Seize the Heavenly King Mountain! Thunder leads 3-2, G5 decisive battle, 6 realities I have to admit

In the NBA Finals' Battle of Tianwang Mountain, the Thunder defeated the Pacers 120-109, tied the score to 3-2, and won the match point. In this decisive game, the Thunder finally defeated the Pacers with excellent defense and rapid offense, taking a step further from the championship.

At the beginning of the game, Harten's inside attack fired the first shot for the Thunder, and then the Pacers responded through Nembhard's breakthrough layup. Xika's mid-range shot made a stabilization for the Pacers. However, the Thunder quickly started and quickly opened the gap with its oppressive defense and fast attack counterattack. In particular, the continuous rapid counterattacks of Jewe and Alexander gave the Thunder a double-digit lead at one time. At the end of the first quarter, the Thunder led the Pacers by 10 points 32-22.

Entered the second quarter, Sika's back jump shot made a steadily, and Wiggins also regained his touch, hitting two consecutive three-pointers to help the Pacers try to catch up. Meanwhile, Alexander showed his comprehensive offensive skills, with his signature CFD and Chet's penalty area patches continuing to stabilize the situation for the Thunder. The Thunder once expanded its lead to 18 points. At the end of the half, the Thunder led the Pacers by 16 points 59-43. In the third quarter, the Pacers' outside line suddenly recovered, Turner and Nesmith made three-pointers one after another, and McConnell quickly broke out after coming off the bench, scoring 13 points alone in 6 minutes, helping the Pacers narrow the gap. But the Thunder did not collapse, and Alexander stepped forward and stabilized the scene again with his pull-up jump shot. After three quarters, the Thunder led the Pacers by 8 points 87-79. In the fourth quarter, the Pacers' tenacious counterattack failed to continue. Sika hit a three-pointer and Turner's layup also caused the Thunder's foul, and the score difference once narrowed to only two points. But in the subsequent game, the Pacers made frequent mistakes, replicating the collapse situation in the first quarter. The Thunder took the opportunity to launch a counterattack, widening the gap to more than 10 points, and finally locked in the victory 120-109 and won the battle of Tianwang Mountain. Behind this game, there are several realities worth pondering. First, the issue of referee’s penalty. Although there were a lot of controversy in the last G4 game, the referee's penalty in this game was relatively fair. The Pacers and the Thunder made almost the same free throws. The Pacers made 24 of 30 free throws and the Thunder made 26 of 32 free throws. Both sides received corresponding care, especially Alexander, who scored 14 free throws and hit 13.

Secondly, Thunder's dual-core performance is amazing. Alexander scored 31 points, 10 assists, 4 blocks and 2 steals in this game, showing his extraordinary leadership ability. This is also his 15th time in the playoffs this season, scoring more than 30 points in a single game, tying Kobe's historical record. The second leader of the Thunder, Javier, broke out, scoring 40 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, becoming the third youngest 40-point winner in NBA Finals history, second only to Magic Johnson and Westbrook. As famous Skip said, Javi saved this game, saved their season, and even saved their championship path.

However, Halliburton, the core of the Pacers, failed to show the magical performance he deserved. 0 of 6 shots, except for 4 points in free throws, Halliburton's performance was dismal, and he was not even as good as Alexander in organizational franchise. The game exposed the gap between him and the superstars, especially at a critical moment, where he couldn't stand up to the defense like SGA, playing 1-on-1 singles and creating opportunities for himself. It can be said that Halliburton's "magical moment" may be mixed with a lot of luck.

Pacers' coach Carlisle also made mistakes in the on-the-spot adjustment. In the third quarter, McConnell's sudden outbreak helped the Pacers approach the score, but Carlisle did not continue this momentum and chose to let Halliburton play in the fourth quarter instead of continuing to use McConnell in a hot state. In the end, Halliburton not only scored only 2 points in the fourth quarter, but also made multiple mistakes, which became the key reason for the Pacers' failure. The Pacers' mistakes were also a highlight of this game. There were 22 mistakes in the whole game, almost twice that of the Thunder. Even in their best three-pointers, the Pacers are far inferior to the Thunder, shooting just 36.7% while the Thunder is as high as 43.8%. In addition, Matherin was almost silent on the offensive end, with only 2 of 11 shots, while Nembhard scored only 7 points and made 4 turnovers. At this time, Halliburton, the core of the team, should have stood up, but he did not bring the team the performance he needed, and the Pacers failed to make a comeback successfully.

Finally, the Pacers' dream of winning is almost shattered. Although they showed a tenacious spirit of catching up in the fourth quarter, the Pacers' hopes became increasingly slim in the face of the Thunder's strong strength and home advantage. Historical data shows that the team that led 3-2 in the NBA Finals has a 74% chance of winning the championship. Moreover, even if the Pacers win in G6, they will return to the Thunder home court with tiebreak, which undoubtedly makes their reversal more difficult.