OKLAHOMA CITY -- Jalen Williams scored a career playoff-high 40 points, MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 31 and the Oklahoma City Thunder moved one win from a title by beating the Indiana Pacers 120-109 in Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Monday night.
It was the 10th -- and by far, the biggest -- time the Thunder stars combined for more than 70 points in a game. Williams was 14 of 24 from the field, while Gilgeous-Alexander added 10 assists.
"That was an unbelieveable performance by him," Thunder Coach Mark Daigneault said of Williams. "Just throughout the whole game he really was on the gas the entire night. Applied a ton of pressure, made a lot of the right plays, and we're going to need a similar type of approach in Game 6 from him."
Pascal Siakam scored 28 points for Indiana, which now trails 3-2 in the series and 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 -- then watched the Thunder pull away again, and for good.
"It kind of went away from us," Siakam said. "But the fight was there."
It was, but now everything favors the Thunder.
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%.
But Game 5 was not easy. Far from it.
Down by 18 late in the second quarter, the Pacers -- the comeback kings of these playoffs, with as many wins in this postseason from 15 points down or more (five) as the rest of the league has combined, including in Game 1 of this series -- did what they do, chipping away. And they did it with Tyrese Haliburton reduced to basically playing decoy on offense because of a leg issue that he aggravated in the first quarter.
"He's not 100%, it's pretty clear, but I don't think he's going to miss the next game," Pacers Coach Rick Carlisle said of Haliburton. "We were concerned at halftime, and he insisted on playing. I thought he made a lot of really good things happen in the second half, but he's not 100%. There's a lot of guys in this series that aren't."
Led by McConnell, who scored 13 points in just less than seven minutes of the third, the Pacers got within five late in that quarter.
Then, Siakam went to work -- a pair of free throws with 9:19 left got Indiana within four, then a three-pointer about a minute later made it 95-93.
"We had 23 turnovers for 32 points, that's the game," Carlisle said. "We got to do a heck of a lot better there."
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.
Make that 81-9 now, and the Thunder are one win away.
"That was honestly the same exact game as Game 1," Williams said. "Learning through these finals, that's what makes a team good."
One more win, and his team will be certified as great.
"That's a really good team over there," Williams said. "You just don't trip into the finals. They're really good. They do the same thing we do, stay the course. We had to stay the course as well during that run and we did a good job of that."
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) shoots as Indiana Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard, right, defends during the second half of Game 5 of the NBA Finals basketball series, Monday, June 16, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) shoots as Indiana Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard, right, defends during the second half of Game 5 of the NBA Finals basketball series, Monday, June 16, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren (7) and Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner (33) battle for the ball during the second half of Game 5 of the NBA Finals basketball series, Monday, June 16, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren (7) and Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner (33) battle for the ball during the second half of Game 5 of the NBA Finals basketball series, Monday, June 16, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)
Indiana Pacers forward Pascal Siakam, top, dunks against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second half of Game 5 of the NBA Finals basketball series Monday, June 16, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)
Indiana Pacers forward Pascal Siakam, top, dunks against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second half of Game 5 of the NBA Finals basketball series Monday, June 16, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)
Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) drives past Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) during the second half of Game 5 of the NBA Finals basketball series, Monday, June 16, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)
Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) drives past Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) during the second half of Game 5 of the NBA Finals basketball series, Monday, June 16, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)