Jalen Williams erupts for a playoff career-high 40 points as the Thunder take a 3-2 lead in the NBA Finals.
OKLAHOMA CITY — It’s unusual for the flavor of one game to seep into the next, as these contests in the NBA Finals seem to develop their distinct personalities.
Yet this much was evident and undeniable — the Thunder took control of the series in the fourth quarter of Friday’s Game 4, then managed to keep it three nights later.
And that’s why they now sit on the brink of a championship. This series flipped in their favor over the last five quarters, punctuated and certified Monday with a 120-109 Game 5 win.
They’re now four quarters away from grabbing a bottle of champagne, which could happen Thursday in Indianapolis (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC). This was made possible by The Jalen Williams Game, sprinkled with some Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in a supporting role, timely defense, a courageous stand in the final six minutes, and helped by a zero-bucket game from a gimpy Tyrese Haliburton.
It’s 3-2, advantage Thunder, who are finding ways to triumph in these intense, competitive contests, either by leaning on their obvious strengths or tapping into other resources. Sometimes both.
Meanwhile, for the first time this postseason, the Pacers face elimination and they’re the last of the 16-team field to feel this heat.
Here are five takeaways from the night when the Thunder pushed the Pacers to the edge:
1. J-Dub gets the W
Jalen Williams delivers a playoff career-high 40 points for the Thunder in a crucial Game 5 victory as OKC takes a 3-2 lead.
What we’re witnessing in this series is a co-star methodically nudging his way into a starring role. This transition by Williams is now on skates after his latest, and greatest, performance of the Finals.
He had bounce, a tricky fadeaway jumper and a knack for scoring in transition. It was all working Monday for the Thunder forward and the result was the highest-scoring game by anyone in this series.
How about 40 points? Better yet, on 14-for-25 shooting? This was his masterpiece, his statement, his coming out on the big stage, at the age of just 24. And there was nothing the Pacers could muster to prevent it.
“When he’s at his best, he plays with force,” OKC coach Mark Daigneault said.
This 40-piece was merely the next step in a climb. Williams had 26 points in Game 3, then 27 in Game 4 and now this. He’s averaging 31 points with six rebounds over those three games.
“I’m just out there being aggressive,” he said.
And how much does his elevated game help OKC and especially the league MVP?
“Makes a world of difference,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.
The growth of Williams is such positive and inspiring news for OKC. He’s capable of taking over big games, he fits well next to Gilgeous-Alexander and he’s poised to win a championship (if he has another effort like this one). Everyone can spot the tell-tale signs in the making of a star.
2. OKC once again pleads the fourth
While OKC never trailed after the nine-minute mark of the first quarter and led by double digits through much of the third, there were some anxious moments the rest of the way. The level of anxiety peaked with 8:11 left and OKC’s advantage was sitting at a somewhat shaky and vulnerable two points.
Pascal Siakam blocked Gilgeous-Alexander’s shot. He made a 3-pointer for the Pacers. Williams and Isaiah Hartenstein both missed shots. Was this the makings of another Indiana rally? It’s not like we haven’t seen that before.
But, no. Gilgeous-Alexander made a behind-the-back pass (more on that later) to Lu Dort, who found an open Williams for a 3-pointer, and this was the makings of an OKC thunderstorm — yet again. A two-point game was erased by a response that makes champions.
The Pacers had four straight possessions where they had four turnovers, unable to even attempt a shot. And that was their doom, as just like that, OKC’s lead ballooned to double digits.
The Thunder create 23 turnovers, leading to 32 points in Game 5, a 23-point advantage over the Pacers.
Remember: OKC secured the fourth quarter of its Game 4 victory by making all the right plays and outscoring Indiana 31-17. This time, much the same: Defense, disruption and a combined 20 points from Williams and Gilgeous-Alexander.
“It always starts defensively for us,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We kind of had them on their heels. Because of three or four steals in a row, we were able to get out and run and get easy baskets.”
3. Haliburton’s latest no-show has an asterisk
Midway through the first quarter came the tweak, a strain of a previously problematic calf that put the clamps on Haliburton, who, after discussion at halftime, decided to continue playing.
“He’s a fighter,” Siakam said. “He’s going to give us everything he’s got.”
Here’s the weird part: Haliburton could play — he managed 34 minutes — and he collected seven rebounds, which demonstrated he still had hops. But he couldn’t, or wouldn’t, shoot. He missed all six of his attempts and scored just four points. He bypassed other potential scoring chances.
Tyrese Haliburton is admirably fighting through an ankle injury, but his limitations keep Indiana in check throughout Game 5.
It didn’t help that he was hounded by Dort, OKC’s First Team All-Defense member. The combination of the loss of mobility (plus an inability to shake Dort) made for a frustrating night, ultimately contributing to Indiana’s defeat.
It also made for a disturbing pattern for Haliburton in this postseason, with his elite performances often followed by an inexplicable dud.
He had games of four and 11 points in the second round against a Cavs team he destroyed and eventually dismissed with late-game heroics.
He had an eight and 14-point game in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Knicks, a series highlighted by his overtime-forcing shot at the buzzer.
In these Finals, he showed up late in Indiana’s Game 2 loss. These stretches speak to his inconsistency and why his status tends to toggle between great and mild.
His first points in Game 5 came at the seven-minute mark of the third quarter. Both before and after that free throw, he was vapor aside from some pinpoint second-half passes that led to assists.
“He’s not 100%,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said before adding, “there’s a lot of guys in the series that aren’t.”
Haliburton said he’s playing Game 6 “if I can walk.”
4. McConnell makes things happen
There was a moment in the third quarter when the ingredients for a T.J. McConnell takeover were being prepared. Just as he did in Game 3 when he caused disruptions with those surprise steals of OKC inbounds passes, this time the Pacers’ reserve guard brought buckets.
This also caught OKC by surprise, because McConnell isn’t a volume scorer and, if anything, bypasses potential shots. But with Haliburton running on empty, the Pacers needed a spark, another source of energy, and McConnell provided just that — only in a different form.
His previous single-game scoring high in this series was 11 points. He bypassed that in one blizzard of a third quarter: 13 points in just six minutes.
McConnell took eight shots, more than any Pacer, and made six of them. He outscored his teammates in the quarter, 13-11. Most of his damage was accomplished on his specialty, the pullup jumper in the paint, with a few layups tossed in.
He even put Chet Holmgren in the spin cycle, dropping a reverse layup on the Thunder 7-footer.
“That’s T.J.,” Siakam said. “That’s what he does. That put us in position to even fight for this game.”
It was the lift the Pacers needed because, at that point, they were stale and searching for answers. They trailed by 14 at halftime and OKC was primed for a rout.
McConnell, however, saw just four minutes in the fourth. Carlisle went with Andrew Nembhard and that strategy backfired; Nembhard had his worst performance in the Finals, with three turnovers and 0-for-2 shooting in the period. But Carlisle said McConnell by then was gassed.
5. SGA turns into distributor
The Thunder dish out 24 assists in Game 5 as the offense is humming around hubs Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams.
He had 31 points. He became the fourth player, after Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Hakeem Olajuwon, to score 30 or more 15 times in a playoff run. He was a necessary source of scoring on Monday.
But the best part of Gilgeous-Alexander’s Game 5 happened when he looked for teammates. On a night when Williams was doing work, Gilgeous-Alexander balanced his scoring with playmaking and passing.
His 10 assists were his Finals single-game high and tied for his most assists in a game this postseason. It’s the part of his game that is often overlooked because of his scoring, and also the part that’s still being developed.
“He’s getting better every year in just about everything,” Daigneault said. “I think he’s really improved as a playmaker. He’s learned when teams load up on him and they over-commit, to get off it early, and I think that’s reflected in the way we’ve played offense throughout the course of the season.”
* * *
Shaun Powell has covered the NBA for more than 25 years. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.
The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Warner Bros. Discovery.
