The Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder are tied at two games apiece in the NBA Finals, though the Thunder hold home-court advantage and have the momentum.

Larry Bird delivered on his promise after the NBA Finals ended 25 years ago, leaving his post as the Indiana Pacers head coach despite coming within two games of a championship victory — a decision that crushed the hearts of Indy fans who already had to deal with the anguish of defeat.

Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle offered an impassioned and somewhat unprompted defense of referee Scott Foster, evidently aware of mountains of online criticism.

In the playoffs thus far, Mathurin has been averaging 11.1 points on .504/.326/.865 shooting splits, plus 2.5 rebounds and 0.7 assists. He's converting the aforementioned 86.5 percent of his free throws while attempting 4.7 takes per bout, which makes it all the more disconcerting that he couldn't nail his attempts late.