Home, and cookin'

 Sometimes the magic works. Sometimes it doesn't.

-- Old Lodgeskins, "Little Big Man"

Which is to say, this looks like a fight to the finish now. And the Blob was wrong, wrong, wrong again.

Figured after watching Oklahoma City dismantle the Indiana Pacers in Game 2 of the NBA Finals my prediction -- Thunder in five -- might still be on target, but of course I didn't figure on Old Lodgeskins' magic. Or, in this case, that ol' Jimmy Chitwood, rim-on-the-side-of-a-barn, sun-setting-over-cornfields magic.

In other words, Hoosiers gonna Hoosier. Or "Hoosiers" gonna Hoosier. Something.

Anyway, it was Pacers 116, Thunder 107 in Indianapolis last night. And if this didn't look like much of a series before, it does now.

And it's about time.

That's because after the Pacers flat stole Game 1 and were floor-waxed by 16 in Game 2, the Finals came back to the Basketball State as an imposter. Yes, the series was tied at a game apiece. But it felt like 2-0, Thunder.

And then ...

And then, well, last night happened. 

Down five with a quarter to play, the Pacers outscored the Thunder 32-18 in the fourth to win going away, led by the usual suspects and one not-quite-as-usual suspect. Tyrese Haliburton was Tyrese Haliburton -- his line was 22 points, nine rebounds and 11 boards -- and Pascal Siakam was Pascal Siakam, going for 21 points, six boards and four assists. But once again Indiana went to its bench for the clincher.

That was Bennedict Mathurin, a 6-5 shooting guard who'd played 27 minutes and scored 19 points in the first two games. Last night that glancing blow turned into a left hook out of the Joe Frazier collection: 27 points on 9-of-12 shooting in 22 minutes. Along with T.J. McConnell's 10-point, five-assist, five-steal night, it was another banner evening for the Pacers reserves.

And the Thunder?

They got big numbers from their big three, but virtually nothing else. Jalen Williams (26 points, six rebounds, three assists), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (24, eight and four) and Chet Holmgren (a 20/10 double-double) combined for 70 points, 24 boards and nine assists. The rest of the team?

Thirty-seven, 18 and six.

It wasn't enough. And it's not going to be enough, because this deal is going six games now and likely the full seven, and as usual momentum is a rumor. The Thunder were in control; now they're not. The Pacers were cookin' at home in Game 3; in Game 4 ... well, who knows?

Because sometimes the magic works, and sometimes it doesn't. Truth.