2025 NBA Finals Game 5 Observations

Game 5 of the NBA Finals is in the books, and the Oklahoma City Thunder won 120-109.  While Indiana got it down to 2 points, OKC had a resounding lead throughout the entire game; that said, the bigger story is how much Tyrese Haliburton struggled due to a calf strain.  These are my observations from the game.

 

OKC’s defense in the half court was excellent, though the transition defense wasn’t great at points

OKC’s defense was excellent for most of the game and was a big part of their win.  While most would focus on their turnovers, they also did a great job challenging shots, making shots difficult, and contesting shots, especially at the rim.  While Indiana remained in the game for a while, the big blow was when OKC forced turnovers on 4 straight possessions.  Unlike earlier games in the series, OKC also was able to score off turnovers, which made things even easier for them.  That said, they ran into an issue when facing transition offense, as their defense of fast breaks was not as good as it was previously.  While Indiana didn’t push the ball that much, they were able to get back into the game by pushing the pace when T.J. McConnell was on the court.  Despite likely being tired, this is something that OKC will need to be mindful of and is something to watch out for.

 

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams were both amazing

OKC’s best two players, SGA and Williams, both had exceptional games and deserve so much credit.  Williams is likely the one getting all the headlines after he had 40 points on 14-25 shooting and 3-5 from deep.  He was moved into more of an off-ball role instead of handling the ball as much as he did last game, and I believe this is the perfect role for him; he isn’t naturally a creator for others on the ball, so it makes sense to have him play more off-ball, allowing him to cut, drive, and look for his own shot without worrying about if he should pass or shoot on every given play.  He also played excellent defense and almost never turned the ball over.  SGA also had an amazing game, as he scored 31 points while playing some of the best defense I’ve ever seen him play.  While it is easy to cite his 4 blocks and 2 steals as the reason for his great defense, he had several other contests and smart defensive moves, whether it was doubles, blocking passing lanes, and making the right reads.  If both play like this in Game 6, it will be tough for Indiana to win.

 

Tyrese Haliburton was a shell of himself

While this was obvious for everyone, sometimes the most accurate statements aren’t groundbreaking.  Haliburton was nursing a calf injury and struggled with his jumper and with getting into the paint.  These two elements totally took away his game and made it impossible to get going.  On top of that, he was also unable to keep up defensively after playing much better over the last few games.  It reached the point where I wondered if it was better to play T.J. McConnell at the end of the game instead of Haliburton (I wasn’t expecting it to happen since the last time I remember something like that happening was in 2018 when Dwayne Casey benched a healthy but struggling DeMar DeRozan and the Raptors fired him after being swept by Cleveland in the second round).  Even when he wasn’t clearly limping, he clearly did not have the movement that he normally has.  We’ll see if he’s healthy enough to play in Game 6; I know Haliburton will want to, but it’ll come down to the medicals.

 

A change in playing style for both teams might indicate some exhaustion, especially for Indiana

While most would cite the defining part of Indiana offense is their pace and transition scoring, they typically have a lot of ball movement off the ball.  That said, there was almost none in Game 5, both guys in the corners were almost always totally stationary (something Indiana didn’t do consistently earlier in the series), and there were several more plays that were isolation plays with only the ball handler moving compared to earlier in the series.  While OKC doesn’t have as much off-ball movement normally, there was even less for them as well.  On defense, Indiana rarely deployed their signature full-court defense, often guarding a little bit after half-court.  Similarly, OKC almost never used full-court defense.  Additionally, OKC has continued to have SGA play more off the ball in the first half of the game, which allows him to have more energy later in the game.  All of these suggest to me the obvious thing to think at this point in the season:  I think the players are exhausted.  It makes sense given how much of a grind the season and playoffs are, but it indicates something that could favor OKC, especially if Indiana is utilizing less transition offense and full-court physicality.

 

Chet Holmgren can’t hit a shot, but is still important

Holmgren has struggled with his shot all series, and Game 5 was no different, as he went 4-15 from the field and 1-3 from 3 (for an odd stat, he also didn’t attempt a free throw).  Even when he can’t hit 3’s, he has tried several times to drive in and take a midrange jumper, but has continued to miss these, going 0-3 on 2’s outside the restricted area; he even struggled with shots at the rim, as he went 3-9 on shots at the rim.  That said, he is still one of OKC’s best players on the court due to his defense.  In addition to having 3 blocks in Game 5, he continues to make great reads on the defense and challenge shots perfectly.  Obviously it would help if he was making his shots and wasn’t consistently trying to drive on Myles Turner, but his defense is essential to the team.

 

Isaiah Hartenstein wasn’t great, but better than he has been

I previously discussed Hartenstein’s struggles, and he wasn’t amazing in Game 5.  He has continued to be passive at points while not playing as strong defense as he did during the season.  However, he was better than he has been throughout the series.  There was one thing in particular that made his presence essential:  his offensive rebounding.  In a game where Indiana had 18 offensive rebounds, OKC needed some sort of counterpunch to not loose the possession battle from offensive rebounds (while OKC won the turnover battle, you have to focus on every aspect of the game at this point).  Hartenstein had 6 offensive rebounds to help OKC get 19 offensive boards total.  Even this alone is so important that he needs to be an important part of the rotation.

 

Obi Toppin playing over Myles Turner was interesting

For a significant portion of the second half, Myles Turner was not playing for Indiana; instead, Toppin took his place as a small ball 5.  While I would get it if they had done it in the prior games when Turner struggled with his shot after a great season and playoff run from deep, he didn’t take many shots but was efficient between the floor (3-5) and the line (6-7).  While Toppin has been better from 3 in this series, he only went 1-5 from deep this game.  On top of that, Turner is a much better defender.  The only reason I could think of is if Indiana wanted to run the ball more, which makes sense with Toppin out there, but I have no idea why else this decision was made, especially since Toppin wasn’t spectacular.

 

OKC’s bench was good in Game 5

Again, this isn’t anything groundbreaking, especially since OKC has been known to have a deep bench, but I thought each bench player who played in Game 5 played well.  Aaron Wiggins had another nice game where he shot 4-7 from 3 and scored 14 points while looking comfortable on both ends.  Cason Wallace had his best game of the series, scoring 11 points and going 3-4 from 3 (which were his first 3-pointers of the series) while also playing great defense and picking up 4 steals.  Despite having a poor shooting game, Alex Caruso played excellent defense while being switched onto almost everybody on the court, making several players uncomfortable and also picking up 4 steals.  Even though he didn’t put up major statistical numbers, Kenrich Williams was solid defensively and was a nice threat from deep when he was playing, which is part of the value of having him out there.  The fact that their bench played as well as it did and that players like Isaiah Joe and Jaylin Williams didn’t play truly shows just how many options OKC has.

 

Aaron Nesmith cannot be in foul trouble in Game 6

Between Games 3 through 5, Nesmith has committed a total of 17 fouls, with the only game he didn’t foul out being Game 5.  Indiana cannot afford for him to get into foul trouble, especially if Haliburton is out for the game.  While he has had a tough series defending SGA (which I figured he would), he is still a great athlete, a versatile defender, and is shooting 50% in the playoffs.  Their depth could be tested without Haliburton, especially offensively, so they need Nesmith to remain on the court in Game 6.

 

Despite this game, if Haliburton can’t play, I wouldn’t start T.J. McConnell

First, I would like to acknowledge that McConnell had an amazing game in Game 5.  With every starter outside of Pascal Siakam having a poor game, McConnell brought Indiana back into a game that they had no business being in.  That said, if Haliburton is out due to injury, I would not start McConnell.  His presence off the bench is great since he is able to add a level of chaos while being superior to other bench players.  When starting, both of these elements are gone; in particular, I would guess that he would go around 2-11 if he had to score against Lu Dort.  As such, I would start Ben Sheppard instead while playing McConnell more minutes.

 

 

What did you think of this game?  Let me know in the comments!