Domantas Sabonis, Justin Holiday will Pacers to thrilling OT win over Thunder

OKLAHOMA CITY – Pacers big man Domantas Sabonis returned from a four-game hiatus due to a sprained left ankle, and alongside swingman Justin Holiday, willed Indiana to a 113-110 overtime win over Oklahoma City on Friday night. Sabonis, facing his former team, registered his fifth triple-double of the season, and Holiday came up clutch in the extra period to help the Pacers escape Paycom Center with their sixth road victory of the year.

Sabonis tied the game at 100 on a put-back layup with 55.6 seconds left in regulation, and after falling behind by six points in overtime on two 3s by Thunder guard Lu Dort, Indiana rallied to take a 111-110 lead that was capped off by Justin Holiday. The veteran swingman stole the ball from Dort and scored the go-ahead fast-break layup with 40.8 seconds left.

Injury report: Pacers Chris Duarte (ankle), Goga Bitadze (foot) hurt in OT win over Thunder

"We've been talking about playing together, being there for one another, being able to help each other with stunts and shifts, and I was in my gap and in my shift," Holiday said. "And when I saw (Dort) driving, usually I'm getting ready to get out to go to my man, but I saw he wasn't gonna pass the ball. I didn't want to steal it initially but the ball happened to be there, so I put my hand out and got it. And thank God I did and got the layup."

Oklahoma City's Tre Mann stole a pass by Indiana's Jeremy Lamb with 10.8 seconds left, leading to two potential game-winning shots for the Thunder in the closing seconds. Mann missed a layup, and teammate Mike Muscala missed the ensuing tip shot. After Muscala's miss, Indiana's Oshae Brissett tipped the ball out near the 3-point line, and Holiday grabbed the rebound and made two free throws with 6.5 seconds remaining to seal the win.

"We got a bit lucky there on the last possession when they had two easy shots, but that's basketball," Sabonis said. "Sometimes it goes in. Sometimes it doesn't.

Pacers swingman Torrey Craig fouled Muscala on the next possession to negate a game-tying 3, and he missed both free throws with 3.1 seconds left as the Thunder lost their seventh straight game.

Sabonis totaled 24 points, 18 rebounds and 10 assists for his 18th career triple-double. Holiday finished with 22 points and a game-high four 3s.

Aside from his ill-advised pass that was intercepted by Mann in the closing seconds, Lamb stepped up in overtime and went on a personal 5-0 run to cut the Thunder's lead to one point with 1:46 remaining. He had 14 points, four assists and three rebounds off the bench.

"There's so many events in an NBA game. There are thousands of events," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. " ... Each event can have an amazing amount of meaning in the game, and so when mistakes happen, you gotta be able to process them very quickly and move on to the next play, both if you're a player and a coach or an official.

"It was a night of many frustrations, but in the end it was a night of great joy because of how the guys stuck to it and stuck together."

Carlisle commended Sabonis, Holiday and Lamb, as well as Caris LeVert and Terry Taylor.

LeVert had one of his worst games of the season, shooting 3-for-19 from the field and 1-for-7 on 3-pointers during a 10-point performance. However, he scored five points in the fourth quarter, including his lone 3 that gave Indiana a 94-91 lead.

Taylor, who scored his first NBA points in Wednesday's loss to the Hornets, played the first meaningful minutes of his budding career. The undrafted rookie out of Austin Peay has starred with Indiana's G League affiliate, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, averaging a league-high 29.8 points and 12.0 rebounds through four regular-season games. Taylor subbed in for Sabonis and had eight points on 4-for-6 shooting and five rebounds in seven minutes.

"He's become really the most productive player in the G League, and (Friday) he was a winning player for us, so that's awful good work," Carlisle said. "Terry's done an incredible amount of work to get himself to the point where he's ready to step into an NBA game and seamlessly compete and not make obvious rookie type (of) mistakes. He flowed with the game."

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers Sabonis and Justin Holiday willed the Indiana win, 113-110