NBA

Indiana Pacers at Oklahoma City Thunder

· NBA Finals - Game 5
50-32, 20-20 Away
Final
109 - 120

68-14, 35-6 Home

Game 5: Williams scores 40 points and Thunder win 120-109 for a 3-2 NBA Finals lead over Pacers

Chet Holmgren talks NBA Finals experience with SVP

Indiana won that one.

This time, the Thunder crafted a different ending — and a 3-2 lead in the NBA Finals was their reward.

Jalen Williams scored a career playoff-high 40 points, MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 31 and the Thunder moved one win from a title by beating the Pacers 120-109 on Monday night.

“We're learning,” said Williams, whose previous playoff best was 34.

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, and Gilgeous-Alexander added 10 assists.

“It wasn't a perfect game at all and there's a lot of room for growth,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “But our improvement from Game 4 to Game 5 was critical.”

Pascal Siakam had 28 points for Indiana, which 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) than 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%,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “It's pretty clear.”

Led by McConnell, who scored 13 points in just under 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 3-pointer about a minute later made it 95-93. 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 from giving Oklahoma City its first NBA title.

“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.

Regular Season Series

OKC wins series 2-0

Recent Plays

4th 0.0 End of Game 109 - 120
4th 0.0 End of the 4th Quarter 109 - 120
4th 23.2 Bennedict Mathurin lost ball turnover (Alex Caruso steals) 109 - 120
4th 28.1 Ben Sheppard defensive rebound 109 - 120
4th 31.1 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander misses 20-foot step back jumpshot 109 - 120

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nba/500/ind.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originIND https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nba/500/okc.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originOKC
37-82 FG 40-94
45.1 Field Goal % 42.6
11-30 3PT 14-32
36.7 Three Point % 43.8
24-30 FT 26-32
80.0 Free Throw % 81.3
50 Rebounds 45
18 Offensive Rebounds 19
32 Defensive Rebounds 26
23 Assists 24
9 Steals 15
4 Blocks 12
22 Turnovers 11
1 Team Turnovers 0
23 Total Turnovers 11
1 Technical Fouls 0
1 Total Technical Fouls 0
0 Flagrant Fouls 0
32 Points Conceded Off Turnovers 9
13 Fast Break Points 17
48 Points in Paint 42
25 Fouls 24
3 Largest Lead 18
Oklahoma City Thunder Oklahoma City Thunder Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Thomas Sorber, C Day-To-Day Jul 21
Jalen Williams, F Day-To-Day Jul 10
Indiana Pacers Indiana Pacers Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Quenton Jackson, G Day-To-Day Jul 19
Johnny Furphy, F Day-To-Day Jul 19
Isaiah Jackson, SF Day-To-Day Jul 11
Tyrese Haliburton, PG Out Jul 7
James Wiseman, C Day-To-Day Jul 7

Game Information

Paycom Center

Location: Oklahoma City, OK
Attendance: 18,203 · Capacity:

2024-25 Central Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Cleveland 64 18 .780 - L1
Indiana 50 32 .610 14 W1
Milwaukee 48 34 .585 16 W8
Detroit 44 38 .537 20 L2
Chicago 39 43 .476 25 W3

2024-25 Northwest Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Oklahoma City - 14 W4 0.8292683 68
Denver 18 32 W3 0.6097561 50
Minnesota 19 33 W3 0.597561 49
Portland 32 46 W1 0.4390244 36
Utah 51 65 L2 0.20731707 17
Full Standings

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