INDIANAPOLIS — The Thunder played one of its worst games of the year at one of the most inopportune times, Game 6 of the NBA Finals, losing 108-91 in a game not nearly as close as the score indicates. The Thunder report card is not exactly glittering.
Starting lineup: B. Mark Daigneault made his first substitution 4½ minutes into the game. The Thunder led 10-7 at that point. Daigneault went back to his starting lineup for a 41-second span in the second quarter, during which the Pacers outscored OKC 3-2. So in 5:10 together of the first half, the fivesome of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, Luguentz Dort and Isaiah Hartenstein outscored Indiana 12-10. And Daigneault never went back to that unit. Nothing worked for the Thunder, except the starting lineup wasn’t half bad. And it didn’t even start the second half. Strange. Very strange.
Gilgeous-Alexander: D. SGA played his worst game of the playoffs, with eight turnovers. Ball movement was at a minimum, leading to just two assists for Gilgeous-Alexander. The Thunder had just six assists total through three quarters, then the B team, playing garbage time, had eight assists in the fourth quarter. SGA scored at a decent clip, 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting, with enough foul shots (eight) to show aggressiveness, but the one-on-one nature of the Thunder offense doomed the night.
People are also reading…
Three-point shooting: F. Through three quarters, the Thunder made just three of 20 3-point shots. Both totals are alarming. Indiana made 14 of 35 through three periods. Hard to win when you’re outscored 42-9 from deep, and indeed, the Pacers led 90-60 going into the fourth quarter. And it’s not like the Thunder’s 20 deep shots were high-quality. OKC had just one corner-3 attempt, an Alex Caruso miss, through three periods. Corner-3s are the best ticket to sustained success, since they are shorter shots.
Defensive pressure: F. With 6½ minutes left in the third quarter, Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton flipped a mis-timed pass onto the wing. No Pacer was there. Hartenstein scrambled to grab the ball, and voila! — the Thunder had its first steal. It took 29½ game minutes for OKC to get a live-ball takeaway, at which time it trailed 70-44. Steals fuel the Thunder offense. OKC had an energy crisis in Game 6. The Thunder can win and has won with meager 3-point shooting. The Thunder almost certainly will not win if the Pacers win the turnover game. At halftime, Indiana had two turnovers to the Thunder’s 12.
NBA Finals Thunder Pacers Basketball
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams (8) tries to shoot as Indiana Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith defends during the first half of Game 6 of the NBA Finals on Thursday in Indianapolis. Michael Conroy, Associated Press
Jalen Williams: D. Williams remained tied intricately to the number 40. He scored 40 points in Game 5. He was minus-40 in Game 6 — the Pacers outscored the Thunder by 40 points in Williams’ 26:51 of playing time. Williams got some things going in the Thunder’s one-on-one offense (16 points, 6-of-13 shooting). But he was mostly was ineffective on defense, and his three turnovers were particularly careless.
Bench: D. The B team’s fourth quarter — outscoring Indiana 31-18, even though Rick Carlisle stayed with his mainline Pacers the first five minutes or so — masked the overwhelming advantage of Indiana’s bench. Through three quarters, the Pacer bench outscored the Thunder’s 31-6. Aaron Wiggins hit a first-quarter wing-3. Isaiah Joe hit a third-quarter 3 from the top of the key. Those were OKC’s only bench points. Alex Caruso went scoreless, and in his 22 minutes, the Thunder was outscored by 33 points. Obi Toppin came off the bench to lead the Pacers in scoring, with 20. T.J. McConnell did his usual sparkplug role, scoring eight points in the second quarter alone.
berry.tramel@tulsaworld.com
0 Comments
Get in the game with our Prep Sports Newsletter
Sent weekly directly to your inbox!