Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle described his team's performance as "the ultimate game" in their Game 6 rout of the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals. 

Indiana knew a victory was a must to stop Oklahoma clinching the title, and they put on an impressive display to emerge 108-91 victors to force the series into a deciding match. 

Tyrese Haliburton played through his strained right calf and registered 14 points and five assists as Obi Toppin led the Pacers with 20 points and was 4 for 7 on 3-pointers. 

Andrew Nembhard notched 17 points, Pascal Siakam had 16 points and 13 rebounds, and T.J. McConnell finished with 12 points, nine rebounds, six assists and four steals.

But the Pacers started slowly in the game, missing their first eight shots as Oklahoma raced into a 10-2 lead, but Indiana were able to rally and take a 21-11 lead. 

They also managed to hold the Thunder to 91 points, their fewest in any game since April 2022, leaving Carlisle impressed with their display ahead of Game 7 this Sunday. 

"The ultimate game," Carlisle said of his team's victory, which will see the NBA Finals go to Game 7 for the first time since 2016 when the Cleveland Cavaliers claimed the title. 

one more to decide a champion. pic.twitter.com/bEbkV7UZif

— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) June 20, 2025

Much of the talk leading up to the game was about the fitness of Haliburton, who had averaged 15 points, 7.2 assists and 6.2 rebounds through the first five games of the series. 

He briefly exited Tuesday's 120-109 defeat to the Thunder in Game 5 after he aggravated an existing injury in his calf in the first quarter of the contest. 

The team officially listed him as questionable for Game 6 when they submitted their injury report, but Haliburton said there was little doubt that he would play on Thursday. 

"I just look at it as I want to be out there to compete with my brothers," said Haliburton. "These are guys that I'm willing to go to war with.

"We've had such a special year. We have a special bond as a group. I'd beat myself up if I didn't give it a chance."

Haliburton also revealed that he told Carlisle to replace him from the game if he was hindering his team, but his contributions helped the Pacers save their season. 

"He's super important to us," Carlisle said. "The big thing was just there wasn't a lot of drama. He was straightforward. He didn't want a lot of attention. He was doing everything possible to be able to play."

Still, in the aftermath of their victory, Haliburton cautioned his team not to follow the "narratives" heading into Game 7. Home teams are 15-4 in Game 7s in the NBA Finals.

"The narratives are going to be almost poison," Haliburton said. "To talk about what this would mean to our city and our organisation and legacy talk, and we played so well and now the pressure is on [OKC]. There's going to be narratives that we can't really pay attention to.

"We've got to control what we can. So much of these games has come down to who is going to start the fight from a physicality standpoint, take care of the ball better and rebound the ball better.

"Those are the important things that we need to focus on. I don't even want to say, celebrate this one tonight and move on. It's done with. We did our job to take care of home court, and we have to be ready to compete in Game 7."