The Oklahoma City Thunder will host the Indiana Pacers for Game 5 of the 2025 NBA Finals on Monday. The pivotal matchup will see who is closer to the championship as the series is tied at 2-2.
After the game, the Thunder went on a season-saving 12-1 run to close out a 111-104 Game 4 win. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander put on his Superman cape and took OKC over the finish line with 15 points in the fourth quarter alone.
With momentum behind the theme, here are three things the Thunder must do to take a 3-2 series lead over the Pacers in Game 5:
Role Players Step Up
The saying goes that role players step up at home. The Pacers can take note of that. TJ McConnell turned Game 3 around with five steals in 15 minutes. Obi Toppin will have been the hero of Game 4 if Indiana had held on. Back at OKC, the Thunder hope to enjoy similar luck.
The best way to do that would be to get them outside. There’s no question about it, the Thunder have been bad in the playoffs from deep. They can get any game from 3-of-16 from Game 4. OKC became the first team to win an NBA Finals game with threes or farters made our shots since the 2010 Boston Celtics.
You can only go from there. Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe could be prime candidates to hit some outside buckets. Maybe Cason Wallace can finally nail his first outside-in bucket of the NBA Finals. Of course, Lu Dort has been deeply red-faced this whole series.
Reason for turnover
Since the historic turnover rate of Game 1, the Thunder has not had another remarkable defense. The Pacers had only 15 turnovers in Game 2, 14 in Game 3 and just 16 in Game 4. One of Indiana’s superpowers has been the brilliant ball-handling Sekirei. Aside from the 25 turnovers in Game 1, it has shown that the Thunder have one of the best defenses in the league.
The Thunder need to get back to their bread and butter in Game 5. They are due for a massive turnover number. This defense is not good at snowballing a mess fueled by their hands.
If the Thunder can get a bunch of steal-and-score sequences, the Pacers could see Ty get on the scoreboard before the Jets. That’s how OKC carried the regular season and playoffs. It’s also how it had its best point total ever at plus-12.9.
don’t mess around
You could have a repeat of Game 1. Or even Game 2 to a certain extent. The Pacers have made it this far because of that. Ask the Milwaukee Bucks, Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks. If you give Indiana a chance, it will take advantage with some awesome clutch plays.
The Thunder will need to ride their rushing momentum and put this one out of reach. While Gilgeous-Lexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren showed they can escape with a thriller in Game 4, the plan is to take the lead in Game 5.
The Thunder are due for a blowout. They’ve had a couple in every playoff series so far. Game 2 is the closest to that, but the Pacers hung around and didn’t let it go for an insecure lead. Right now would be a good time to put on a pure dominant performance.
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: 3 things the Thunder must do to win Game 5 against the Pacers in the NBA Finals
