Juan Carlo Mercado

And in the silence of Tyrese Haliburton’s absence, the Oklahoma City Thunder roared.

Turning their foes’ mishaps into a golden opportunity, the Thunder stormed in the second half, manhandling the Indiana Pacers amid Haliburton’s first-quarter injury, 103-91, to snatch their maiden NBA title at the Chesapeake Arena, June 23.

Photo Courtesy of Reuters.

The second half saw the Thunder’s offensive prowess on premium as they pounced over Haliburton’s absence, who tore his Achilles in the first frame, en route to the franchise’s second NBA title and their first since relocating from Seattle to Oklahoma City.

Leading OKC to its first chip, MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander seized the Finals MVP with a double-double burst of 29 markers and 12 dimes, being the 11th player in NBA history to take home both the Regular Season MVP and the Finals MVP.

"It doesn't feel real," said Gilgeous-Alexander in a post-game interview.

"So many hours, so many moments, so many emotions, so many nights of disbelief, so many nights of belief. It's crazy to know that we're all here, but this group worked for it. This group put in the hours, and we deserve this," he added.

In their most important game seven, the Thunder played it safe and tangoed with the Pacers in the opening salvo, trading shots and mirroring on defense, until Haliburton suffered an Achilles injury with 4:55 left.

Albeit the brutal situation for the Pacers, they still brought the fight back to the Thunder until the end of the first half, courtesy of Andrew Nembhard and TJ McConnell’s perimeter offense and Paskal Siakam’s inside presence, to eke out a slim 48-47 lead.

But without Haliburton in the long run, the Thunder capitalized on the advantage and stormed the third quarter with a 9-3 run, sparked by Jalen William’s tough layup, followed by two consecutive triples by SGA and Williams, erecting a 65-56 gap.

Although McConnell proved his grit with eight quick points in response, 66-70, OKC and Cason Wallace’s prolific scoring closed the third canto with a double-digit 81-68 lead.

From there, SGA had to do all he could to orchestrate OKC’s offense with open shots and timely passes in the final quarter to ink his name into history.

Their elite defensive rating status of 106.0, which allowed the fewest points per 100 possessions, also gave them the edge in this match, displaying one of the best perimeter defensive schemes in the league.

Behind the MVP’s performance was Jalen Williams, who stormed out with 20 points and quadruple rebounds, while Chet Holmgren provided 18 points and eight boards, and Alex Caruso, who provided the intangibles for OKC, finished with 10 markers and three rebounds.

Meanwhile, the Pacers struggled to nurse their way back into the game after Haliburton’s departure, with Benedict Mathurin’s double-double of 24 and 13 and McConnell and Siakam’s 16 points apiece failing to keep their championship hopes afloat.