Game 3 of the 2025 NBA Finals went back and forth, with the Oklahoma City Thunder preventing the Indiana Pacers from building much of a cushion (and vice versa) heading into the fourth quarter. Late in the proceedings, however, the Pacers managed to pull away as the Thunder's offense ground to a screeching halt, with OKC going down 2-1 in the series after suffering a 116-107 defeat on Wednesday night.

It was stunning to see the Thunder struggle to gain much of a rhythm on both ends of the floor; the Pacers also carved up their defense late in the game and ended the night having shot 51.8 percent from the field and recording 50 points in the paint. With OKC having the best defense in the NBA all season long, this night was rather uncharacteristic. And the bizarre nature of Game 3 could not be encapsulated better by Alex Caruso's jarring plus-minus statistic.

As pointed out by Addam M. Francisco of the The Suave Report, Caruso ended up being a game-worst minus-15 on the night. Caruso's winning impact is captured the most by the intangibles he provides, and it was rather shocking to see him unable to provide the same kind of impact that he usually gives off the Thunder bench.

Caruso's minutes in the first half coincided with the Pacers' run that was buoyed by some incredible off the bench production from Bennedict Mathurin and TJ McConnell. He was also on the floor when the Thunder lost steam late in the game, when the Pacers outscored them 15-9 towards the final few minutes.

It is worth mentioning, however, that single-game plus-minus is not the be-all, end-all indicator of a player's impact. But it's definitely something to make note of that the Thunder are unable to outscore the Pacers when Caruso is on the floor.

Pacers avoid the Alex Caruso, Thunder penitentiary

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Caruso has made his mark all playoffs long by guarding everyone from Ja Morant to Nikola Jokic to Anthony Edwards. The Thunder have blitzed opponents and forced a ton of turnovers in lineups with Caruso in them, and it's imperative that they win his minutes.

But in Game 3, the Thunder simply did not have the execution that was necessary to win. They had more turnovers than the Pacers did (17 to 13) and was unable to shut down the paint as well. Indiana also refused to attack Caruso, taking him out of the action in every way they could.

This should be a wake-up call for the Thunder heading into Game 4, as they look to avoid going down 3-1 in the series.