Normally, it would be holy to root the Pacers – especially an Indiana team that eliminated the Knicks in consecutive years.

But these circumstances forced betrayal from New York to every city outside a small bag in the southwest. No one expected the Pacers to get to the NBA final, let alone reach Game 7. It was aspinderellas, and then they flirted with a new Disney film After Tyrese Haliburton’s Achilles exploded in Sunday night’s first half.

But their magic had in the second half of the Thunder’s Crowning Victory103-91. The Pacers hung around longer than most thought, and took a one-point lead in the break and their Bulldog backup, TJ McConnell, fit in an excited third term.

McConnell is the personification of an underdog. He is small, he has become unconditional, he has never even plunged into the NBA. And in Game 7 of the final, McConnell retired in the place of Haliburton, dropping all his 16 points in the third quarter.