NBA FINALS: THUNDER VS. PACERS

June 19, 2025

Obi Toppin

Indiana Pacers

Game 6: Postgame

Indiana Pacers 108, Oklahoma City Thunder 91

Q. Obi, can you explain what it's like to play with T.J. McConnell, the steal in the first quarter, you hit the three, a couple more after that, but that moment to get you all back on track.

OBI TOPPIN: It's no surprise what T.J. does out there. Any time he comes into the game, the crowd loves him, and he feeds off of that. He had a great start to the game, and it got us going. Brought juice into the game, energy into the game, and it has been like that the whole game.

So, I feel like he was a big part of this win today.

Q. After Game 5, the first thing Coach Carlisle wanted to talk about was turnovers, and you guys reduced those significantly tonight. Is there anything you guys saw on film the last couple days or any adjustments you feel like you made in that area to reduce the number of turnovers tonight?

OBI TOPPIN: Yeah, like you just said, we watched film and it tells us what we do. They don't put too many good clips up on the film.

Like you said, we just watched film and knew we had to be better today.

Q. What adjustments tonight do you think made the biggest difference to force Game 7?

OBI TOPPIN: Just came in here with the energy we needed. We had the amazing crowd, amazing fans, best fans in the world who helped us throughout this whole game, and we just went out there and did what we had to do to get the win.

Q. A few years ago, you had a chance to, in a way, play for a championship, at least in the NCAA Tournament, with a special Dayton Flyers team and that got taken away from you because of COVID.

OBI TOPPIN: Yeah.

Q. Are there similarities between that special team in 2020 and this team right now? And take me through your emotions as you're getting ready to play for a championship knowing that just a few years ago, you had a special team that never got that chance.

OBI TOPPIN: Yeah, that 2020 Dayton year was definitely upsetting because we didn't get to the Tournament.

But we don't know what could have happened that whole tournament. I felt like we would have won if we played.

But to have this opportunity playing at the highest stage, just finished Game 6 in the NBA Finals and going on to Game 7, there's not a lot of Game 7s that happen. So, to have this opportunity to play in a Game 7 with this team is a blessing and wouldn't want to do it with any other team.

Q. Other than Dayton?

OBI TOPPIN: Other than the 2020 Dayton Flyers, yes.

Q. You mention not wanting to go battle it out with any other team, other than that team and this one of course. How would you describe the character of this team and outside the game of basketball, how this group of guys helped you even outside of the game?

OBI TOPPIN: We are just super resilient and we're hungry. We got a taste of what the Eastern Conference Finals was last year, but we knew we could get back to the Eastern Conference Finals and to the Finals this year.

Like I said, we are just hungry. We all work extremely hard every single day to allow the success that we had, and we're not done. We're going to keep working. Got one more game. Last game of the year coming up. So going to look at the film, get better and be prepared for Game 7.

Q. It's a two-parter. One, how much work goes into you putting in -- you got a lot of shots up in pregame and those shots were falling for you tonight? And how much does last year's experience of being down 3-2 against the Knicks where you guys came back and won, how much does that help you this year knowing you're going to do something similar?

OBI TOPPIN: That first question, I'm always in the gym getting shots up, putting in that work. Just because I know the more work I put in, the better I play out there on the floor when it matters.

And second question, I don't even remember the second question. What was it?

Q. Your resilience, coming back from 3-2.

OBI TOPPIN: Yeah, facts. We had to go back to New York for Game 7 last year, and got the job done.

But like I said, we are just a hungry team, and everybody wants to win. But I feel like we want it more. Like we want to go out there and show the world we're going to get as much love as everybody else in this NBA world. We just try to go out there and do it for everybody within this circle and that's why we love each other and have so much success.

Q. You guys were 1-4, 10-15, could you have envisioned that back then and when did you start seeing the makings of a championship contender this season?

OBI TOPPIN: From the beginning of the year. Like I said, we had a little bit of success last year getting to the Eastern Conference Finals, but I knew it was going to be a good year because nobody was excited for just getting to the Eastern Conference Finals. Everybody knew we should have been in the Finals. Like we handed Boston a couple of wins.

So to have this opportunity this year, like I said, everybody worked extremely hard in the offseason and this whole year to be in the positions we are in now.

Q. Tyrese is out there toughing it out with the injury. How did he look to you and what did it mean to you guys?

OBI TOPPIN: I felt like he did amazing today. He led us to a win, and he's a soldier. He's not going to let no little injury hold him back from playing in the Finals and helping this team win. He's helped us get to this point, and he's going to keep going until he can't.

Q. You mentioned the feeling with the group at the beginning of the season. What part did it play when you guys went to Pascal's place and spent those days, spending that kind of time, when you went to Orlando, as far as setting the tone and getting everybody in the same kind of mindset, how meaningful was that experience?

OBI TOPPIN: Super meaningful. Pascal is a great guy. Welcomed all of us with open arms into his space, and he's been in this position before. Like he's been in the Finals. He's won the Finals. So, he knows what it takes.

And he understood the team that we had last year, we could have been in this position. We could have been in the Finals. And so he made us understand that we didn't want to be happy just losing -- or losing in the Eastern Conference Finals. He knew what it took to get here.

So he instilled that in all of our minds and we all knew what we had to do to get to this point. So we worked all year to be able to have this success.