After their comeback effort fell short in Game 5, the Indiana Pacers are one loss away from losing the NBA Finals to the Oklahoma City Thunder. In Game 5, the Pacers rallied to come back from down 18 points, cutting the deficit to two, before the wheels fell off the bus.
On Thursday, the series will head back to Gainbridge Fieldhouse, allowing Indiana one last do-or-die effort in front of their home fans, hoping to force a Game 7.
In Game 5, Tyrese Haliburton failed to make a shot from the floor, although stellar play from the Pacers' bench kept them in the game down the stretch. With no room for error, Indiana will need to be flawless, and there are three keys they must emphasize.
1. Tyrese Haliburton must score
No team has won a Finals game when a starting guard goes 0-for-anything, and Haliburton offered a masterclass in ineffectiveness, finishing with only four points with six missed shots from the floor.
His defense and facilitating remained solid, although when the best player on a team fails to make a single shot, it's impossible to remain competitive.
If it wasn't for TJ McConnell scoring 18 points off the bench, the game would have been over long before the final buzzer, although the backup point guard was able to put the team on his back, orchestrating a comeback that barely fell short.
In Game 6, Haliburton, who was hobbled with a leg injury, will have to play like he's feeling 100 percent, lest the Pacers lose in the Finals for the second time.
2. Pacers' bench must remain elite
In every game so far in these Finals, the Thunder have had at least one bench player score double-digits, with eight total double-digit bench games in the series. The Thunder, meanwhile, have six such games.
In the postseason, the Pacers' bench has averaged 36.6 points per game compared to OKC's 32.5 points, although Alex Caruso is responsible for more than his fair share. While the Thunder rely on Caruso and Aaron Wiggins to make big plays, the Pacers can call on McConnell, Bennedict Mathurin, Obi Toppin, and even Thomas Bryant and Tony Bradley to make things happen.
In Game 6, the Pacers will need Haliburton to be excellent, but when he and the rest of the starters sit, they can't take their foot off the gas. Luckily, the second unit loves to push the pace, and there can't be a single moment of slowing down.
3. Thunder can't have two 30-point scorers
The Thunder have two All-NBA players in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren and Cason Wallace are more than capable of getting hot.
In Game 5, Williams scored 40 points and SGA offered a well-rounded 31 points and ten assists. It's simple, really: if two players manage to combine for 60 points, it's very hard to lose the game.
With the Thunder, it's almost guaranteed that one player will score 30 points. Usually, that's Gilgeous-Alexander, who is one of the most unguardable players in the NBA, but if the Pacers can limit the impact of the surging cast while letting him fill up the stat sheet, there's a high likelihood they can push the series to seven games.
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