Basketball, She Wrote
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Pacers take turn(over) for the worst, return to Indiana down 3-2
🕑 Added 2025-06-18 02:18:23 +0000 UTCThe basketball is (ahem) the most important part of basketball
By: Caitlin Cooper I @C2_Cooper
As if racking up 22 turnovers, leading to 32 points for the Oklahoma City Thunder, wasn't bad enough, the Pacers also seemed to take a bad turn with Tyrese Haliburton, who finished with postseason lows in both shots per touch (0.089) and drives per 100 possessions (8.451), as he was deployed mainly as a decoy while struggling to turn the corner with a calf strain. All the while, whereas the starting backcourt for the Pacers grappled with maneuvering downhill against pressure, OKC's stars, conversely, leveraged the pressure of the opposition into innumerable downhill maneuvers.
In the end, although T.J. McConnell and Pascal Siakam both managed to remove the seal on the paint in the second half, moving the Pacers to within striking distance with moves and counter-moves before they were both moved to the bench for what became a disastrous period of rest in their stead, it wasn't enough to avoid going down 3-2 in the series, returning to Gainbridge Fieldhouse in desperate need of turning the page on all the turns (and non-turns) for the worst.
Joining me to discuss what needs to change in Game 6 in response to what changed in Game 5, is once again Samson Folk.
Here are the relevant timestamps:
0:00 - Introductions
1:12 - Tyrese Haliburton has a calf strain (major bummer!)
3:39 - Crediting OKC's defense, acknowledging that he was clearly limited, and explaining why (if available) there can still be benefit to him playing
10:33 - OKC (under)standing the assignment
21:07 - T.J. McConnell's moves and countermoves, Andrew Nembhard's late-game fatigue + solving OKC's crack-back rotations and more
27:24 - Balancing act of closing with McConnell & Siakam versus the potential risk of diminishing returns with regard to stamina
30:50 - Teaching my sister about stocks (i.e. steals+blocks)
32:06 - Debating whether, on top of everything that is already being asked of him, Siakam should also be asked to guard Jalen Williams
42:21 - How would that swap impact Indiana's ability to apply full-court pressure, as well as how often SGA is playing off-ball + whether Nesmith could mimic the same impact as Siakam away from the ball (also, would he need to?)
48:50 - Zone as a means to steal a game or a sign that a team is out of answers?
50:57 - In a follow-up to the last pod, looking at how the Pacers countered for SGA as the screener for JDub and how SGA responded to the counter
54:21 - Banter about Samson's scary seizure, audiobooks, and the Princess Bride
1:00:26 - Thanks for making us your favorite talking duo about the NBA Finals
Comments
VUCB
I know we don’t like to talk about refs, but I feel like this is a pertinent stat. in the Pacers’ three wins, the teams have combined to average 49 FT attempts (and never above 52). In the Thunder’s three wins, the teams have combined to average 64 FT attempts (and never below 59).
Larry Getts
I'm sorry, Samson - like Caitlin, I have not watched The Princess Bride (yet), but your comment, "Glory to the winners, respect to the losers", was spot on for the high level of basketball that this series has provided. Job well done by both of you!
Ryan Sims
A Blowback call-out!
