Loyd’s free throws capped the scoring.

“Thanks to Helio, I was able to read the traffic good,” Palou said. “I knew that because of how the strategies were shaking up at the end that we were going to have traffic. So traffic, even though you were P2, you were actually P5 or P4. So you had to take that into account. So I was just trying my best to try and read it and get on top of it.”He was seeing two and three moves ahead, something he learned from Castroneves’ winning move, and it gave Palou the guts to make the final pass with 16 laps remaining. It was an incredibly early move in a race that has been decided the last several years by a series of late-lap passes.

“I think I’m here because of 2021 for sure,” said Palou.Palou is still being sued for nearly $30 million by McLaren Racing in a breach of contract suit after he changed his mind in late 2023 to leave Ganassi for McLaren ahead of the 2024 season.The two teams had been engaged in a tug-of-war over Palou since he had signed contracts with both teams and McLaren wants every dollar back it spent on developing him as its Formula 1 driver and damages accrued when Palou did not join the IndyCar team.

But he lives his life as if this lawsuit isn’t hanging over his head — or even bothers him just a bit.It’s tricky, though, because Palou is so hot right now many are beginning to openly ask why he isn’t in F1. There’s theoretically at least one seat open next year with the new Cadillac F1 team owned by Dan Towriss, who also owns the Andretti Global IndyCar team and watched Palou beat his driver Ericsson to win the Indy 500.

Palou doesn’t believe a spot remains open to him in F1 after the McLaren mess, but more important, is content where he is with Ganassi.

“I would understand (if teams don’t want me), but I am super happy where I am,” Palou said. “I mean you can see that. I’ve not had any conversations with anybody and I am not knocking on doors. I promise 100% I have had no conversation and no one with my (management) team has had any conversations with anybody.”It will be the Thunder and the Pacers squaring off when the

start in Oklahoma City on Thursday night, a“When you get to this point of the season, it’s two teams and it’s one goal and so it becomes an all or nothing thing,” Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said. “And we understand the magnitude of the opponent. Oklahoma City has been dominant all year long — with capital letters in the word ‘dominant.’ Defensively, they’re historically great and they got all kinds of guys that can score. It’s two teams that have similar structures, slightly different styles.”

The deep dives into the other side were beginning in earnest on Sunday, a day after the Pacers finished off their Eastern Conference title by. Indiana was taking a day off before getting set to return to work on Monday; the Thunder were practicing in Oklahoma City.