NBA Finals: Thunder approaches glory after beating Pacers

The OKC Thunder endured the attacks of the Pacers, won and take a step away from the NBA championship.

Oklahoma City-Jalen Williams achieved his best personal brand in playoffs with 40 points, the MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 31 and the Oklahoma City Thunder a victory of the title was placed by beating the Indiana Pacers By 120-109 in the fifth match of the NBA ends This Monday night.

It was the tenth, and by far, the most important, that the stars of the Thunder They combined more than 70 points in a game. Williams led 14 of 24 field shots, and Gilgeous-Alexander added 10 assists.

Pascal Siakam scored 28 points for Indianawhich now loses 3-2 in the series and will host the sixth game on Thursday night. TJ McConnell added 18 points for PACERSwhich reduced a disadvantage of 18 points to four in the last quarter, and then saw the Thunder get away again, and forever.

And now, everything favors Thunder.

The teams that win the fifth game of some NBA ends tied at 2-2 they have won the series 23 times in 31 previous opportunities, which represents 74 %. And the teams with an advantage of 3-2 in the final have won 40 times in 49 previous opportunities, which represents 82%.

But the fifth game was not easy. Not much less.

With a disadvantage of up to 18 points at the end of the second quarter, the PACERS —The kings of the comebacks in these playoffs, with so many victories in this postseason after losing for 15 points or more (five) than the rest of the league together, including the first game of this series – they did what they know how to do: to reduce distances. And they did it with Tyrese Haliburton reduced to a secondary role in attack due to a leg injury that worsened in the first quarter.

Led by McConnell, who scored 13 points in just under seven minutes of the third quarter, the PACERS They approached five points at the end of that room.

Then, Siakam got down to work: a couple of free throws at 9:19 from the end he brought Indiana to four points, and a triple, approximately a minute later, put the score in 95-93. In the era of the story played by the play of the NBAfrom the playoffs of 1997, the teams with the advantages of 15 points or more in the final had a balance of 80-9.

If we now add 81-9, the Thunder They are at a victory.