Thunder beat Pacers to clinch first NBA Finals crown

The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Indiana Pacers 103-91 on Sunday to clinch the franchise's first NBA Finals crown with a 4-3 series victory.

NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points to seal an emphatic win against a Pacers side who lost talisman Tyrese Haliburton to a first-quarter injury.

The NBA championship was the first won by the Thunder since the franchise relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008. Their only other title came in 1979 when the team were the Seattle Supersonics.

Indiana had taken the best-of-seven series to a decider with a battling victory in game six last Thursday, when Haliburton fought through a calf strain to inspire a 108-91 win.

That left the Pacers needing to reproduce a repeat of their game one win on the road at top seeds Oklahoma City to clinch their own maiden NBA title.

But the scale of the task before the Pacers became even more daunting after Haliburton crumpled to the Paycom Center court in agony in the first quarter before limping out of the game.

The Pacers said Haliburton had suffered a "lower right leg injury", although ESPN cited the player's father as saying his son had suffered an Achilles injury.

Although the Pacers battled bravely to lead 48-47 at half-time, the Thunder pulled away, outscoring Indiana 34-20 to open up a hefty 13-point lead heading into the final quarter.

The Thunder were in no mood to let that advantage slip and they led by as many as 22 points in the fourth quarter before holding on to win.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was named NBA Finals Most Valuable Player on Sunday after leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to a title-clinching victory over the Indiana Pacers.

The 26-year-old Canadian star becomes the first player since LeBron James in 2012-2013 to win both the NBA regular season MVP and Finals MVP in the same campaign.

"For me this is a win for my family, it's a win for my friends, it's a win for everybody that was in my corner growing up," Gilgeous-Alexander said after the Thunder's 103-91 win.

"It means everything. This is why you play the sport - you play every sport to win. We have a team full of competitors, we did what it took to be champions and we deserve this. We rose to the moment and here we are."

The Thunder star joins an exclusive club of only 11 players to have achieved the feat which includes James, Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Moses Malone, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Willis Reed.

Gilgeous-Alexander produced a dazzling performance in Sunday's game seven decider in Oklahoma City, finishing with 29 points, 12 assists and five rebounds, a pair of blocked shots and a steal.

Indiana star Tyrese Haliburton was starting a move toward the basket, and his right leg didn't seem to move with him.

And the ensuing scene was heartbreaking for the Pacers.

Haliburton — who was playing with a strained right calf — tumbled to the court in a heap, immediately began punching the floor in frustration and needed to be helped to the locker room in Game 7 of the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday night.

Indiana had a one-point lead at halftime, but in the end, the Pacers lost their best player, then their verve, then their shot at the NBA title. The Thunder won 103-91, after the Pacers managed only 43 points in the second half.

John Haliburton, Tyrese's father, told ABC late in the first half it was an Achilles tendon injury, as the replays of the play clearly indicated. An MRI is still likely to confirm that, but there are simple tests — without a need for imaging — that doctors typically use to determine whether there is a serious injury to the tendon.

The Pacers quickly ruled out Haliburton for the rest of Game 7 with that they called a lower right leg injury, and replays appeared to show something popping in the back of his leg. The injury happened with 4:55 left in the first quarter.

Haliburton put no weight on the leg and had his face wrapped in towels as he was taken to the Pacers’ locker room for evaluation. Virtually the entire Indiana playing, coaching and medical staff surrounded him on the court once he got hurt. Even Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander quickly went over, touched Haliburton on the head as the Pacers guard lay face-down on the court and offered a kind word.

“It's a heartbreak, man,” Pacers center Myles Turner told ABC during an in-game interview after the opening period. “It's unfortunate ... but we've got his back.”

Haliburton, who had been dealing with leg issues in the series and had the calf issue flare up in Game 5, had been getting all sorts of treatment to get the calf in good enough shape for him to play in the last two games of the NBA Finals. He played well in Game 6, and Game 7 started promisingly — with Haliburton making three deep 3-pointers.

And then he was gone.

“I think I have to be as smart as I want to be,” Haliburton said before Game 6 last week. “Have to understand the risks, ask the right questions. I’m a competitor. I want to play. I’m going to do everything in my power to play. That’s just what it is.”

John Haliburton told ABC sideline reporter Lisa Salters that his son was surrounded by family and watching the game in the Pacers' locker room.

“He said that Tyrese is doing as well as he can be under the circumstances,” Salters said on the broadcast.