The Indiana Pacers are looking forward to new challenges when the NBA Finals begin. On Monday night, they’ll face Game 5 on the road in Oklahoma City. After surrendering a fourth-quarter advantage to lose to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the best-of-seven is now deadlocked at 2-2. Tyrese Haliburton, the Pacers’ star guard, expressed his frustration following the team’s 31-17 fourth-quarter collapse in Game 4, where they held a 103-99 advantage with just over three minutes remaining.
Haliburton, who was named MVP of the game after finishing with 18 points and 7 assists, easily recognized the let down in the locker room. “As a team, you have to be ready to respond,” he stated, emphasizing the necessity of bouncing back after a tough loss. His other teammate, Andrew Nembhard, agreed with his tone on the game, referring to it as “a huge disappointment.”
As we saw in Game 4, the Pacers couldn’t build on that energy. The Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander seized the opportunity, scoring 35 points on 12-of-24 shooting and converting all ten of his free throw attempts. This offensive onslaught was a huge piece to the Pacers’ struggles in those crucial late stages of the contest.
Rick Carlisle, the Pacers’ head coach, said poise would be important. He too emphasized just how important focus is going to need to be as they head into Game 5. “It’s long. It’s arduous. But it’s the greatest opportunity going,” he noted, reflecting on the challenges of the NBA Finals. He noted that unlike some of those other series, this one has a best-of-seven format. Stretching across 18 days, that means there’s still a lot of basketball yet to be played!
Along with Haliburton’s special statline, the King of the North Pascal Siakam had a big night with 20 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals. The team that jumped to an early lead would be the same that faltered in the final frame. They were 0 for 5 on field goals in that defining span. Bennedict Mathurin’s only impact that quarter came on one lonely free throw.
“It’s really hard, and it’s supposed to be hard. This is where we’re going to have to dig in and circle the wagons and come back stronger on Monday,” Carlisle continued. He was the first to admit the mood swings that typically come with these taut, tense, high-stakes playoff series. The catch is that this type of challenge is going to have radical highs and radical lows. This is a tremendous low at the moment, and we’re going to need to recover from this.”
As they get ready for Game 5, Haliburton echoed the sentiment that they have to be better. “We have to be ready to play. For us to win, we’re going to have to win one down there,” he said. The Pacers now have two days to get a closer look at their efforts through film study and use that to improve on where they fell short.
As the Pacers walk into Game 5, they’ll know how tough of an environment they have to face in Oklahoma City. Carlisle noted that “we’ve got to be ready to go Game 5, going into a hostile environment,” signaling that every detail will matter as they seek to regain their footing in the series.
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