Indiana

WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Kamala Harris says she would have picked Pete Buttigieg as her running mate last year but America wasn’t ready for the pairing, according to an excerpt of her new book.

Harris writes in an excerpt of “107 Days” published Wednesday in The Atlantic that former President Biden’s transportation secretary was her “first choice,” adding that he “would have been an ideal partner — if I were a straight white man.”

“But we were already asking a lot of America: to accept a woman, a Black woman, a Black woman married to a Jewish man. Part of me wanted to say, Screw it, let’s just do it. But knowing what was at stake, it was too big of a risk,” she writes.

Her thoughts on selecting a running mate come as potential 2028 contenders begin traveling the U.S. in the early days of the second Trump administration.

In the book excerpt, she writes about her love of working with Buttigieg and her friendship with him and his husband, but that the two of them on the Democratic ticket would have been too risky.

“And I think Pete also knew that — to our mutual sadness,” she writes.

It wasn’t immediately clear at what point she decided against Buttigieg, a former South Bend, Indiana, mayor and former intelligence officer in the Navy Reserves. Buttigieg emerged as a national political figure during his 2020 presidential run in which he finished atop the Iowa caucuses.

The Associated Press didn’t immediately hear back from a spokesperson for Buttigieg.

After Biden dropped out of the presidential race in July 2024 following a disastrous debate performance, Harris was left to head up the Democratic ticket.

She picked Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate after his attack line against former President Donald Trump and his running mate, then-Ohio Sen. JD Vance — “These guys are just weird” — spread widely. They ultimately lost.

Harris’ book, whose title is referencing the length of her condensed presidential campaign, is set to be published by Simon & Schuster on Tuesday.

COLLEGE PARK, Ga. — The Sparks inched closer to playoff elimination on Friday night.

Rhyne Howard tied the WNBA record with nine 3-pointers and finished with 37 points, Atlanta tied the team record with 19 3s and the Dream beat the Sparks 104-85.

Howard had three attempts at the record, which she already shared with Kelsey Mitchell (2019), Jewell Loyd (2023) and Arike Ogunbowale (2024). She is the first two accomplish the feat twice, both this season.

Atlanta (28-14), which clinched home-court advantage for the first round of the playoffs, tied the team record on Jordin Canada’s shot with 1:44 to play. New York hit 19 3-pointers twice this season and Las Vegas had 23 3s in a playoff game.

The Sparks’ Dearica Hamby shoots the ball under pressure from the Dream’s Brittney Griner during the second quarter at Gateway Center Arena in College Park, Ga., on Friday.

(Paras Griffin / Getty Images)

Maya Caldwell hit five 3s and scored 19 points for Atlanta and Brionna Jones added 12. The Dream were 19 for 39 from the arc. Howard was 9 for 17 and Caldwell 5 for 7.

Dearica Hamby scored 26 points on 11-for-15 shooting for the Sparks (19-22), who are 2 1/2 games behind Indiana in seventh place in the standings and Seattle in eighth. The Fever and Storm have an easier remaining schedules as they push to become one of the league’s eight playoff teams.

Kelsey Plum added 20 points and Rickea Jackson 17 for the Sparks.

The Sparks tied the score at 64 on Hamby’s layup in the middle of the third quarter but then the Dream reeled off 13 straight, which included back-to-back 3s by Caldwell and Howard’s eighth 3.

Howard’s record-tying 3, with 28.7 seconds left, made it 85-71. Caldwell had 11 points in the third quarter and Atlanta led 85-72.

Howard made five 3s in the first quarter, seven in the first half when she had 29 points and the Dream led 56-52.

The Sparks are home against Dallas on Sunday.

COLUMBUS, Ind. — The welcome sign on State Road 46 promises “Unexpected” and “Unforgettable.” It stands above an outsize tribute to NASCAR champion Tony Stewart, with 10 full lines listing the accomplishments of the hometown racing hero nicknamed “Smoke.”

A smaller metal plate was added after the 2016 election. “Hometown of Michael R. Pence,” reads the three-line tribute. “United States Vice President.”

The marker for this Indiana city’s most famous son hadn’t been up long when the phone calls to City Hall began. Some people wanted to know why the sign wasn’t bigger. Others wondered whether Pence merited a sign at all.

The vice president who likes to say he is “a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order,” claims deep roots and loyalties in the small, ambitious city of about 48,000 where he grew up. But in an adulthood that has taken him mostly to Indianapolis and Washington, he returns now to a hometown growing in unexpected and often progressive directions.

The values that molded Pence, a former congressman and Indiana governor, first loom into view on the drive into Columbus. Billboards decry the evil of abortion. One, awash in flames, suggests passersby have two choices: the Holy Bible or an eternity in hell.

Campaign signs that read “Jesus 2020” seem as prevalent as any on the expansive lawns north of Columbus’ downtown. To the faithful over at the Moose Lodge car rally and outside the evangelical church where Pence still drops in, the vice president embodies what one construction worker called “the beliefs that we hold dear.” Added Brian Shelton, getting ready to hop on his Harley-Davidson after church services: “God, guns and freedom. You know?”

Though those imperatives still unite much of Columbus, the insular city that Pence mostly left behind after his 1977 high school graduation has seen its politics bending, slowly but steadily, along a more liberal arc.

Then-Rep. Mike Pence kicks off his campaign for governor of Indiana in his hometown of Columbus in 2011, promising to fight Democrats’ healthcare and climate change legislation.

(Michael Conroy / Associated Press)

Columbus’ population has grown by more than 80% since he left, with foreign workers streaming into one of the most manufacturing-intensive counties in America. And the city government has rejected some of the hard-right social conservatism that Pence has made his signature.

As the state’s governor from 2013 to 2017, Pence signed a law that advocates said would allow businesses to deny service to gays and lesbians; Columbus parried with an ordinance protecting the LGBTQ community from discrimination. Pence approved a ban on immigration by refugees from Syria; his old church fought to let them in. And while Pence railed about the “societal collapse” that would follow if traditional marriage withered, his hometown and its biggest company approved employee benefits for same-sex spouses.

Glen Pannell plays “Mike Hot-Pence” at the first Pride Festival in Columbus, Ind. A high school senior started the festival to counter Pence’s social conservatism after he became vice president.

(Keith Griner / Getty Images)

Last year, Columbus elected its first Democratic-majority City Council in 36 years. And this spring, as President Trump and Pence decried the lawlessness of protesters following the death of George Floyd, Republican Mayor Jim Lienhoop marched alongside Black Lives Matter demonstrators in downtown Columbus.

A year after Pence left Indiana to join Trump in the White House, a local teenager said she was troubled that the world would view Columbus as a peevish, unaccepting place. So Erin Bailey used her high school senior project to organize the city’s first LGBTQ Pride Festival.

A guest of honor was “Mike Hot-Pence.” The Pence doppelganger sported the veep’s white buzz cut and blue hot pants. He carried a plastic barrel to collect donations for gay and lesbian youth.

The mid-20th century Columbus of Pence’s youth was a more monochromatic place. In the 1970s, 98% of its 26,000 residents were white, compared with 78% in 2019. A huge percentage worked at Cummins Engine Co., which would eventually become the largest independent maker of diesel engines in the world.

Churches united the small community, and Pence’s parents, three brothers and two sisters helped fill the pews at St. Columba Catholic Church. The family’s Irish Catholic roots conjured a powerful bond with John F. Kennedy, the first Roman Catholic in the White House, and young Mike would later recall that he kept a stash of Kennedy memorabilia.

Then-Rep. Mike Pence, center, with wife Karen and their children in 2011 as he kicks off his campaign for governor of Indiana.

(Michael Conroy / Associated Press)

It was in 1977 that his watershed spiritual and ideological transformations began, after he left Columbus for Hanover College, an hour south. The first revelation came when he attended a Christian music festival during his freshman year.

“I gave my life to Jesus Christ,” he later said. “And that’s changed everything.”

A political epiphany arrived three years later when, as a senior, a history professor introduced Pence to libertarianism, supply-side economics and the argument for small government. Though he voted for Jimmy Carter in 1980, a nod to the Democratic president’s evangelical roots, he soon after became a devotee of Ronald Reagan.

Music shop owner Tom Pickett taught a young Mike Pence to play guitar in Columbus, Ind., and says his former student is standing up for conservative values as vice president.

(James Rainey / Los Angeles Times)

On the campaign trail, Pence liked to muse about his roots in a small community where he had a “cornfield in the backyard.” It might have sounded as if he were raised on a farm, but the Pence family lived in one of the expansive tract homes filled by upper-middle-class families near the center of town. The home happened to back up to farmland.

One constant in the Columbus of Pence’s youth and of 2020 has been Tom Pickett. The 89-year-old music store owner has been lending and selling instruments to the city’s young people for more than 60 years. Pickett taught a teenage Pence to play guitar. Today, a larger-than-life photo of the vice president greets visitors when they enter the store.

Pence’s office did not respond to requests to discuss how his hometown shaped him.

Pickett sees his onetime student and President Trump as the guardians of Columbus’ old-time values and fighters against “the socialists and the communists.”

The music man has heard people mock Pence for adhering to the “Billy Graham Rule” — eschewing drinks, meals or meetings alone with a woman other than his wife.

“People get a good laugh, a big hoo-hah,” said Pickett, shaking his head. “But he is the kind of person who won’t let things happen against his better values.”

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Columbus’ architectural treasures include the North Christian Church, designed by Eero Saarinen of St. Louis Gateway Arch fame.

(Andrew Laker / Associated Press)

Sleek and whimsical by design, Columbus looks nothing like any other small city in America.

It overflows with some of the celebrated modernist architecture one J. Irwin Miller brought to town. The man who led Cummins — the biggest company in Columbus — from the 1940s until 1977, Miller believed the business needed to do more than make money. He pushed for it to promote the humanities and architecture, in particular, “to make us truly human in the best sense of the word.”

The iconoclastic industrialist succeeded so famously in luring world-renowned architects that by 1991, the American Institute of Architects put Columbus on a list with New York, Chicago and San Francisco as one of the nation’s leading centers of architectural innovation and design.

The North Christian Church in Columbus, completed in 1964, draws architecture buffs with its innovative design.

(Darron Cummings / Associated Press)

Columbus had the audacity, in the 1950s, to open a bank building with glass walls instead of the de rigueur brick or stone. One of its largest churches seats the faithful in the round, looking down on the pulpit, not consigned to look up at their minister on high.

The city-builder’s expansive worldview extended to politics. In the early 1960s Miller ordered that Cummins hire more minority executives, then set about overturning Columbus’ racially restrictive housing laws, so the newcomers could find a place to live. (Pence’s older brother Ed retired from the company three years ago as a top executive.)

Miller believed even a small, Midwestern city could be open-minded and intellectually stimulating and attract the best and the brightest. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. called him “the most socially responsible businessman in the country.” Esquire magazine admired his sensibilities so much that in 1967, with President Lyndon B. Johnson slouching in the polls, it featured Miller on its cover with the headline: “This man ought to be the next President of the United States.”

Columbus residents hold a candlelight vigil at the Bartholomew County Memorial for Veterans in Columbus, designed by Thompson and Rose Architects.

(Mike Dickbernd / Associated Press)

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Even with its progressive crosscurrents, Columbus’ Bartholomew County has remained faithfully Republican in presidential elections. John McCain won by over 10 percentage points here in 2008, though he narrowly lost the state to Barack Obama. Four years ago, Trump and Pence stomped Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine in the county by more than 2 to 1.

While Trump’s America-first nativism appears to be a big seller with many here, Pence’s culture-warrior style of Republicanism — with fights over LGBTQ and immigrant rights — departs from the centrism represented by Miller and by Indiana’s past Republican luminaries.

Previous big names in the state’s GOP included Sen. Richard G. Lugar, renowned for his ability to work with Democrats, and Mitch Daniels, an avatar of wonkiness and restraint, who preceded Pence in the governor’s office.

Pence’s born-again experience was simultaneously an embrace and a rejection of his roots. Reared Roman Catholic, he said he only found a more “personal” relationship with Jesus Christ when he became evangelical.

The idea that he wasn’t fully Christian until he left the Catholic Church rankles some at the Columbus parish that his mother and brothers still attend. Father Clement T. Davis of St. Bartholomew Catholic Church recalls that another priest “blew up” at Pence years ago for suggesting he only became truly Christian in college.

“I think he learned from that experience,” Davis said, “and toned it down a little bit after that.”

There are plenty of St. Bartholomew’s parishioners who embrace Trump and his No. 2. At a recent Sunday morning Mass, a couple described how “thrilled” they were to have Pence pushing for a Supreme Court that could overturn legalized abortion.

But even at the Pence family’s home parish, the strains of a more progressive Catholicism ring out, as the priest proclaims that the town’s immigrant workers, some of whom are in the country illegally, are “gifts from God,” and promotes voting with a quote from John Lewis, the late Democratic congressman from Georgia.

Mike Pence, right, with Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin in Indianapolis after the 2016 election. When Tobin was an archbishop, he and the formerly Catholic governor clashed over allowing Syrian refugees to settle in Indiana.

(Michael Conroy/Associated Press)

Pence’s hard line on immigration has put him at odds with many in modern Columbus, including people of faith.

A notable showdown came in 2015, when the then-governor blocked the resettlement of Syrian refugees in Indiana. He said he doubted the Muslim newcomers could be adequately screened to ensure Hoosiers didn’t become the target of terrorist attacks.

The archbishop of Indianapolis, Joseph W. Tobin, met with Pence to plead with him to help the migrants find safe harbor. He presented the case of one family, fleeing terrorism, that had been screened for almost two years and yearned to move close to their relatives in Indiana.

Pence would not budge, saying the security of his citizens was paramount. When Tobin (now a cardinal) was asked by the New Yorker’s Jane Mayer whether he could think of a Christian argument for rejecting the family, Tobin said: “No.”

Pence has parted with Columbus’ moderate sensibilities and his own past beliefs on another issue of critical importance here: trade. This is a metropolitan region more reliant on exports than any other in the nation.

A career-long free-trade advocate until he signed on with Trump, the vice president has stood mute as the president has ramped up trade sanctions and tariffs, including on foreign aluminum and steel.

The Cummins corporate offices, designed by Kevin Roche, were built in 1983 in Mike Pence’s hometown of Columbus, Ind., renowned as one of America’s top cities for modernist architecture.

(Andrew Laker / (Columbus, Ind.) Republic)

Cummins Chief Executive Tom Linebarger protested that the new tariffs cost the company more than it gained when the administration passed a substantial corporate tax cut. Said Linebarger: “Our net taxes are higher now.”

Perhaps Pence’s sharpest departure from Columbus’ expansive worldview came in 2015. That’s when he signed a state law called the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Sondra Bolte of Columbus, Ind., recalls how business magnate J. Irwin Miller made the small city a center of progressive politics. “His wingspan was really broad,” she said of the former Cummins Engine Co. executive.

(James Rainey / Los Angeles Times)

Backers of the law said it was designed, among other things, to allow Christian bakers, florists and photographers to avoid punishment if they declined to serve people holding gay and lesbian weddings. What supporters saw as a law protecting individuals from being forced to violate their religious beliefs, critics viewed as nothing but outrageous identity discrimination.

Indiana faced a broad boycott and condemnation from the CEOs of big businesses like Apple and Salesforce. The head of the online ratings company Angie’s List cancelled a $40-million expansion of its Indianapolis headquarters.

The state passed clarifying legislation to specify that it was not condoning discrimination. But that just infuriated conservatives who viewed the law as righteous.

Back in Columbus, the City Council approved an ordinance making LGBTQ individuals a “protected class.” The rebuke of the city’s most famous political son was all the more remarkable because all seven City Council members were Republicans.

When asked what he would say today to the vice president about that stumble, Columbus’ GOP mayor shook his head. “You never get a second chance to make a first impression,” Lienhoop said. “So be careful.”

“Mocha Debeaute” performs in the drag show at Columbus’ 2018 Pride Festival, conceived by high school senior Erin Bailey to prove the city was more open than Vice President Mike Pence to LGBTQ people.

(Scott Olson / Getty Images)

The Indiana Fever arrived in Los Angeles draped in momentum: Five straight wins, a knack for winning without Caitlin Clark and betting lines tilting their way. Their tear was proof they could keep pace even with their franchise centerpiece in street clothes.

But another storyline might’ve been tucked beneath Indiana’s.

The Sparks had ripped off six wins in their previous seven outings, probably fueled by the rare luxury of having every piece of their roster back for the first time in more than a year. And by night’s end at Crypto.com Arena, they had won seven of eight, the Sparks grinding out a 100-91 victory.

“Tonight was a great step in the right direction,” guard Kelsey Plum said. “That’s an incredible team, and they’re as hot as anyone. … They got everything it takes to make a run for a championship. So for us to come out and have that level of intensity, I was really proud.”

Sidelined since July 15 with a right groin injury, Clark never touched the hardwood Tuesday. But her presence was impossible to miss.

About an hour before tip‑off, Clark entered the arena to a wave of shrieks. Fans crammed shoulder‑to‑shoulder against the banisters and barricades, stretching jerseys, bobbleheads and posters toward her for autographs. But once the ball went up, Clark left her imprint not in ink but as an assistant coach to her Fever squad.

For all of Clark’s fire from the bench, the Sparks (13-15) seized on her absence to wrest control from one of the league’s hottest teams and move closer to a playoff berth.

“We’ve got enough pieces and talents to make a playoff run,” Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said. “We just got to keep our foot on the gas. As I always say, we didn’t come into the season saying we wanted to beat Indiana at home. We came in the season saying we want to make the playoffs.”

Roberts, who has spent much of the season juggling lineups amid injuries and roster turnover, can finally exhale, with a healthy starting five, Cameron Brink back in uniform and a bench ready to contribute.

With stable rotations came steady results. Plum set the night’s tempo, piling up 25 points and 11 assists. Around her, the Sparks’ scoring core — Rickea Jackson matching with 25, Dearica Hamby dropping 16 and Azurá Stevens racking up 19 — kept the scoreboard humming. Julie Allemand steered the offense in sync, dishing out seven assists to go with five points and eight rebounds.

We all in this room know she [Plum] can go for 40,” Roberts said, “but she wants to win more than go for 30. And if going for 40 is what it takes to win, then she’ll do it. But tonight, she gained so much attention from the other team’s scouting report — as she should — but she’s … trying to win.”

Midway through the first quarter, Brink checked in, snagged a couple of boards, and promptly stuffed a shot by 6‑foot‑2 Natasha Howard for the first of five rejections on the night.

“We’re just getting that chemistry on and off the court,” Jackson said. “But when we’re playing like that and feeding off each other’s energy, that’s fine, and that’s when we’re going on our runs, and that’s when we’re not flinching because we trust each other that much.”

After Rae Burrell spun in an acrobatic layup to put the Sparks ahead 32‑30, they never loosened their grip, stretching the lead to 90‑68 midway through the third quarter. But Aari McDonald and Kelsey Mitchell sparked a 21‑5 run that, suddenly, had the game uncomfortably tight with under two minutes remaining.

But in a building where wins have been scarce, the Sparks clutched this one tight and handed it back to the L.A. faithful.

Sex toy tossed on court

A sex toy landed near Indiana’s Sophie Cunningham after it was thrown from the stands.

The incident occurred with 2:05 left in the second quarter, with the object landing in the lane near Cunningham, who had been vocal on social media admonishing fans for throwing sex toys on the court during other games. The Fever forward jumped back in surprise and then Plum kicked it into the stands.

“I think its ridiculous, it’s dumb, it’s stupid,” Roberts said. “It’s also dangerous and players’ safety is number one. Respecting the game. All those things. I think it’s really stupid.”

Plum added that she thought both teams did a great job “playing on, don’t give it any attention. The refs too, I really appreciate them too, was just like hey let’s go.”

Cunningham walked over to the Sparks bench and was laughing about it.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A 55-year-old man was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison after pleading guilty to stalking and harassing Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark.

Michael Lewis of Denton, Texas, reached a deal with Marion County, Ind., prosecutors before pleading guilty Monday to one felony count of stalking and one misdemeanor count of harassment.

Lewis will receive credit for the 197 days he has already served behind bars since his January arrest. He allegedly sent the then-22-year-old Clark hundreds of “threats and sexually explicit messages” via social media between Dec. 12 and Jan. 11.

Days before his arrest, Lewis told police who were making a welfare check to his Indianapolis hotel room that he was in “an imaginary relationship.” He continued to message the WNBA star after the police visit.

“This resolution ensures that the defendant is held accountable for his threatening actions, the fear he instilled, and the disruption he caused,” Marion County prosecutor Ryan Mears said Monday in a statement. “… The victim will be able to have peace of mind while focusing on what matters to her.”

As part of the ruling, Lewis was ordered to have no contact with Clark and to stay away from Gainbridge and Hinkle venues in Indiana, as well as all events associated with the Fever or Indiana Pacers. He is also not allowed to have internet access while serving his sentence.

Judge Angela Dow Davis also recommended that Lewis seek mental health treatment. According to WTHR-TV in Indianapolis, Davis frequently had to stop and correct the behavior of Lewis, who at one point prophesied the end of the world.

It was similar behavior to when he first appeared in court after his arrest earlier this year. Davis repeatedly told him to “stop talking” because he kept interrupting the proceedings.

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says bases in Indiana and New Jersey can house detained immigrants without affecting military readiness — a step toward potentially detaining thousands of people on bases on U.S. soil.

Hegseth notified members of Congress from both states this week of the proposal to temporarily house detained immigrants at Camp Atterbury in Indiana and Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey.

President Trump has moved to aggressively detain and deport people in the country illegally, a push that has swept up large numbers of immigrants, including many with no prior criminal records, and forced federal authorities to find places to house them.

Hegseth said the presence of the detainees would not negatively affect the bases’ operations or training. Officials have not said when detainees could begin arriving at the facilities or if other military bases are under consideration.

Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Trump’s border chief, Tom Homan, said there are about 60,000 beds available for detained immigrants and the goal is to expand to 100,000.

“We’re looking for any available bed space we can get that meets the detention standards we’re accustomed to,” Homan said Friday. “The faster we get the beds, the more people we can take off the street.”

Democratic lawmakers from both states and civil rights advocates condemned the idea of housing immigrants at the bases, questioning the effect on military resources and the justification for so many detentions.

“Using our country’s military to detain and hold undocumented immigrants jeopardizes military preparedness and paves the way for [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] raids in every New Jersey community,” New Jersey’s Democratic delegation said in a statement.

Democratic Rep. Andre Carson of Indiana said his questions about detainee conditions have gone unanswered by the Trump administration.

He cited concerns raised about conditions at other facilities and said, “The fact that ICE has detained so many individuals that they now need to expand detention space in Indiana is disturbing.”

Amol Sinha, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, said in a statement that housing immigrants in military facilities sets a dangerous precedent “and is contrary to the values embedded in our Constitution.”

Both of the bases identified by Hegseth have housed Afghan or Ukrainian refugees in recent years.

During Trump’s first administration, he authorized the use of military bases to detain immigrant children — including Army installations at Ft. Bliss and Goodfellow Air Force Base in Texas.

In 2014, President Obama temporarily relied on military bases to detain immigrant children while ramping up privately operated family detention centers to hold many of the tens of thousands of Central American families who crossed the border.

Klepper and Freking write for the Associated Press. AP writers Christine Fernando and Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this report.

Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton will miss the 2025-26 NBA season after having surgery to repair a torn right Achilles tendon.

The 25-year-old had sustained the injury during the first quarter of the decisive game seven of the NBA Championship play-off finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder last month.

Haliburton fell down without any contact as he attempted to drive to the basket and was in obvious distress as he was helped from the court during the game that the Pacers lost 103-91 to end their hopes of a first NBA title.

Confirming the point guard’s lengthy absence, Pacers president Kevin Pritchard said he hoped Haliburton “will be back better than ever”.

“The surgery went well,” Pritchard told WISH-TV.

“He will not play next year though. We would not jeopardise that now. So don’t get any hopes up that he will play.”

A two-time All-Star, Haliburton averaged 18.6 points, 9.2 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 73 games during the 24-25 regular season and 14 points, 5.9 assists and 4.6 rebounds during the NBA Finals.

He had played the decider against the Thunder despite suffering a calf strain in game five of the finals.

Haliburton became the third high-profile player to suffer a ruptured Achilles tendon in the play-offs, following the Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum and the Milwaukee Bucks’ Damian Lillard.

A similar injury had also kept Kevin Durant out for a full season when he was hurt in the 2019 NBA Finals while playing for the Golden State Warriors.

INDIANAPOLIS — Azurá Stevens scored 21 points and had 12 rebounds, Kelsey Plum added 20 points and the Sparks won at Indianapolis for the second time in 10 days, defeating the Fever, minus Caitlin Clark, 89-87 on Saturday.

Since dominating the fourth quarter en route to an 85-75 win over Indiana on June 26, the Sparks had lost two straight. The Fever had won three, including the Commissioner’s Cup, without Clark. She missed her fifth consecutive game with a groin injury.

This game was close throughout. The Sparks’ biggest lead was three points in the first quarter, and the Fever went up by eight midway through the third.

Dearica Hamby scored 18 points for the Sparks (6-13) and Rickea Jackson added 15, including the go-ahead basket that made it 88-87 with 57.4 seconds left.

Indiana missed its last five shots, four in the final minute. Stevens rebounded a miss and was fouled, making a free throw with 3.3 seconds to go. The Fever used their reset timeout but Aliyah Boston missed a shot from the top of the key.

Boston led Indiana (9-9) with 23 points and 12 rebounds, and Natasha Howard had 21 points and nine rebounds. Kelsey Mitchell added 19 points. Howard surpassed 2,000 career rebounds and Mitchell, who reached 600 three-pointers with three, broke a tie with Fever assistant coach Briann January with her 251st game for the Fever, second behind Tamika Catchings.

Mitchell had 13 points and Plum 11 in an evenly played first half that featured nine ties and nine lead changes before Indiana went on top 45-42. Plum scored the last seven L.A. points in the third quarter for a 70-69 lead heading into the fourth.

INDIANAPOLIS — Azurá Stevens scored 23 points, Kelsey Plum had 21 points and six assists and the Sparks ended a four-game losing streak by beating the short-handed Indiana Fever 85-75 on Thursday night.

Indiana played without Caitlin Clark who was out because of a groin injury. Clark had recently returned from a quad injury that kept her sidelined for five games. She returned on June 14 and scored 32 points to help the Fever to a 102-88 victory against the Liberty.

Plum made a three-pointer with 4:13 left to give the Sparks a 67-66 lead, its first since the opening minute of the second quarter. She added two free throws on their next possession to cap a 21-8 run spanning the third-quarter break.

Los Angeles sealed it by grabbing two offensive rebounds with under a minute to play. Dearica Hamby was fouled while making a layup to give the Sparks a 79-75 lead. She missed the free throw but Stevens grabbed it and completed a three-point play to make it 81-75 with 49 seconds left.

Hamby and Rickea Jackson each scored 14 points for the Sparks (5-11).

Kelsey Mitchell led Indiana (7-8) with 20 points and Aliyah Boston had 12 points, 10 rebounds and five steals.

Indiana led 31-22 before the Sparks went on an 8-0 run, capped by Shey Peddy‘s three-pointer to get within one. Sophie Cunningham answered with a three-pointer and the Fever led 34-30 at the break after forcing 15 turnovers.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have capped an extraordinary season by defeating the Indiana Pacers 103-91 in Game 7 of the NBA Finals to win the franchise’s first title since relocating from Seattle in 2008.

The league’s Most Valuable Player (MVP), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, led the scoring in front of a raucous home crowd at Oklahoma City’s Paycom Center, with 29 points and 12 assists in the deciding game on Sunday.

He was also crowned the best player of the Finals, marking the first time since Shaquille O’Neal in 2002 that the same player had won the scoring title, regular season and Finals MVP honours.

The Pacers suffered a huge blow early on when they lost their star point guard,  Tyrese Haliburton, midway through the first quarter with an Achilles injury and saw their title hopes dashed by a stifling Oklahoma City defence in the second half.

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

“This group works hard. This group put in the hours, and we deserve this,” he added.

The championship capped an extraordinary run for the Thunder, who ended the regular season with a 68-14 record, good for the fifth-most wins in a single NBA season.

The Finals between two small-market teams were light on star power but delivered on thrills, as the surprise Eastern Conference champions Pacers pushed the best team in the league to the winner-take-all finale.

The Pacers got off on the right track as Haliburton drained his third three-pointer five minutes into the game, but the night took a terrible turn for Indiana when he slipped and fell two minutes later.

The two-time All Star was in tears as his team’s medical staff rushed to his side, and a hush fell over the building packed with Oklahoma City fans.

Haliburton was helped to the locker room but did not return, and while there was no official update from the team, a TV broadcast reported he had suffered an Achilles injury.

The resilient Pacers kept the game tight through a physical second quarter, putting up a terrific defensive effort to end the half up by one.

However, the Thunder soon took control with Gilgeous-Alexander, who went 0-5 behind the arc in the first half, lighting the fuse with a 25-foot three-point jump shot four minutes into the third quarter.

The Pacers were masters of the late comeback in the postseason, but without Haliburton, they were unable to claw back the deficit, with the Thunder opening the fourth quarter with a 9-0 run.

Youthful champions’ struggle

The Thunder’s youth was evident in their postgame celebration.

“No one knew how to open them,” Thunder centre Isaiah Hartenstein said of the post-game celebratory champagne bottles.

They learned soon enough, thanks to 31-year-old Alex Caruso, both the oldest player on the roster and the only player on the team who had previously won an NBA title.

“AC [Caruso] did a great job of giving us a tutorial,” Hartenstein said.

The Thunder youth came through with inconsistency at times.

“The whole run, I’ve tried to help the guys just be who we are, and that’s all we needed is to be who we are,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said.

The Pacers remain without an NBA title.

It could’ve been worse for the Pacers if not for point guard TJ McConnell, who scored 12 points in the third, hitting six of Indiana’s eight field goals in the frame.

Bennedict Mathurin led the Pacers for the game with 24 points off the bench. Pascal Siakam and McConnell added 16 each.

The Thunder became the first team to score 100 or more points in an NBA Finals Game 7 since 1988, when the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Detroit Pistons 108-105.

Caruso, who played on the Los Angeles Lakers’ 2020 title team, said he hoped his postgame tutorial would pay off again down the road.

“We’ll get some rest, rest, try to do it again next year,” Caruso said. “We’ll be better [at it] next year.”

OKLAHOMA CITY — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander walked off the court for the final time this season, collapsed into the arms of coach Mark Daigneault and finally smiled.

It was over.

The climb is complete. The rebuild is done. The Oklahoma City Thunder are champions.

The best team all season was the best team at the end, bringing the NBA title to Oklahoma City for the first time. Gilgeous-Alexander finished off his MVP season with 29 points and 12 assists, and the Thunder beat the Indiana Pacers — who lost Tyrese Haliburton to a serious leg injury in the opening minutes — 103-91 in Game 7 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night.

“It doesn’t feel real,” said Gilgeous-Alexander, the Finals MVP. “So many hours. So many moments. So many emotions. So many nights of disbelief. So many nights of belief. It’s crazy to know that we’re all here, but this group worked for it. This group put in the hours and we deserve this.”

Jalen Williams scored 20 points and Chet Holmgren had 18 for the Thunder, who finished off a season for the ages. Oklahoma City won 84 games between the regular season and the playoffs, tying the 1996-97 Chicago Bulls for third most in any season.

Only Golden State (88 in 2016-17) and the Bulls (87 in 2015-16) won more.

It’s the second championship for the franchise. The Seattle SuperSonics won the NBA title in 1979; the team was moved to Oklahoma City in 2008. There’s nothing in the rafters in Oklahoma City to commemorate that title.

In October, a championship banner is finally coming. A Thunder banner.

The Pacers led 48-47 at the half even after losing Haliburton to what his father said was an Achilles tendon injury about seven minutes into the game. But they were outscored 34-20 in the third quarter as the Thunder built a 13-point lead and began to run away.

Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton falls to the court in pain after sustaining an apparent Achilles tendon injury in the first half against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

(Nate Billings / Associated Press)

Bennedict Mathurin had 24 points and 13 rebounds for Indiana, which still is waiting for its first NBA title. The Pacers — who were 10-15 after 25 games and were bidding to be the first team in NBA history to turn that bad of a start into a championship — had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in the series, but they simply didn’t have enough in the end.

Home teams improved to 16-4 in NBA Finals Game 7s. And the Thunder became the seventh champion in the last seven seasons, a run of parity like none other in NBA history.

Pacers forward Pascal Siakam was part of the Toronto team that won in 2019, Thunder guard Alex Caruso was part of the Lakers team that won in the pandemic “bubble” in 2020, Milwaukee won in 2021, Golden State in 2022, Pacers forward Thomas Bryant and Denver prevailed in 2023, and Boston won last year’s title.

And now, the Thunder get their turn. The youngest team to win a title in nearly a half-century has reached the NBA mountaintop.

The Thunder are the ninth franchise to win a title in NBA Commissioner Adam Silver’s 12 seasons. His predecessor, David Stern, saw eight franchises win titles in his 30 seasons as commissioner.

“They behave like champions. They compete like champions,” Daigneault said. “They root for each other’s success, which is rare in professional sports. I’ve said it many times and now I’m going to say it one more time. They are an uncommon team and now they’re champions.”

Reynolds writes for the Associated Press.

For the 20th time, there will be a Game 7 in the NBA Finals.

Indiana will play at Oklahoma City on Sunday night in the final game of the season, with the winner getting the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

Home teams are 15-4 in Game 7 of the finals, but a road team — Cleveland, over Golden State — won the most recent of those games in 2016.

A look inside some numbers surrounding this matchup:

Odds are, nobody’s scoring 40

There have been only two 40-point scoring performances in Game 7 of the NBA Finals — and both came in losing efforts.

Jerry West scored 42 points in Game 7 of the 1969 series, but the Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Boston Celtics in Bill Russell’s final game. And Elgin Baylor scored 41 points in Game 7 in 1962 — another Lakers-Celtics matchup — but Boston prevailed in that one as well.

Bob Pettit had the third-highest scoring total in a Game 7. He had 39 for the St. Louis Hawks against the Celtics in 1957 … and Boston won that game as well.

The highest-scoring Game 7s in a winning effort? Those would be by Boston’s Tom Heinsohn in that 1957 game against St. Louis and Miami’s LeBron James in the 2013 series against San Antonio. Both had 37; Heinsohn’s was a double-overtime game, James got his in regulation.

And no team might break 100, either

Yes, these are high-scoring teams. Oklahoma City was No. 4 in points per game in the regular season (120.5 per game) and Indiana was No. 7 (117.4). The Thunder are second in that category in the playoffs (115.2), just ahead of No. 3 Indiana (115.1).

In Game 7, that might not matter much.

No team has reached 100 points in Game 7 of the NBA Finals since 1988. Or even topped 95 points, for that matter.

Coach Pat Riley, left, gets a hug from Wes Matthews after the Lakers defeated the Pistons in Game 7 of the 1988 NBA Finals.

(Bob Galbraith / Associated Press)

The last five Game 7s:

— 2016, Cleveland 93, Golden State 89

— 2013, Miami 95, San Antonio 88

— 2010, Los Angeles Lakers 83, Boston 79

— 2005, San Antonio 81, Detroit 74

— 1994, Houston 90, New York 84

The last finals Game 7 to see someone hit the century mark was when the Lakers beat the Pistons 108-105 in 1988.

Expect a close one

The average margin of victory in Game 7 of an NBA Finals: 6.9 points.

Each of the last eight such games have been decided by single digits. Only four have been double-digit wins: Boston over St. Louis by 19 in 1960, Minneapolis over New York by 17 in 1952, Boston over Milwaukee by 15 in 1974 and New York over the Lakers by 14 in 1970.

The closest Game 7 in the finals was Syracuse beating Fort Wayne 92-91 in 1955. That was one of six Game 7s decided by three points or less.

By seed

The Thunder are the 22nd No. 1 seed to play in Game 7 of an NBA Finals. Their 21 predecessors on that list are 12-9 in the ultimate game; seven of those games have been ones where both teams entered the playoffs as No. 1 seeds.

The Pacers are the fourth No. 4 seed to make Game 7 of the title round. Their three predecessors went 1-2 (Boston beat the Lakers in 1969, Seattle lost to Washington in 1978 and the Celtics lost to the Lakers in 2010).

Game 7 experience

It’ll be the fourth Game 7 for Indiana forwards Pascal Siakam and Myles Turner. Siakam’s teams have gone 2-1 in Game 7s, Turner’s have gone 1-2.

Indiana’s Aaron Nesmith is 2-0 in the pair of Game 7s in which he has played, with Indiana winning at New York last year and Boston beating Milwaukee in 2022. Both of those wins were in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith, driving agianst Thunder forward Chet Holmgren in a Game 6 win, has twice been on teams that won Game 7s.

(Michael Conroy / Associated Press)

Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the league’s reigning MVP, has averaged 27 points in two previous Game 7s. Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton scored 26 points in his lone Game 7 to this point.

No player on either side has previously been part of a Game 7 in the NBA Finals.

New for some refs, too

The NBA doesn’t announce referee assignments until game day, so it won’t be known until Sunday morning who the three-person crew is for Game 7.

This much is certain: for at least two of the referees, it’ll be the first time on the NBA Finals Game 7 stage.

Scott Foster — who would seem a likely pick this year — worked Game 7 in 2013 alongside Dan Crawford and Monty McCutchen, and Game 7 of the title series in 2010 with Dan Crawford and Joe Crawford.

The most recent Game 7 was in 2016 and the crew for that game was Dan Crawford, McCutchen and Mike Callahan.

Outside of Foster, no referee in this year’s pool has been on the court for a Game 7 in the NBA Finals.

The Indiana Pacers, rallying around injured star Tyrese Haliburton, crushed the Oklahoma City Thunder 108-91 to force a deciding Game 7 in the NBA Finals.

Haliburton, cleared to play with a right calf injury only a couple of hours before tipoff, scored 14 points with five assists and two steals in a solid contribution to a comprehensive team effort.

“We just wanted to protect home court,” Haliburton said on Thursday. “We didn’t want to see these guys celebrate a championship on our home floor.

“Backs against the wall, we just responded,” he added. “So many different guys chipped in, total team effort. I’m really proud of this group.”

Obi Toppin led the Pacers scoring with 20 points off the bench as Indiana’s reserves out-scored Oklahoma City’s bench 48-37.

Andrew Nembhard added 17 points and Pascal Siakam had 16 points and 13 rebounds as the Pacers, who had lost the last two games to stand on the brink of elimination, leveled the best-of-seven championship series at three games apiece.

Haliburton, who said he’d do everything he could to play after limping through most of Game 5, showed virtually no sign of his injury as the Pacers grabbed the game by the throat in the second quarter and never let go.

Indiana led by 22 points at halftime and by as many as 31 early in the fourth quarter.

“Well, we were going home if we didn’t come out and give everything we have and leave it all out on the floor,” said T.J. McConnell, who had 12 points, nine rebounds and six assists off the bench for Indiana.

“Obviously very happy, very proud, but we’ve got to flush it because we have another one on Sunday.”

Thunder searching for answers ahead of Game 7

NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City with 21 points but had eight of the Thunder’s 21 turnovers.

Gilgeous-Alexander missed his lone three-point attempt while Jalen Williams – coming off a 40-point performance in game five – missed all four of his three-point attempts on the way to 16 points.

The Thunder, winners of a league-best 68 regular-season games – pulled their starters after falling behind by 30 going into the fourth quarter.

They’ll be searching for answers as the series heads back to Oklahoma City for the championship finale on Sunday – the first Game 7 in the NBA finals since 2016.

“The way I see it, we sucked tonight,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We can learn the lessons and we have one game for everything, for everything we’ve worked for.”

The Thunder are seeking their first title since the franchise relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008, having won it all in 1979 as the Seattle SuperSonics.

The Pacers, meanwhile, are in search of a first NBA title. They won American Basketball Association (ABA) titles in 1970, 1972 and 1973 before joining the NBA as part of the ABA-NBA merger in 1976.

Pacers ride wave of momentum

“You know, we’ve got one game,” Haliburton said. “All cards on the table. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

For a few minutes, it looked like the Thunder might roll to the title.

The Pacers missed their first eight shots and fell into a quick eight-point hole. But they settled in to connect on six straight attempts and took the lead on a three-pointer from Nembhard midway through the first quarter.

Indiana piled on the pressure with a pair of three-pointers and a trey from Haliburton – his first basket of the night – pushing their lead to as many as nine points.

Up by three at the end of the first, the Pacers exploded in the second quarter, stepping up the aggression on both ends of the floor on the way to a 64-42 halftime lead.

With less than a minute to go in the first half Haliburton came up with a steal then found Siakam with a no-look pass for an emphatic dunk.

Siakam followed up with a turnaround jump shot at the halftime buzzer.

Toppin praised Haliburton as “a soldier,” but Haliburton said the victory was down to the team effort.

“It’s the Finals,” Haliburton said. “All of us got to give everything we have.”

INDIANAPOLIS — Season on the line, the Indiana Pacers did what they’ve done time and time again. They bucked the odds.

And the NBA Finals are going to an ultimate game.

Obi Toppin scored 20 points, Andrew Nembhard added 17 and the Pacers forced a winner-take-all Game 7 by rolling past the Oklahoma City Thunder 108-91 Thursday night.

The first Game 7 in the NBA Finals since 2016 is Sunday night in Oklahoma City.

“The ultimate game,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said.

Pascal Siakam had 16 points and 13 rebounds for Indiana, while Tyrese Haliburton — playing through a strained calf — scored 14 points. The Pacers started slowly and then turned things into a blowout.

In a way, Game 6 was a microcosm of Indiana’s season. The Pacers started the regular season with 15 losses in 25 games, have had five comebacks from 15 or more down to win games in these playoffs, and they’re one win from a title.

“We just wanted to protect home court,” Haliburton said. “We didn’t want to see these guys celebrate a championship on our home floor. Backs against the wall and we just responded. … Total team effort.”

T.J. McConnell, the spark off the bench again, finished with 12 points, nine rebounds and six assists for Indiana.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 21 points for the Thunder, who pulled their starters after getting down by 30 going into the fourth. Jalen Williams added 16.

“Credit Indiana,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “They earned the win. They outplayed us for most of the 48 minutes. They went out there and attacked the game.”

Good news for the Thunder: Home teams are 15-4 in finals Game 7s. Bad news for the Thunder: Cleveland won at Golden State in the most recent of those and one of the three other home-team losses was in 1978 — by Seattle, the franchise that would move to Oklahoma City three decades later.

Indiana missed its first eight shots and got down 10-2. The arena, roaring just a few minutes before at the start, quieted quickly. Hall of Famer Reggie Miller, sitting courtside in a Jalen Rose Pacers jersey, was pacing, kneeling, generally acting more nervous than he ever seemed as a player.

No need.

After the slow start, the Pacers outscored the Thunder 68-32 over the next 24 minutes. An Indiana team that hadn’t led by more than 10 points at any time in the first five games — and that double-digit lead was brief — led by 28 early in the third quarter. The margin eventually got to 31, which was Oklahoma City’s second-biggest deficit of the season.

The worst also came in these playoffs: a 45-point hole against Minnesota in the Western Conference finals. The Thunder came back to win that series, obviously, and now will need that bounce-back ability one more time.

“Obviously, it was a very poor performance by us,” Daigneault said.

The Thunder, desperate for a spark, put Alex Caruso in the starting lineup in place of Isaiah Hartenstein to open the second half. There was no spark. In fact, there was nothing whatsoever — neither team scored in the first 3:53 after halftime, the sides combining to miss their first 13 shots of the third quarter.

And the outcome was never in doubt.

Thunder coach Mark Daigneaul gave Gilgeous-Alexander, this season’s Most Valuable Player, a break late in the third quarter rather than his usual rest early in the fourth.

The Pacers led 101-97 with less than four minutes remaining, but Gilgeous-Alexander scored 15 of the Thunder’s final 16 points and ended the game with 10 free-throws from 10 attempts.

Jalen Williams scored 27 points and made seven rebounds for the Thunder, while Alex Caruso added 20 points off the bench.

Pascal Siakam led the Pacers with 20 points and Tyrese Haliburton 18.

“We just didn’t execute at the end of the game,” said Siakam. “We didn’t get easy shots. The easy shots that we got, we missed them. And they made them.”

The Thunder host game five at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City at 19:30 local time on Monday (01:30 BST, Tuesday).