Indiana Pacers' Championship Hopes Denied in Thrilling Game 7 Loss

The Indiana Pacers' championship hopes were denied in a thrilling Game 7 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, 103-91.

The Thunder won the series 4-3, taking home the NBA title.

"We kept just battling because we wanted to make Indiana proud," said Pacers forward Pascal Siakam. "We wanted to make our fans proud. And we tried our best. But at the end of the day, you win some. You lose some. And we just got to be strong and keep going, and I told everyone, I love every single one of these guys and I wouldn't do it with anybody else."

"Deflated, but proud of everything we've accomplished," said Pacers guard T.J. McConnell. "There's no award for second place, obviously."

"I'm very, very proud of each of my teammates," said Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin. "They fought very, very hard, and as much as I would want a different outcome, I think that we were able to have a lot of fun and create a lot of memories."

"I'm very proud," said Pacers center Thomas Bryant. "There's no words to say how proud I am of this team, through the resiliency of the up and down season, of coming back from being doubted, and being able to get to the Finals, man, that's amazing. That's an amazing accomplishment. It just sucks we couldn't get the job done."

"Of course I'm proud of everyone in this locker room individually and collectively as a group, as an organization to get to this point," said Pacers center Myles Turner. "But, again, there's no moral victories here. We lost. At least that's the way I look at it."

Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton suffered a right lower leg injury in the first quarter of Game 7 and did not return to the game. His father later confirmed the injury was an Achilles strain.

Mathurin led the Pacers with 24 points, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had a game-high 29 points for the Thunder.

The loss marked the end of the Pacers' first NBA Finals appearance since 2000.