Oklahoma City Thunder defeats Indiana Pacers, turns series around and moves one win away from NBA title

The Oklahoma City Thunder could be crowned NBA champions in 2024/25 next Thursday in Indianapolis. The team now leads the final series against the Indiana Pacers , 3-2, after winning at their home stadium on Tuesday, 120-109. If necessary, a seventh and final game will be played on Sunday in Oklahoma.

Jalen Williams was the top scorer and best player of the game, with 40 points for Oklahoma. For the Pacers, Siakam was the one who scored the most points: 28 points.

Indiana pressed hard from the start and with a three-pointer from Siakam they opened up a 7-4 lead, but Jalen Williams, as he has done throughout the series, began to stand out and Oklahoma soon reached 17-12.

In less than five minutes of play, Indiana has already collected three errors. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, more "connected" from the beginning, led Oklahoma on an 11-point streak (22 to 14), with the help of Caruso, who traditionally comes in well off the bench.

Indiana struggled with Oklahoma's defense and continued to make a lot of mistakes on offense. A sensational block by Mathurin on Caruso encouraged the visitors. But two three-pointers in a row with Wiggins and Wallace, Oklahoma opened up a 29-17 lead. Note: with 2:24 left in the first quarter, Thunder hit three three-pointers, the same number as in the entire fourth game. The period ended with Oklahoma ten points ahead: 32-22.

The second quarter saw Indiana always making mistakes, while Wiggins hit two more three-pointers, taking Oklahoma to 39-27. Knowing how to suffer, Indiana did not give up and reduced the rival's advantage to just eight points, after a three-pointer by Nesmith.

The problem was that Indiana made a lot of mistakes. Sheppard committed the Pacers' tenth turnover and Jalen Williams made no mistake: 44 to 32. With 7:14 left in the quarter, Oklahoma had nine steals to their opponent's one. A beautiful basket by Shai gives the Thunder their biggest lead of the game: 47 to 32. It then reaches 56 to 38.

The final score of the first half (59 to 45) could have been higher for Oklahoma, given the number of problems with Indiana. One of them was the poor performance of Haliburton, who finished the first two quarters without scoring. The athlete seemed to have a physical problem.

In the second half, without so many mistakes, Indiana came out on top and with less than four minutes left managed to reduce the deficit to 67-55. On the Thunder's side, Jalen Williams maintained a good rhythm and already reached 22 points with 7:53 left in the third period. A three-pointer by Obi Toppin reduced the difference in favor of the Thunder to less than ten points.

With 7:07 left, Haliburton finally scored the first two points thanks to free throws: 70-59. Indiana had a great performance from McConnell, coming off the bench, who with six consecutive points left the difference at just seven points (75-68). He scored more. There were 13 points in the quarter, but Jalen Williams was still active to maintain the advantage for the Thunder: 87-79 at the end of the third quarter.

The start of the fourth quarter was highlighted by Siakam's performance on both defense and offense. With a three-pointer, Indiana reduced the deficit to 95-93. But the Pacers made two silly mistakes and the mistake increased the visitors' advantage to 100-93. It became a Siakam vs. Jalen Williams duel.

With help from Shai, Williams put the Thunder back in the lead: 116-104, with just under four minutes to play. Another beautiful basket from Shai and the Thunder sealed the victory with 120-105, with just over two minutes to play. Indiana fought until the end, but lost 120-109.