Tennoyama! Jayway scored a record 40 points, SGA31+10, and the Thunder beat the Pacers with a total score of 3-2 to win the championship point

On June 17, Beijing time, the 2024-25 NBA Finals G5 was moved to Oklahoma City, and the Thunder played at home against the Pacers. Pacers star Haliburton suffered a right calf strain in the first quarter and insisted on playing with the injury, scoring only four points in the game, and finally the Pacers lost to the Thunder 109-120, and the series fell behind the Thunder 2-3.

Statistics

Pacers: Haliburton scored 4 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists with an injury, Siakam 28 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks, Nesmith 14 points, Turner 13 points, McConnell 18 points

Thunder: Alexander 31 points, 10 assists, 2 steals and 4 blocks, Jalen Williams 40 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, a career-high 40 points, Wiggins 14 points

Background

The Thunder G4 successfully completed a comeback in a bad situation, and in the fourth quarter, the team completely froze the Pacers' offense with a suffocating defense, and finally returned to the home court with a 2-2 score. In addition to Alexander, Caruso was also key to the Thunder's victory. Caruso played in just 54 games during the regular season, starting just three of them and playing 30+ minutes only once, but he averaged 29.5 points per game, 14.8 points and 2.5 steals per game in the Finals series. The Pacers G4 only scored 17 points in a single quarter in the fourth quarter and was reversed by the Thunder. For the Pacers, Siakam had to be an offensive point for the Pacers when Haliburton's poor teammates were heavily defended. It is worth mentioning that the NBA Finals has won a total of 31 times before, and the team that won the G5 championship 23 times, and only failed to win the championship 8 times.

Game recap

After the opening, Siakam scored five points in a row inside and outside, leading the Pacers to a 7-4 start. The Thunder, playing at home, will immediately respond with an 18-5 offensive surge to make the score 22-12. However, in the next three minutes or so, the Thunder did not score a goal, and the Pacers failed to seize the opportunity to close the score. Relying on three three-pointers from Wiggins and Wallace combined, the Thunder led the Pacers 32-22 at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, after Wiggins hit two three-pointers into the net, the Thunder extended their advantage to 12 points. At the critical moment, McConnell and Nesmith teamed up to hit two three-pointers to help the Pacers chase the score to 32-40. Haliburton suffered a strain in his right calf in the first quarter, and continued to play after returning to the locker room for treatment, but was beaten 2+1 by Jalen Williams. After that, the Thunder were firmly in control of the situation on the court and led the Pacers 59-45 at halftime. In addition, Haliburton shot 0-of-5 in the first half and didn't score a point, which was the first time in his career that he didn't score in the first half in the playoffs.

In the second half, the Pacers continued to chase points, and at 7 minutes and 7 seconds, Haliburton scored his first point of the game with free throws. Then, Toppin hit a three-pointer and McConnell scored 10 straight points to help the team narrow the gap to five points. At the critical moment, Alexander scored 4 points with consecutive free throws to stabilize the mood of the Thunder generals. But McConnell immediately responded with a brilliant 2+1. At the end of the third quarter, the Pacers trailed the Thunder 79-87.

In the final quarter, Siakam scored 12 straight points to put the Pacers up to 93-95. At the critical moment, Jalen Williams hit a three-pointer, followed by Wallace, Alexander and others, and the Thunder regained a 16-point advantage 5 minutes and 5 seconds before the end. Despite the Pacers' performance, the Thunder didn't give their opponents a chance to turn the game around, and in the end, the Thunder won the game and took the lead in the series.

Starting line-ups for both sides

Pacers: Tyrese Haliburton, Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam, Myles Turner, Andrew Nembhard

Thunder: Shay Gilgeous Alexander, Lyganz Dort, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, Hartenstein