The Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers rocked a Coca-Cola bottle filled with Maitos for 42 minutes, and finally, in the last six, it exploded in the compensation center, giving Indiana a 1-0 series lead.
I’ll break down some What We saw the weird, rolling game in Game 1, and the battlefields laid out in the rest of the series, but we had to start from the end. We must how;Impossible to understand how The Pacers won the race without taking into account their incredible confidence, resilience, and often such cliches, it’s hard to write about them without cliches.
Yes, the Pacers also stole the first game because of a lot of shaky Oklahoma City’s offense, and Deep also performed 46.2%. But Obi Toppin shot in the mid-30s in the season and career, shooting 5 from the depths, creating some huge games in the second half. Blame Oklahoma City often let him open, blaming the different Gods gently guide the ball into the net, but first, be aware of his making and feeling the energy through the screen.
Toppin believes they are going. His teammates pass the ball to him or watch them go from the bench. The same goes for his coach, relying on him after the game begins. When Toppin waves his wrist, you also believe – or maybe know – it’s coming in.
Oklahoma City’s shooting profile
Entering the finals, the team with fewer turnovers in this year’s playoffs was 53-20. Indiana gave Oklahoma City 25 turnovers to 25 turnovers in Game 1, with a record 19 of them being the first half. The Thunder not only won the ball possession battle, but also tried 16 field goals and more free throws than guests, and they dominated. And lost. What?
The fastest water we can throw on this math fire is the quality of the shooting. Despite the turnover, Indiana managed to score 39 three-pointers. At the same time, Lei Sheng scored only 30 three-pointers, making a huge 33 mid-range shots, cleaning the glass every time.
Thanks to Indiana for forcing them into the least fruitful people – even if you are Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams, you can attribute it to a part of the floor. Whether it’s extra help or in standard pickup coverage (especially for Williams), they will turn the switch to induce these shots. In the first clip, Gilgeous-Alexander still got what he wanted, just missed it, and in the latter two clips, the Indiana State’s adults turned coverage into Williams’ 18-foot race:
The Thunder might tell you a bigger problem than taking 33 middle thunders with just 8, and fouling in two, which is fair. But throughout the game, Oklahoma City played more and more clearly the trap of Indiana’s solidity.
After switching Isaiah Hartenstein to Cason Wallace in five starts, head coach Mark Digneault’s team played a single squad throughout the night. Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren did not share the court once, and Jaylin Williams was stuck to the pine tree. Have a defensive principle that can keep up with Indiana’s half-time offense and many actions? Maybe, but for Oklahoma City’s perimeter players, the side effects should be less.
This is not the case, because thunder often uses one or Both Dunker’s ball spacing. It doesn’t make any sense at the moment. Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams are much better at playing than internal passes, which allows Indiana to help out from the block instead of digging out wings:
There is no explanation on the hood that these results are surprising. Oklahoma City hits 55.6% at the edge (13th percentage point)? Well, help is always there. Thunder only accounts for 30 three points? Well, there isn’t a pass-through third. Again, Indiana doesn’t need to sit in the gap and always be ready to help.
Shai, along the way
Now, the Pacers don’t need such a big help in the gap is Andrew Nembahad’s personal effort on Gilgeous-Alexander and Aaron Nesmith on Williams. Both men were hunted all night and despite the MVP’s 38 points, he needed 30 shots and 8 free throws to do it.
Daigneault should not be overly satisfied with these numbers. Even before Indiana made a comeback at the end of its fourth, we saw Oklahoma City’s most stagnant offense, and the team had little to make Kyrgyz-Alexander more comfortable than the quarantine state from 35 feet away. The only button that thunder really pressed – the button they’ve run out is bringing Tyrese Haliburton into the screening action.
Haliburton hedged each of these screens, and while Nembhard was excellent in his recovery, Oklahoma City left some food on the table. Gilgeous-Alexander hit only once:
SGA may hit this pass more than once tonight: pic.twitter.com/24rdntotvj
— Lucaskaplan (@lucaskaplan_) June 6, 2025
He also tried it once.
Oklahoma City’s identity was confirmed during an incredible season. It is almost all the property played by Gilgeous-Alexander, and so is his identity. As I wrote here before, this is such a great team in history, with its half-court offense as monotonous as possible. It can still make life easier for Gilgeous-Alexander, and they can make themselves easier.
Will there be more five-five spacings moving forward? If anything, will Thunder bite the bullet and play a double lineup to squeeze offensive glass? Gilgeous-Alexander would also look at the rocks, even if he didn’t throw a real premium pass? Will they pair Williams with Hartenstein, a gortat filter more frequently than Holmgren, which helps to produce edge attempts?
These Gortat screens from IHART really help Dub go all the way to the edge. Nice pairing: pic.twitter.com/vmeuqcaly1
— Lucaskaplan (@lucaskaplan_) June 6, 2025
Is Indiana doomed to lose its mistake?
Although their transition defense is admirable in the first game, the Pacers will lose this series if they make it more than 20 times a night. Half of it was 19 times.
Some of their early mistakes were inevitable. From the New York Knicks’ defensive adjustment to the Oklahoma City trigger, you can’t be prepared. No matter what the opponent is, everyone else is stupid. But many come from players trying to spread the ball from the periphery to paint, Indiana’s skill is good at tearing in Oklahoma City.
The lightning guard flew around the post office, denying entry passes. It is indeed a sight whenever the driver tries to hit a pocket pass or a dump, eight hands suddenly form a maze for the ball to hit. I was ready to laugh at Indiana’s arrogance thinking it could pass Oklahoma City’s defense rather than avoiding drives rather than avoiding. However, despite slowing second-half turnovers, the Pacers’ death did not reduce their aggression.
The first two clips had lapses on Myles Turner Short Roll and tried two mismatched crimes, two staples they attacked. In the last two clips it is always covered, you guessed it:
In the upcoming game, Indiana may reduce the frequency of the ball – it’s hard to flip it more. But will this fly to the court and attack the first mismatch it sees fit at the expense of its aggressive sport? After the second half of the first game, this is hard to answer.
Controlled Speed (RS)
Whatever you attribute the Pacers’ turnovers to, they will speed up in the first half. It doesn’t mean that their game is too fast – they always do it – but that they are not calm and control their offense.
The second half changed, not just because it was getting closer and closer. They are able to start property by changing the out-of-ball sport required for defense. The time is there. Strangely, the action outside the ball is consistent with the person who is handling the ball.
I’m curious, because Oklahoma City lacks ball pressure when watching these clips. Indiana takes up all the staples in this small compatibility: into the pitch of the downhill of the Nembhard, Ben basically has a pindown that basically starts the pickup, a flare screen that relaxes Haliburton into action. However, in all these clips, the initial ball handle is free to dribble and keep the pass going:
Is this…Is this Indiana wearing Oklahoma City? In the second half of the second half, did the Thunder have no energy to put pressure on the ball? Or will the Pacers become comfortable setting off the offense after halftime?
Other gains
- Everyone’s favorite pass priority commander Haliburton will have to hunt more aggressively pull-down threes, even mid-sized jumpers. Avoiding open shots, especially as a great shooter, to drive into the teeth of the Thunder defense is always a risk, especially if it only causes Mathurin or Toppin to make a decision in the chaos.
- Seriously, Nembhard browsing all these guard screens or Oklahoma City flat screens deserves its own part.
- Daigneault tried to plough some strong players in Game 1 of the NBA Finals for Ajay Mitchell (Good Rookie) to develop minutes is crazy. It must be respected.
- Of the 30 3-pointers in Oklahoma City, 13 were taken away by Dortmund, Homegren and Alex Caruso. By design, there are few fierce controversies there.
- Holmgren scored six points, less than half the game. Yes. However, the Thunder scored 92 with his defense, and no one with his defense scored 127.5. His offense in the 2025 NBA playoffs, especially after such a huge majority of the regular season, he always moves up and down. If Daigneault determines that these statistics indicate the impact of Homgren, how will he weigh his defensive impact?
Man, this series will be great. Already it is. Game 2 was on Sunday night at 8:00 PM EST and I had no plans to miss it.
