The Pacers lost key player Tyrese Haliburton to a leg injury just seven minutes into the contest when he slipped and fell while driving towards the basket, but still held a narrow 48-47 lead at half-time.

However, the Thunder, who with an average age of 25.6 are the youngest side to win an NBA Finals title since the Portland Trail Blazers in 1977, out-scored them 34-20 in the third quarter and pushed the lead out to as many as 22 points (90-68) in the fourth.

“It doesn’t feel real, so many hours, so many moments, so many emotions, so many nights of disbelief,” said Gilgeous-Alexander.

“It’s crazy to know that we’re all here. But this group worked for it, this group put in the hours and we deserved this.”

“Our togetherness on and off the court, like how much fun we have, it made it so much easier. It made it feel like we were just kids playing basketball. It was so fun.

“We have a lot to grow, individually and as a group. I’m excited for the future of this team. This is a great start. I’m really excited for this team.”

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — At 4-foot-11, Kristin Chenoweth is still making it to the NBA Finals.

The award-winning actress, singer, Oklahoma native, Oklahoma Hall of Fame inductee and unabashed Thunder fan is performing “The Star-Spangled Banner” before Game 7 of the title series between the Thunder and the Indiana Pacers on Sunday night, the NBA announced.

Chenoweth’s performance will air live on ABC at 8 p.m. Eastern, shortly before tipoff of the season’s final game.

She teased the appearance on social media Saturday, revealing — while wearing Thunder gear — that she was in Oklahoma City, then said she better “start warming up” and sang the first few notes of the national anthem.

Chenoweth’s Thunder fandom has been no secret since the franchise’s early years, though she also has professed at times to liking the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks as well. That said, the Thunder are clearly her top choice — so much so that she once told the Tulsa World she spent three hours bedazzling a Thunder hat. She went to Oklahoma City University after growing up in Broken Arrow, about 115 miles northeast of where the Thunder play.

And her dog’s name is Thunder. She even dressed the pup up once in a Thunder outfit.

Chenoweth has been the anthem singer at multiple Thunder games in the past, sometimes alone and at least once with children from her Chenoweth Broadway Bootcamp. That camp is part of the arts and education fund that she founded to cultivate “young artistic expression by enriching children’s lives through the power of education, entertainment and experience.”

Chenoweth won a Tony Award in 1999 for best leading actress in a musical for her role in “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.” She also earned two other Tony nominations for best leading actress in a musical — one in 2004 for playing Glinda in “Wicked” and the other in 2015 for playing 1930s Hollywood diva Lily Garland in “On the Twentieth Century.”

And in 2009, she won an Emmy for best supporting actress in a comedy series for her work on ABC’s “Pushing Daisies.”

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba

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