Game 5 Observations from the NBA Finals: Thunder vs. Pacers

Jalen Williams and the Thunder take another massive step

Photo by Matthew Stockman / Getty Images

With the first salvo fired, the first big trade (Orlando acquiring Desmond Bane for what seems like a king’s ransom of picks) and the never-ending Kevin Durant rumors heating up in what’s shaping up to be another wild NBA transaction window, it’s almost easy to forget that the most important basketball is still being played.

And while I plan to dive into the transaction side of the league next week (there might even be a special podcast appearance tomorrow), these NBA Finals games have been so good, so competitive, played at such a high level of physicality, that it feels almost like an obligation, as someone who writes about the NBA, to write about the actual games.

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Today’s notes:

1. Jalen Williams' leap into superstardom on the biggest stage 📈

2. OKC relentless hustle and press

3. Tyrese Haliburton and Pacers struggles on offense

4. These Pacers never give up

5. Masters of the disruption

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1–Jalen Williams' leap into superstardom on the biggest stage 📈

I’ve been among many who doubted whether the 6-foot-6, 24-year-old do-it-all Jalen Williams could truly grow into a second option on a title team. Or at least to be the kind of sidekick superstars and championship teams need to make it over the hump, so early in his career. His performance against the Mavericks last year was rough, and we saw similar up-and-down play in the Nuggets series, where Williams averaged just 17.6 points on poor shooting splits.

However, what Williams has done in these Finals has been nothing short of amazing. With the Pacers going all in on pressuring Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Andrew Nembhard full-court pressing and harassing SGA for 48 minutes, and the Pacers defense collapsing around the MVP, Mark Daigneault realized he needed to reverse the roles a bit and pushed Williams into the forefront. Daigneault’s mid-series adjustment to move SGA off the ball more, reduce his on-ball touches, increase his rest stints, and ask Williams to take on a bigger, often primary high-usage creator role, and J-Dub excelling at it, might end up being the turning point of the Finals if the Thunder can get one more win.

Source: Todd Whitehead (Sportradar) on X

In the last three games, Williams is leading OKC in scoring at 31 points per game, in usage at 32 percent, and in total touches. His scoring output has increased with each game of the series, from 17, 19, 26, and 27 to a 40-point, best game of his career outburst last night.

Watching this shift, one — and especially a Mavericks fan — can’t help but think about the missed opportunity for Jason Kidd, Luka Dončić, and Kyrie Irving to figure things out in a similar fashion when Jaylen Brown and the rest of the Celtics were swarming Dončić full-court in last year’s Finals.

2–OKC relentless hustle and press

If there’s one thing to take away from these Finals, it’s that this is a battle between two teams with clear identities and play styles. And each game is being decided by which team manages to impose its will more.

Last night was a game straight out of the Thunder’s playbook, as they won with defense and swarmed the Pacers, forcing them into countless turnovers. Indiana had 22 turnovers, and all the key moments of the game were defined by momentum swings with OKC stealing the ball, getting loose, and attacking downhill in the open court. OKC had a huge edge in turnovers, and combined with a great three-point shooting night (44 percent overall, with Cason Wallace and Aaron Wiggins going 7-of-11 combined), that was the "analytical" résumé of the game.

NBA Finals Game 5 Four Factors (source: Cleaning the Glass)

NBA Finals Game 5 Four Factors Net points (source: ESPN Analytics)

3–Tyrese Haliburton and Pacers struggles on offense

Going into the Finals, the Pacers were the fastest and most efficient offense in the playoffs (based on pure numbers, they ranked second at 119.7 points per 100 possessions, behind the Cavs at 124.3), but they’ve struggled to resemble anything close to that high-flying offense for most of this series. Despite their impressive on ball pressure, Indiana's defense isn’t good enough to win games played in the low 100s. They are 14-0 in these playoffs when scoring 111 or more, and 0-7 when they fail to reach that mark.