Game 7!

Through the first four minutes of the second half in Thursday's Game 6, neither Finals participant could manage a point. No buckets, no free throws, no delay of game penalties, no second delay of game, turning into free throws.

We'll miss the 2025 NBA postseason. It was the Spring of the Delay of Game.

These Game 6 Finals participants were dutiful, full of what their coaching staffs implored inside the locker room. Mindful of the shot adjustments made during the quick and clean walkthrough session each team tried before the third quarter commenced, practicing game-winners as soon as Game 6 halftime act, the Dauntless Duo, left the floor.

The reps didn't matter, the score stayed the same, smart shots didn't work, the scoreboard didn't move. Understandable, for two teams working Game No. 104. Tied, 3-3. Even, babies, even.

Game 6's dry third quarter turn, clang after clang, may turn into a Game 7 preview for these tired but also rather amped-up outfits.

So what makes up a difference, in a game one team can't help but win?

HELPERS

Indiana is famed for its depth, eight double-figure scorers against the Thunder, an astonishing statistic considering the Thunder's adaptability, breadth of dynamic defenders.

Oklahoma City's depth is more orthodox. The floor-stretcher, the young change-of-pace point guard, the supremeo sixth man who may be asked into the opening five. And Kenrich Williams, when Mark Daigneault is feeling cruel.

The coach puts KW out there to remind his opponents and his own players that the Thunder can win handily while giving up a position on offense. Williams sets enough screens and whips enough passes to make things work, together their Thunder often work better with Kenrich out there, facilitating.

Does Caruso lose the sixth man role and start? He didn't shoot in the first half in Game 6, didn't score in the entire game. He isn't uncomfortable, anywhere, but T.J. McConnell showcased a joie de vivre going at Caruso above any other defender.

Yet the Thunder starters may need a super-Kenrich Williams (like Alex Caruso) out there, what's that word, facilitating.

Isaiah Hartenstein, I promise you, can facilitate. Hell of a passer. Might be better served passing off the pine.

INTERIOR PLAY

Myles Turner? Watch him. Watch him. If his 36 percent mark from the floor (20 percent from deep) were hurting the Pacers, the Pacers wouldn't be playing on Sunday. If his 27 total rebounds (fifth on the Pacers) seems a li'l skimp, watch how those balls bounced into the hands of Aaron Nesmith, Truck Turner holding everyone back. Ten blocks? How did he get those? All I saw was Turner ably guarding everyone else.

It is hard out there, the Thunder have two centers and Myles is but one center. Imagine these Pacers with the typical 15 minutes per game from (the injured) Isaiah Jackson, hustling down boards and finishing with aplomb, blocking heaps of shots. Whatta what-if.

The Thunder may go small to start Game 7 and why not, Alex Caruso is da bomb. OKC might forget that long line of missed lefty layups the Pacers tossed up while losing Game 5, runner after hopeless runner, Indiana shooting off the wrong leg with the wrong idea, hoping the deadened off-hand touch would inspire the rim to bounce it in. The rim remained unmoved, despite the ball hitting it.

Going small wouldn't be about Caruso but the centers: Chet Holmgren starting, comfortable at his typical position. Isaiah Hartenstein as bench destroyer, lefty middle relief, a role he dominated at until the Knicks made him a starter.

Chet missed a lob dunk during Game 6 and was not happy with himself. Been there, happens to me all the time. This is an exhausting series, after a season in which Holmgren never quite found his wind. All he needs to do is breathe slowly, something he's already done, another time, another Sunday. Remind everyone why we think he'll be a billion-time All-Star.

99

This series averages 99 possessions per game, well atop the usual Finals average, the fastest NBA Finals in decades (with the exception of the blowout-strewn, 2017 Warriors Finals win over Cleveland). It is about what each team averaged in the regular season.

Thank you fellas, and coaching staffs, for this.

LITTLE MINUTES

When Tony Bradley left the floor for the final time in Game 6, midway through the third quarter, I glanced at the box score on the press row monitor. He'd played two minutes in the half and I laughed. Two minutes? Felt like half a day.

Whoever breaks even, wins. Tiny Isaiah Joe minutes, surprise Jaylin Williams appearance, Aaron F. Wiggins, these are the small wonders who must step up.

The Pacers are deeper and have fewer workers spotting small minutes, only Bradley and the biggest question mark of all: Bennedict Mathurin. Worked but five minutes of rotation time in Game 6.

Can his brand of defense keep on the floor in Game 7? Will Mathurin find a place within the Indiana offense in short bursts? Someone's minutes will cost a team the championship on Sunday, I feel terrible about that.

Oh, wait, just realized someone's minutes will win their team a championship on Sunday. Pretty cool.

L'ATTITUDE, BABY

Oklahoma City is too young to wonder why it is still here, playing on June 22nd, sweating over the East's No. 4 seed. The only time they'll think about Game 1 is when they make specific adjustments based off that loss. The only time they'll think about Game 6 is when it comes time to do things they didn't do in Game 6.

One thing they won't do is rue. Too young to rue, but not above developing extreme pressure on themselves. Jump shots are delicate things, especially when they're spinnin' in from 25 feet. It doesn't take much to set them astray.

The Pacers aren't afraid of their season dying. These aren't psychos for this, only farmboys who clearly aren't shook with everything on the line. Indiana somehow worked freely in Game 6, outscoring the visitors 88-50 in a 32-minute stretch.

OKC already knew coup de grâces ain't easy, they were prepared, nothing surprised them. The Thunder know how to close out and did not.

Who takes time to task on Sunday night?

THREE MORE THAN TWO

The Pacers hit 40 percent of threes against Eastern Conference playoff opponents, down to 36.4 percent in the Finals, barely outranking the Thunder.

OKC attempted more threes in the regular season, made more, but these were transition conquests, blowout bursts. Indiana often does better developing the attempt in half-court. Toss in the offensive rebound advantage available for taking (the two teams are virtually tied in offensive rebound percentage), and we have the answer.

The winner of the three-point battle isn't guaranteed victory, but this is Game 7, and these guys are tired. Any make from 25-feet should feel like a minor miracle.

BACKS AGAINST THE WALL?

Eh. I don't think either team has a back against the wall.

The series is tied, each squad can work from a position of strength. Aggression, please, but make it lead somewhere.

BASKETBALL

Best way to do this? Bust early. The team which has to eliminate a 14-point deficit will find its legs somewhat jellified in the attempt.

ESPN's Iman Shumpert – great at this – brought up Shai's ability to gauge when to dig into the muck and dig out a trip to the free throw line. Shumpert reminded that Shai is at his best when the MVP works in the obvious free throw baits with rhythm, not as a point of emphasis. He can't use it as his jab.

Indiana may outlast OKC by keeping plays alive via offensive rebound, limiting turnovers as the contest moves along, and taking advantage of free points while the game is stopped. The last thing an NBA team wants to do all summer is regret a sub-75 percent Finals turn at the free throw line, the Pacers are at 75.8 percent heading into Game 7. A pivotal Game 7. Very important game in these Finals.

Will the Pacers continue to back off the pressure defense? Full-court defensive attention certainly gives the Thunder a head start, rolling down that hill, and it is hard to attrition the heck outta some twentysomethings.

Indiana remained in the frontcourt in Game 6 and laying off was a look the Thunder weren't used to, didn't respond well to. Nothing wrong with making a shot and sending everyone all the way back.

GAME 7

Spring turned to summer on Friday evening. The sport a Canadian gave us to help us through the icks of winter, its four hours of sunshine, will finish on Sunday night and it'll still be light outside.

So, we won. Also, you helped someone do something that's never been done. Although I absolutely would love to imagine Bob Ryan in a VW Golf making his way from Boston to Houston, Sam Smith in a Volvo sedan driving back and forth between Chicago and Salt Lake City.

I could do this for a while. Pete Vecsey in a Fox-body Mustang, Detroit to Portland. David Aldridge's Lexus between San Antonio and Madison Square Garden.

Kelly Dwyer's entry-level Subaru, with the tinted windows because it was his kid's car for a few years, from Indianapolis to Oklahoma City, except it was really Indianapolis to Lafayette to Hoopeston to Oklahoma City.

This, my friends, is the life. And remember who paid for gas. Tippers, new subscribers, every-monthers, last-Novembers, thank you.

The ballgame? Indiana's ability to make hay after taking the ball out of the net, to remain in contests, gives me hope for a good game. All we can ask for is a good game.

The comforts of home versus a traveling upstart, looking to upset the coronation. None of us are dissuaded by 2012 and for good reason, these Thunder are friends, we all expect OKC to be in these Finals for the next decade. Sunday night would be a good start toward helping us explain why.

However it ends, these teams did their job. They left us with summer.

TWO ZACHS, WOW

When I heard Pacers radio announcer Mark Boyle list Game 6's referees, I skipped a bit. I didn't hear the other two refs, but I heard Zach Zarba's name.

His name always stuck out: Zach was the guy calling everything, the NBA's most pedantic ref working his way out of the minor leagues and into the playoff rotation. Perhaps my least-favorite ref, too typical of the "call everything" late aughts.

That was two decades ago. These days? Favorite ref. Doesn't call shit.

When Mark Boyle broadcast his name, I knew that whatever Thursday's outcome was, at least I would agree with most calls.

And if this isn't Zarba's preferred style? If he's only the strictest on-court avatar representing what the NBA wants from its referees? If he's the canary in zebra stripes?

Then, good! The league wants more contact. And, yes, I know the refs don't look like Foot Locker employees anymore.

I'd never shop at Foot Locker. I'm gonna trust a ref? I'd sooner buy sneakers from Mike Breen.

Zach Edey, OK, that's too fast.

Edey, 23, of Memphis, told police he was trying to pass a vehicle as an explanation for speeding.

I am WHOLLY familiar with the area in which Zach Edey was pulled over for doing 101 miles per hour in a 55. In a Kia Sorento.

Kia, Sorento.

I've used the gas station adjacent to where the police cited Edey a trillion times, often on my way to see the Cavaliers or Pistons or the ol' Ft. Wayne Mad Ants. Nice people inside, but I recommend only using it to purchase gas.

No bathrooms. And Brandon isn't a fan.

As someone who spends too many hours of his life on rural Indiana highways, I am accustomed to the frustration in passing slower cars, inconsistent drivers.

Most drivers are loathe to pass, which causes bottlenecks, dangerous backlogs, these roads sometimes require taking advantage of a clear view to pass two or three cars at a time. Big rev of the engine but it's not fun, it's not cool. People are on phones, people are on "things," people just don't care, all plugging away at 44 miles an hour in a 55. Sometimes you have to pass two trucks at a time after a stop light clears, they want you to, they don't want you back there.

(Please, never pass while driving up a hill.)

So, I've had to go 80 on some 55s out here while passing, no small feat for my 152-horsepower engine, and all I want to do is click the cruise control at 60.

Not 101! Zach meant to do that. That was on, purpose. Bored man in a moderately-priced crossover driving way too fast and past mailboxes, past people's houses. Season over, ankle hurts, trying to make it all the way back to Canada way, too quickly. Oof, please don't do that.

Here's the deal, Edey, 23, from Memphis.

You're "from Memphis," now. The next time you are cited inside Indiana police blotter, I want it to be because of illegally tinted windows in your purple Dodge Challenger.

ARROW THROUGH ME

I don't suggest driving through tornado warnings but I've done it twice while driving back from Pacer/Thunder games, regular season and playoffs, and this is the tune I suggest for a steady backing as you try and spot debris and listen for train whistles.

Thanks for reading!