salary cap to keep this core together to get them to this point right here And uh I think it’s great Now for the city obviously it’s it’s it’s a it’s a football city Jim Ers rest in peace They had a championship uh with the Colts Now it’s our time to bring one home I think it’s an opportunity to to solidify us because nobody watches us play When I played nobody watched us play during this team right here They embody the same thing They’re such a good team So many other organiza so many other uh channels and uh uh broadcasting channels say you know what we’re not really worried about the Pacers So we got something going right there And hopefully with this salary cap and keeping keeping under the salary cap this group can keep going and for championships for year to years to come Listen Roy you might think no one’s watching Everyone’s watching now We’re all paying attention Pacers are four and six in game sevens in franchise history We can’t wait for tomorrow night Roy Hibbert thank you so much for the time Thanks for having me We’re going to get to our QR code and we’re going to focus on the game seven at hand here That is tomorrow night So what is the QR code for the Thunder to win I I truly believe man that that crowd is going to be unbelievable They got to get off to a fast start to give that crowd a reason to be loud I definitely feel like SGA needs to lead the way He needs to come out ultra ultra aggressive and put the pressure on whoever they have guarding Whatever defense they have he has to have a good game He has to uh I think Jaylen Williams has to come out and have a good game and and defensively they have to bring that defense that they had in that fourth quarter of game five and how they shut things down They have to be able to lock up defensively and and cut the water off for the Pacers All right So David each week you pick your Dennis the Menace Are you going to kind of agree here Who’s your menace So the dentist and men generally I try to you know find somebody under the radar the TJ McConnell’s Obie to people like that under the radar at this point Not at this point but you know some people may be coming off the bench and give a little spark It’s game seven We’re not doing that anymore This is about these stars This is about Hallebertton This is about Seakum This is about them being the best players on the court on their side Seakum has to go out there and dominate his matchup I love the way they picked up Jdub on defense He has to dominate that matchup And then Hallebertton has to be the aggressive guy that we have seen over the last couple of games getting into the paint running that offense being aggressive defensively The Pacers have done all this not had a 30-point score at all in this series One of these guys I feel like has to step it up on the scoring level And all around these two guys have to be the best duo that we see on the court for them to win game set Okay so they got to be a menace together Why do I feel like throughout the entirety of these playoffs and Q let me know if you agree with this You’re always asking everyone to do more DD is always like “They need to drop 50 Drop 50.” I feel like we’ve been doing this over and over throughout the entirety of the postseason Whatever We’ll talk later Thanks guys [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause]

On SportsCenter, the crew talks about the Indiana Pacers playing the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

0:00 Can Indiana Win Game 7 on the road?
2:58 Who’s taking Game 7?
5:00 NBA Finals recap
6:07 Former Indiana Pacer Roy Hibbert joins
6:31 What’s the key to the Pacers winning Game 7
9:18 What would a championship mean for Indiana?

☑️ Subscribe to ESPN+: https://plus.espn.com/
📱 Get the ESPN App: http://www.espn.com/espn/apps/espn
🏀 Subscribe to NBA on ESPN on YouTube: http://bit.ly/2yxs3Og
☑️ Subscribe to ESPN on YouTube: http://es.pn/SUBSCRIBEtoYOUTUBE
☑️ Watch ESPN on YouTube TV: http://es.pn/YouTubeTV

#ESPN #NBA