Thunder backcourt dominates, as OKC takes Game 5

Game 5! Hold onto your butts!

By: Samson Folk I @samfolkk

Early screen and roll for Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam. A made middy and a made triple come from it for the Pacers dynamic forward. The Pacers had great energy in their actions and were outfoxing the double-big lineup on one end, however, the Thunder were doing a tremendous job of scoring at an even higher clip on the other side. The step up screens for their MVP were essential in turning him loose and allowing him space to perform his wizardry, and he coolly created for others - his two early assists easily dwarfing his zero assist performance in Game 4. SGA bent the defense and his teammates rewarded the space with shot-making. They busted out to a 22-12 lead.

Rick Carlisle was called for a technical foul after berating the referees for a missed call that should’ve sent Andrew Nembhard to the line. The Pacers had already turned the ball over five times - with a couple coming from sloppy ball handling, but the majority coming as a result of the Thunder’s elite ball pressure. 

An early sub of SGA led to a difficult stretch for the Thunder offense that the Pacers failed to take advantage of fully, and was bookended by a couple made triples from Aaron Wiggins and Cason Wallace (who hit another triple to help close the quarter) to help sustain the Thunder. The great equalizer, that 3-point shot. The Pacers never got their full footing on offense after the opening stretch and had trouble creating outside of Siakam - who had his own troubles, with three turnovers in the opening quarter. No paint-to-great for the Pacers. They got doubled up in the restricted area.

The Pacers entered the second quarter down by 10, 32-22. They opened the frame with two straight turnovers, and a Wiggins triple sent the Thunder up by 13. A bit of mismatch hunting for Siakam and a couple threes from T.J. McConnell and Aaron Nesmith helped the Pacers creep a little closer, but the Thunder were still cashing from downtown (Wiggins in particular, who had already made 3) and keeping them at arm's length. This Thunder defense is in a league of its own when it comes to getting hands on the basketball and they managed to continuously jump passes, and maybe most importantly, get Haliburton to kill his dribble. 

In what was a torrid run through the middle of the quarter, the Thunder consistently got stop after stop, while churning forward on the offensive end. It could be as simple as Gilgeous-Alexander flattening out and making a show-stopping jumper over Siakam and Nembhard, or it could be a turnover into a runout. The Thunder had enough to take a big leap forward, an 18-point leap forward. A massive haymaker. 

The Pacers chipped and bashed their way back to a 14-point deficit before the half closed. A lot of players diving towards the paint, a handful of offensive rebounds, and a whole lot of gumption. However, the Thunder found it easy enough to lean on their MVP who routinely collapsed the Pacer defense - and when you get six combined threes from Wiggins and Wallace, it’s going to be tough to keep up. Especially when your star guard shoots 0-5, has no points, and was clearly dealing with calf tightness. Indiana shot 33% as a team and were getting walloped in points off turnovers. 

For the second quarter in a row, the Pacers turned the ball over their first possession. The Pacers used Siakam as their battering ram for paint touches and got some really great looks from beyond the arc to go down. But, whether it was a back cut into an And-1 for Williams on a BLOB, or Gilgeous-Alexander slithering to his spot for a make, or a banked in Dort triple - the Thunder kept every run short. Never too late with a response. The Pacers would climb to 12 repeatedly, and it would always be met with a shot from the Thunder. Williams in particular was spectacular as he created bucket after bucket while using the dependable step up screens Hartenstein was providing. 

A magical 6-0 run from McConnell, who peppered the paint over and over, as Gilgeous-Alexander looked on from the scorer’s table, brought the Pacers back to 7. A Herculean stretch by the Pacers diminutive guard. And it was followed up by some inventive scoring from Toppin, and even more than that, McConnell extended his scoring to 13 points in that flurry. The Pacers were looking for a life raft to hang in against the Thunder and Gilgeous-Alexander, and McConnell was plenty buoyant. Down 8 heading into the fourth after McConnell went punch for punch with the Thunder’s star duo. 

That damn counterpunching reared its ugly head once again. A Siakam triple opened the scoring, and was met with a 5-0 run from the Thunder - both buckets borne out of the genius of Gilgeous-Alexander. A slithery left handed finish, and a push pass to Wiggins for his fourth triple of the night. 

A tremendous stretch from Siakam, scoring 12 points in the first 3 and a half minutes, brought the Pacers back within two. He was creating with a live dribble, grabbing offensive rebounds, blocking the MVP at the bucket, and canning triples. It was an inspired push. Unfortunately, an offensive rebound for the Thunder led to a Williams triple, and the next time down Nembhard and Haliburton had a disconnect and sent Wallace up court for a dunk. A really disappointing sequence that put the Thunder back up 7, and it rocketed up to a 13 point lead 1 minute later with an 8-0 run. 

Nembhard and Haliburton had completely lost the rope, as they strung together turnover after turnover. And I mean possession after possession. The Pacers offense died with Siakam taking his customary mid fourth quarter rest, and Williams broke loose repeatedly to push the Thunder over the top. He was up to 40 points with three minutes of the quarter to go. The Pacers lost the game in that stretch. 

The Pacers got 18-4-4 from McConnell in a flash. They got 28-6-5-3-2 from Siakam. They got efficient enough scoring from the trio of Nesmith-Toppin-Turner. They got very little from their starting backcourt. 

The worry, obviously, is that Haliburton’s injury makes it a likelihood that they’ll get less than they need for the rest of this series. The Thunder guards are tenacious and overwhelming when you’re feeling your best, I imagine they’re a whole different beast when you don’t. 

We’ll see how all of it goes. 

Have a blessed day.