Finals Film Room: OKC finds success with SGA, J-Will pick-and-roll<\/p>\n
OKLAHOMA CITY \u2014 Oklahoma City, the NBA\u2019s winningest team this season, hasn\u2019t lost two games in a row in more than two months. Their opponents in the 2025 Finals<\/a>, the Indiana Pacers, haven\u2019t had that teensy of a losing streak in three months.<\/p>\n Put them together and it\u2019s no wonder the participants have been trading games and head into Game 5 Monday (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC<\/a>) at the Paycom Center tied 2-2.<\/p>\n That ability to re-center and reset themselves speaks to the East and West conference champions\u2019 resilience, as well as their ability to adjust strategically and quickly clean up mistakes. What it doesn\u2019t offer much of, if any, is momentum.<\/p>\n It\u2019s an NBA truism that momentum is rare in the playoffs, particularly in the deeper rounds. It\u2019s not that sweeps or five-game series don\u2019t happen, but the more evenly matched two teams are, the thinner the line gets between winning and losing. A bit of fine-tuning here, a little more desperation there is all it takes sometimes.<\/p>\n Principals on both sides were asked about momentum in interview sessions Sunday, and frankly no one came up with any definitive explanation yay or nay.<\/p>\n \u201cAside from game planning and scouting, this is like a totally new series,\u201d said Thunder star Jalen Williams. \u201cYou\u2019re treating this as Game 1, you know what I mean? \u2026 I feel like that\u2019s the most clean-slate attitude that you can have with it.\u201d<\/p>\n What officially is a best-of-seven series to win the Larry O\u2019Brien Trophy has been turned into a shorty. Two out of three now. The Thunder have home-court edge again, with the Pacers eager to swipe it again the way they did when the \u201clong\u201d series began June 5.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the best part about playoff series, is when you get the chance to respond,\u201d said Indiana guard Tyrese Haliburton, whose team lost a fourth-quarter lead in Game 4. \u201cThat\u2019s the great thing about sports. You\u2019re going to have good games, you\u2019re going to have bad games. But there\u2019s nothing like the [next] game to respond.\u201d<\/p>\n Here are four things to look for as this high-level, entertaining series heads into crunch time:<\/p>\n 1. More from Thunder\u2019s \u2018other\u2019 PG<\/p>\n The ESPN docu-series \u201cThe Last Dance\u201d has been in rotation lately on the network\u2019s many channels, offering a reminder of how valuable Chicago\u2019s Scottie Pippen was as a full-service sidekick to Michael Jordan during their dynasty in the 1990s. In particular, Pippen frequently played as a \u201cpoint forward\u201d for the Bulls, enabling Jordan freedom off the ball in initiating that team\u2019s famous triangle offense.<\/p>\n A point forward has emerged in these 2025 Finals: OKC\u2019s Jalen Williams. We\u2019re not comparing him or teammate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to the Bulls\u2019 Hall of Fame tandem, but the effect of having Williams start OKC\u2019s offense has freed up Gilgeous-Alexander (in the past two games especially) from constantly taking Indiana\u2019s first defensive punch.<\/p>\n Williams, wrapping up his third season as the No. 12 pick in 2022 out of Santa Clara, is known for his two-way play and versatility. Still, this has been a heavier dose on the ball to help set OKC\u2019s attack in motion. Where has this come from?<\/p>\n \u201cWell, I grew up short,\u201d Williams said, explaining that he started organized basketball as a point guard. \u201cA lot of times that always goes under the radar.\u201d<\/p>\n Learning and playing on the wing as he grew to his current height (6-foot-5) shifted him around, but this is a nice relief valve for the Thunder, spelling SGA a bit without dipping into the bench.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m pretty comfortable doing it,\u201d Williams said, \u201cand at the same time, I think if everybody on our team can figure out a different way to be successful and change during the series, I can do that.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just something that, as the game went on, it just naturally, organically happened, and I was kind of ready for that.\u201d<\/p>\n Williams, an All-NBA Third Team pick this season, is averaging 22.3 points in the first four games, with 5.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists. He has 17 assists and 10 turnovers to Gilgeous-Alexander\u2019s 15 and 12.<\/p>\n 2. Siakam as priority for Pacers<\/p>\n That stifling defensive blanket Oklahoma City threw over the Pacers\u2019 offense in the fourth quarter Friday had Indiana almost speechless afterward, leaving them talking simply about getting \u201cstagnant\u201d with no other real explanations. Oh, Carlisle did cite OKC\u2019s 12-4 rebounding edge in the period and reckless fouls, which limited Indiana\u2019s scoring chances and forced his team to face the Thunder\u2019s set defense.<\/p>\n But two other things stood out. As Haliburton went, so did the offense. The Pacers guard spent a lot of time working from sideline to sideline 25 feet from the basket, all that east\/west indecisiveness setting up rushed shots or turnovers.<\/p>\n The other thing was, Pascal Siakam \u2013 who led Indiana with 20 points and 15 shots \u2013 got up only one lonely 3-point attempt early in the fourth. He got subbed out with 7:28 left, returned at 4:19 and did virtually nothing the rest of the way. No points, no shots, no rebounds, no fouls, nothing that appeared in the box score.<\/p>\n Targeted by OKC\u2019s defense to take Siakam away? Not according to Mark Daigneault. \u201cNone of our adjustments are really personnel specific against this team. \u2026 They play as a whole and as a unit, and you have to defend them as a whole and as a unit.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, it\u2019s hard to win if one of your top players \u2013 the MVP of the Eastern Conference Finals, no less \u2013 goes ghost down the stretch.<\/p>\n Said Carlisle: \u201cHe is a guy that if we are not playing through him, he needs to touch the ball more.\u201d<\/p>\n 3. Indiana\u2019s defense is Finals-worthy<\/p>\n The aftermath of the Pacers\u2019 Game 4 loss took on an ominous tone for some, framed in an uh-oh manner: The Thunder made only three of 17 3-pointers, passed for just 10 assists, and won! The thinking being, Indiana will be in trouble when those stats bounce back closer to normal for OKC; the Thunder averaged about 14 3s on 38 attempts, with nearly 27 assists, this season.<\/p>\n The half-full view for the Pacers is they limited the Thunder to those paltry numbers Sunday. Which means they conceivably could do it again or come close. Such expectations would have been irrational even a year ago, when the Pacers had recently begun working on their image as a team that could only win by outscoring everyone.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I first got here, most of the narrative was \u2018They play fast, they don\u2019t play defense, right?\u2019\u201d said Siakam. \u201cThat was the thing. I\u2019ve seen the growth of everyone. The coaches have been doing an awesome job preparing us for games, and everyone is willing to put the effort in. \u2026 When you see the results from the defense, you have no choice but to commit to it.\u201d<\/p>\n The coaches and front office knew Indiana needed to defend more diligently to become a serious contender \u2013 and knew the growth would need to come mostly from within. Carlisle gave credit to assistants Jenny Boucek and Jim Boylen for teaching, challenging and developing the rapport that sold players on the work of developing a stingier defense.<\/p>\n Now, not only is Indiana in the Finals in large part due to its defense, it has set new standards this postseason for being able to shift seamlessly from a high-octane attack to full-court pressure.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not something that players in the AAU level are leaning into saying, \u2018You know, I can\u2019t wait to get in there and do the shell drill.\u2019\u201d Carlisle said.<\/p>\n What OKC has built defensively over several years, Indiana has cobbled together a facsimile of in about 15 months.<\/p>\n 4. Carlisle sets a screen<\/p>\n A familiar gamesmanship as an NBA playoff series plays out goes like this: One coach or the other \u2013 sometimes both, alternating by whose team most recently lost \u2013 complains in the media about the officiating and how much brutality the other guys are getting away with. The idea being, he\u2019s sending a message to the referees to watch that stuff and perhaps even tilt things his way in the next game.<\/p>\n Carlisle, though, put a surprising spin on that Sunday when he defended referee Scott Foster against a flurry of criticism on social media and elsewhere.<\/p>\n Much of what Carlisle called \u201cawful\u201d came from apparent Pacers fans who were upset by Foster even before tipoff. It ranged from labeling the veteran game official \u201cThe Extender\u201d for the suspicion that teams trailing in a given series get an edge from him to gripes after OKC\u2019s Game 4 victory about fouls or non-calls that allegedly favored the Thunder.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve known Scott Foster for 30 years. He is a great official,\u201d Carlisle said, responding to a general question about officiating. \u201cHe has done a great job in these playoffs. We\u2019ve had him a lot of times. The ridiculous scrutiny that is being thrown out there is terrible and unfair and unjust and stupid.\u201d<\/p>\n There were 53 fouls called in Game 4 and 71 free throws awarded, the most so far in the series. Foster, the crew chief, called 23 of the fouls \u2013 12 on OKC, 11 on Indiana. OKC shot 38 free throws and made 34. Indiana shot 33 and made 25.<\/p>\n After the game, Carlisle did talk about his team missing eight free throws to the Thunder\u2019s four, but not about the number awarded.<\/p>\n The NBA staunchly supports its game officials against charges of bias or being swayed by criticism from players and coaches. Now we might get to see how the refs react to a losing coach defending one of them. Seed planted? It\u2019s even possible Foster is back on the court for a potential Game 7.<\/p>\n * * *<\/p>\n Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him\u00a0here<\/a>, find\u00a0his archive here<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0follow him on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Warner Bros. Discovery.<\/p>\n