The Pacers were merely minutes away from gaining a commanding 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals. All they had to do was hold on to their seven-point fourth-quarter lead and not let OKC make a comeback. But unlike their previous playoff encounters, where Tyrese Haliburton and Co. utilized their fast pace and elite playmaking to their advantage, they struggled to get anything going on offense late in tonight’s game. As a result, they got outscored 31-17 in the final period, and OKC stole a crucial win on the road.

As expected, Haliburton was not pleased with his group’s performance and expressed frustration during the postgame presser, “Yeah, we gotta do a better job. I gotta do a better job of keeping pace in the game. Thought I did a much better job of that last game, you know specially down the stretch, keeping pace, getting rebounds, and really pushing. I think we gotta do a better job of when we do get stops, getting out and running.”

In Game 3, Haliburton was in complete control of the Pacers’ offense, as he dropped a 22-point double-double. Not only was it his highest scoring game of the series, but he also created several open baskets for his teammates. But tonight, he failed to deliver when his team needed him the most. Throughout the entire fourth quarter, Pacers had only one assist, mainly due to Hali’s struggles. He continued, “Lot of times in that fourth, we were fouling too much, taking the ball out, having to kind of run something versus just random basketball. So, I gotta do a better job there.”

Well, Pacers function the best when their opponents’ defense is scattered and they create plays on the fly. But they were unable to execute in the fourth quarter due to constant stoppages and shooting struggles. They missed all eight of their three-point attempts in that period. Sure enough, Haliburton was also unhappy about giving away a commanding lead at home, “Frustrating of course. You want to win that game. Especially a game at home where like you said, you have the lead late. But that’s not just how the cookie crumbled today… 17-point fourth quarter after offensive success we had all game I think it really shows we gotta do a better job moving the ball. And I think that starts with me.” What’s even more surprising about Pacers’ loss is that even their ‘lucky charm’ Caitlin Clark’s presence could not rescue them.

Caitlin Clark’s lucky streak ends as Tyrese Haliburton vows to be better in Game 5

For years, Caitlin has been one of the biggest Pacers’ supporters. Of course, she is the face of Indiana’s women’s squad and wishes the best for her city and its teams. So naturally, while she has been sidelined from WNBA action due to a quad injury, the Fever star has been a constant presence at Pacers game throughout their historic playoff run.

Moreover, she has turned into somewhat of a lucky charm for the team. Prior to tonight, Pacers were undefeated in the eight games that Clark attended during these playoffs. Unfortunately, that streak came to a heartbreaking end as OKC beat the Indiana team by seven points. Now, Pacers’ record is 8-1 with Caitlin in attendance.

After losing tonight’s game despite their ‘lucky charm’s’ presence, Haliburton knows that a performance like tonight is not going to cut it against an elite team like Thunder. That’s why he vowed to work on his mistakes during the break and come out stronger for Monday’s Game 5 in OKC, “Watch film, see where I can get better. But yeah, that’s on me. I gotta get us playing faster down the stretch and I’ll be better Game 5… I feel like, myself personally, I could be a lot better for us as a group and we just got to get more stops down the stretch.”

With the series now level, OKC has regained their home court advantage and for the Pacers to become champions, Hali knows that his team needs to win at least one in enemy territory, “We gotta be ready to go Game 5, obviously going into a hostile environment, we gotta be ready to play. For us to win, we’re gonna have to win one down there. So, we gotta be ready to go and we got a couple of days to sit on this, watch film, see where we can get better and yeah, I’m excited about the challenge.” Do you think Pacers can correct their mistakes and steal another game on the road to regain their lead?