Jalen Williams wasn’t in a very introspective temper after serving to the Oklahoma City Thunder take Game 5 of the NBA Finals with a 120-109 win over the Indiana Pacers on Monday night time.
Brushing off questions on his career-best outing, very similar to Chet Holmgren swatting away a shot within the paint, Williams stored the main focus ahead because the Thunder moved inside one win of clinching their first title since relocating to Oklahoma City.
“It’ll be cool to look back on down the line,” Williams stated after scoring 40 factors to offer the Thunder a 3-2 lead within the best-of-seven sequence.
His teammates and coach, nevertheless, had no such reservations about praising him.
“Great force,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault stated. “That’s the word, and we’ve used that word with him in his development. When he’s at his best, he’s playing with that type of force. That was an unbelievable performance from him throughout the entire game.”
Williams completed 14 of 25 from the ground and 9 of 12 from the free-throw line. He is averaging 25.8 factors within the Finals.
“He can shoulder a load,” teammate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander stated of Williams. “He does so many things for us as a basketball team on both ends of the floor when he’s the best version of himself. … Makes a world of difference when he’s that good, for sure.”
Williams scored 13 factors within the third quarter, serving to Oklahoma City stand up to a powerful push from the Pacers, then added 11 extra within the fourth because the Thunder pulled away.
“He’s one of those guys that you want to see succeed,” Holmgren stated. “He works really hard, so you want to see it pay off for him, and we saw it tonight. Not only tonight, but we don’t get here without him playing as well as he’s playing.”
While a lot of the postgame highlight was on Williams, Gilgeous-Alexander additionally had a giant night time. The newly named NBA Most Valuable Player completed with 31 factors, 10 assists, 4 blocks and two steals, together with 9 factors and 4 assists within the fourth quarter.
Even with out a lot offensive manufacturing from a hobbled Tyrese Haliburton, the Pacers reduce what had been an 18-point first-half deficit to 2 on Pascal Siakam’s 3-pointer from the wing with 8:30 remaining.
The Thunder instantly responded. Cason Wallace grabbed the rebound on Williams’ missed layup and flipped it to Luguentz Dort, who discovered Williams for a 3-pointer.
After making simply three 3-pointers in Game 4 – the fewest in an NBA Finals win since 2010 – Oklahoma City sank 14 in Game 5.
On the following possession, Wallace intercepted an Andrew Nembhard cross close to midcourt and raced in for a fast-break dunk.
The performs ignited an 18-4 run that helped the Thunder put the sport away. Gilgeous-Alexander had 5 factors, two steals and two assists through the stretch, which included 4 consecutive Indiana possessions that led to turnovers, every leading to factors for Oklahoma City.
The Thunder scored 32 factors off Indiana’s 23 turnovers.
“That’s the game,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle stated. “We’ve got to do a heck of a lot better there.”
Indiana has averaged 18 turnovers in its three Finals losses.
“In all three of our losses in the series, turnovers have been a big reason why,” Haliburton stated. “We have to do a better job of taking care of the ball if we want a chance to win Game 6.”
Haliburton exited late within the second quarter with tightness in his decrease proper leg however returned shortly after with the leg wrapped. He was clearly affected by the harm and completed with simply 4 factors, lacking all six of his field-goal makes an attempt. He did contribute seven rebounds and 6 assists.
“He’s not 100 percent. It’s pretty clear,” Carlisle stated. “But I don’t think he’s going to miss the next game. We were concerned at halftime, and he insisted on playing.”
Siakam led Indiana with 28 factors on 9-of-15 capturing, whereas T.J. McConnell added 18 off the bench – 13 of them within the third quarter.
The Pacers have dropped back-to-back video games for the primary time since early March.
“I thought the fight was there,” Siakam stated. “We continue to fight no matter what.”
Game 6 is scheduled for Thursday in Indianapolis.
Source: www.dailysabah.com