Pacers take turn(over) for the worst, return to Indiana down 3-2

The basketball is (ahem) the most important part of basketball

By: Caitlin Cooper I @C2_Cooper

As if racking up 22 turnovers, leading to 32 points for the Oklahoma City Thunder, wasn't bad enough, the Pacers also seemed to take a bad turn with Tyrese Haliburton, who finished with postseason lows in both shots per touch (0.089) and drives per 100 possessions (8.451), as he was deployed mainly as a decoy while struggling to turn the corner with a calf strain. All the while, whereas the starting backcourt for the Pacers grappled with maneuvering downhill against pressure, OKC's stars, conversely, leveraged the pressure of the opposition into innumerable downhill maneuvers.

In the end, although T.J. McConnell and Pascal Siakam both managed to remove the seal on the paint in the second half, moving the Pacers to within striking distance with moves and counter-moves before they were both moved to the bench for what became a disastrous period of rest in their stead, it wasn't enough to avoid going down 3-2 in the series, returning to Gainbridge Fieldhouse in desperate need of turning the page on all the turns (and non-turns) for the worst.

Joining me to discuss what needs to change in Game 6 in response to what changed in Game 5, is once again Samson Folk.

Here are the relevant timestamps:

0:00 - Introductions

1:12 - Tyrese Haliburton has a calf strain (major bummer!)

3:39 - Crediting OKC's defense, acknowledging that he was clearly limited, and explaining why (if available) there can still be benefit to him playing

10:33 - OKC (under)standing the assignment

21:07 - T.J. McConnell's moves and countermoves, Andrew Nembhard's late-game fatigue + solving OKC's crack-back rotations and more

27:24 - Balancing act of closing with McConnell & Siakam versus the potential risk of diminishing returns with regard to stamina

30:50 - Teaching my sister about stocks (i.e. steals+blocks)

32:06 - Debating whether, on top of everything that is already being asked of him, Siakam should also be asked to guard Jalen Williams

42:21 - How would that swap impact Indiana's ability to apply full-court pressure, as well as how often SGA is playing off-ball + whether Nesmith could mimic the same impact as Siakam away from the ball (also, would he need to?)

48:50 - Zone as a means to steal a game or a sign that a team is out of answers?

50:57 - In a follow-up to the last pod, looking at how the Pacers countered for SGA as the screener for JDub and how SGA responded to the counter

54:21 - Banter about Samson's scary seizure, audiobooks, and the Princess Bride

1:00:26 - Thanks for making us your favorite talking duo about the NBA Finals