Combined power of SGA, Williams too much for Pacers

For a brief moment in the fourth quarter of Game 5 of the Finals, the Indiana Pacers looked like they might be Pacers-ing their way to another improbable comeback.

A contest the Oklahoma City Thunder controlled from the opening tip and led by as many as 18 points was suddenly incredibly tight. An out-of-body T.J. McConnell experience slashed the deficit in the third quarter, and a Pascal Siakam barrage further ate into it early in the fourth. When Siakam grabbed an offensive rebound in traffic and then splashed a three to make it a two-point game with 8:30 to play, the terror inside Paycom Center was palpable. Thunder fans in attendance were no doubt fully aware of the dark magic this Pacers team can conjure.

It turned out they needn't have worried. Because from that point on, the game was commandeered by the two electric guards OKC had relied on all game, all series, all postseason, all year. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and especially Jalen Williams were brilliant the whole night, but it was during this closing stretch that they etched their names in the annals of Finals history while carrying the Thunder to a 120-109 win that put them a game away from the 2025 championship.

Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams made play after play after play, at both ends of the floor, combining to outscore the Pacers 17-16 over the final eight minutes. If you include the baskets Gilgeous-Alexander created via assists, they accounted for 24 of the Thunder's last 26 points. All told, they scored 71 themselves and had a direct hand in 103 of OKC's 120.

Whether attacking in isolation or off ball screens set all the way out at the logo, they obliterated Indiana's defense at the point of attack, either driving for layups and free throws or spraying the ball out to shooters. Gilgeous-Alexander's drive-and-kick playmaking was especially sharp, as he found ways to shed Andrew Nembhard - the bloodhound who's been barking at his heels throughout the Finals. After collectively registering just 10 assists compared to 16 turnovers across Games 3 and 4, the two produced 14 assists to four turnovers in Game 5.

Williams was also monstrous in transition - the biggest reason OKC was able to turn 22 Indiana turnovers into 32 points - and did a masterful job finding pockets of space to cut into in the half court. Both guys hit myriad difficult mid-range pull-ups, many of which steadied the Thunder when they appeared to be flagging in the second half.

One such bucket saw Williams spin away from a ball screen to shed his defender, drive right into another one, come to an off-foot jump-stop with his back almost to the basket, and then use his other foot to create enough horizontal separation to drop in a floating bank shot. It was one of the finest displays of footwork and balance you're likely to see on a basketball court, and it came from a third-year player in the fourth quarter of a six-point game in a 2-2 Finals series.

Only three of their combined assists were delivered to each other, but that doesn't capture how co-operatively they interacted. Whether it was Williams sowing confusion by ghosting the two-man action that killed Indiana in crunch time of Game 4, Gilgeous-Alexander setting back screens in Spain pick-and-roll, or each of them relocating around the other's drives, so many of the initial advantages the Thunder generated were the result of the space the two enabled for one another and the defensive attention they siphoned away with their on- and off-ball manipulation.

Their commitment to moving, passing, and screening with pace and purpose helped OKC rediscover a semblance of offensive flow after spending the first four games of the series stuck in mud. That was reflected in the team's highest assist rate of the Finals: 60%, up from 42.5% across Games 1-4.

Perhaps most impressively, in between the possessions they spent carving the Pacers up on offense, both guys played incredible defense. Williams was mainly a deterrent on that end, stalling Indiana's north-south momentum with his seamless switching and on-ball stopping. Gilgeous-Alexander, meanwhile, was the best defensive playmaker on the floor, contributing a game-high seven deflections and six of the Thunder's 27 (!) combined steals and blocks with some outrageous back-side rotations. And this came on the heels of arguably his worst defensive performance of the playoffs in Game 4.

From tip to final buzzer, the pair delivered nonstop one-two jabs that even the seemingly unbreakable Pacers couldn't withstand. There's certainly no guarantee Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams can replicate that performance in Game 6 and end the series on Indiana's floor, but to see them leveling up at this stage of the Finals while so many others - namely Tyrese Haliburton and Nembhard - are either hobbled or running on fumes had to be a troubling sight for the Pacers. And given how smothering we know the Thunder are going to be on defense, seeing them finally look like their best selves on offense felt like an "Uh oh, Happy learned how to putt" kind of warning sign.

Let's see if the Pacers have one last big counterpunch in them.

Joe Wolfond is an NBA feature writer for theScore.