Field Level Media
Nov 12, 2019
T.J. Warren scored 23 points as the Indiana Pacers took advantage of a dominant third quarter to cruise to a 111-85 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday in Indianapolis.
Warren shot 10 of 14 from the field and Indiana made 71 percent of its attempts from the floor in the third quarter to record its seventh win in eight games.
Malcolm Brogdon added 20 points and former Thunder forward Domantas Sabonis notched his fifth straight double-double with 18 points and 16 rebounds for the Pacers, who outscored Oklahoma City 34-20 in the third quarter.
Danilo Gallinari scored 14 points and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 11 for Oklahoma City, which shot 1-for-18 from 3-point range over the first three quarters. The Thunder finished 6 of 25 from beyond the arc en route to losing their second straight and dropping three of their last four games.
The Thunder's Steven Adams finished with 10 points in 19 minutes after missing the previous game with a left knee contusion -- an injury that has seen him sit three games in the last two weeks.
Oklahoma City was able to trim its deficit to 10 at halftime before failing to keep pace with sharp-shooting Indiana in the third quarter.
Warren made three short jumpers before Sabonis added one as the Pacers scored 15 of the first 23 points in the third quarter en route to claiming a 67-50 lead.
Deonte Burton drained a jumper to cut Indiana's lead to 69-56 at 5:38 of the third quarter, but the Pacers heated up from the perimeter with Aaron Holiday sinking a pair of 3-pointers to highlight an 11-0 run that effectively put the game away.
Brogdon scored nine quick points to give Indiana a 19-16 lead, with his 3-pointer igniting his team's 15-6 run.
Oklahoma City trimmed its deficit to four early in the second quarter before the Pacers regained their form, highlighted by Brogdon making a layup, two foul shots and a pullup jumper to propel his team to a 52-37 advantage.
Thunder guard Hamidou Diallo had just two points while starting in place of Terrance Ferguson, who did not make the trip to Indiana due to what the team announced as personal reasons.
--Field Level Media