OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) \u2014 Game 5 was starting to look like Game 1 all over again. Oklahoma City, at home, takes a huge lead. Indiana comes roaring back in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n
Indiana won that one.<\/p>\n
This time, the Thunder crafted a different ending \u2014 and a 3-2 lead in the NBA Finals was their reward.<\/p>\n
Jalen Williams scored a career playoff-high 40 points, MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 31 and the Thunder moved one win from a title by beating the Pacers 120-109 on Monday night.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re learning,\u201d said Williams, whose previous playoff best was 34.<\/p>\n
It was the 10th \u2014 and by far, the biggest \u2014 time the Thunder stars combined for more than 70 points in a game. Williams was 14 of 24 from the field, and Gilgeous-Alexander added 10 assists.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t a perfect game at all and there\u2019s a lot of room for growth,\u201d Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. \u201cBut our improvement from Game 4 to Game 5 was critical.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pascal Siakam had 28 points for Indiana, which will host Game 6 on Thursday night. TJ McConnell added 18 for the Pacers, who whittled an 18-point deficit down to two in the fourth \u2014 then watched the Thunder pull away again, and for good.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt kind of went away from us,\u201d Siakam said. \u201cBut the fight was there.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was, but now everything favors the Thunder.<\/p>\n
Teams that win Game 5 of an NBA Finals that was tied at 2-2 have gone on to win the series 23 times in 31 previous opportunities, or 74%. And teams with a 3-2 lead in the finals have won 40 times in 49 previous opportunities, or 82%.<\/p>\n
But Game 5 was not easy. Far from it.<\/p>\n
Down by 18 late in the second quarter, the Pacers \u2014 the comeback kings of these playoffs, with as many wins in this postseason from 15 points down or more (five) than the rest of the league has combined, including in Game 1 of this series \u2014 did what they do, chipping away. And they did it with\u00a0Tyrese Haliburton reduced to basically playing decoy<\/a>\u00a0on offense because of a leg issue that he aggravated in the first quarter.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s not 100%,\u201d Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty clear.\u201d<\/p>\n Led by McConnell, who scored 13 points in just under seven minutes of the third, the Pacers got within five late in that quarter.<\/p>\n Then, Siakam went to work \u2014 a pair of free throws with 9:19 left got Indiana within four, then a 3-pointer about a minute later made it 95-93. In the play-by-play era of the NBA, starting with the 1997 playoffs, teams with leads of 15 points or more in the finals were 80-9.<\/p>\n Make that 81-9 now, and the Thunder are one win away from giving Oklahoma City its first NBA title.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was honestly the same exact game as Game 1,\u201d Williams said. \u201cLearning through these finals, that\u2019s what makes a team good.\u201d<\/p>\n One more win, and his team will be certified as great.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n