NBA Finals 2025: What Can The Pacers Do To Adjust In Game 6?

By and large, the Oklahoma City Thunder won Game 6 of the NBA Finals far more than the Indiana Pacers beat themselves to squander the chance of a 3-2 lead. Jalen Williams played the game of his life. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander boisterously left his imprint as a scorer, playmaker and defender. The Thunder shot 14-of-32 (43.8 percent) beyond the arc, including a combined 7-of-11 from Aaron Wiggins (4-of-7) and Cason Wallace (3-of-4).

Oklahoma City now leads this series for the first time and played a marvelous game to arrive there. But as Thursday’s Game 6 approaches, there are absolutely facets the Pacers can clean up to give themselves a better opportunity at forcing a Game 7 Sunday night. Let’s get into them.

A Detailed Approach To Pascal Siakam’s Usage

Although Pascal Siakam was quite good Monday and easily Indiana’s best player, tallying 28 points (9-of-15 shooting), six rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks, he also coughed up a game-high six turnovers. Five of those giveaways stemmed from drives. Windows and angles shut faster than he anticipated, and his ball control was challenged by Oklahoma City’s cast of dexterous defenders. A mix of poor decision-making, shaky ball-handling and crisp defensive execution bothered him.

In this series, the three-time All-Star has been quite effective as a driver when he can punctuate drives with a shot or free throws, shooting 61.1 percent on 7.6 drives per game, according to NBA.com. Punctuating his drives, though, has proven tenuous.

His 13.2 percent turnover rate on drives — 40 percent(!!) in Game 5 — is nearly five times higher than the 2.8 percent turnover rate he entered this series with in the playoffs. If applied to the entire postseason, it would be the second-worst mark among 50 players averaging at least five drives per game.

This Thunder defense was always going to test and swell that minimal turnover rate. Siakam is Indiana’s most dependable and effective scorer in this matchup. It needs substantial scoring volume from him, particularly as Tyrese Haliburton deals with a calf strain. Regardless of whether Haliburton suits up Thursday night, Siakam will be relied upon heavily to buoy the offense.

His 29.5 percent usage rate in Game 5 was a series-high. I expect it’ll take another hike in Game 6. But the Pacers must be meticulous in how they arrange his touches. His handle is rather fluid and shifty for a player his size, but that caveat, for a player his size, is where Oklahoma City exploits him.

Maintaining this gaudy usage requires placing him in lucrative spots. Let him operate as a roller and popper in ball-screens; attacking Isaiah Hartenstein’s drop coverage has proven beneficial for the entire offense. Generate advantageous switches and post him up. If he does drive, clear a side and allow him rock with an empty corner. Game 5 offered plenty of testimony to this usage behooving Siakam and the Pacers. Dialing up the volume, if possible against this malleable, rabid defense, would be shrewd.

Naturally, the problem with these play types is they’re mostly contingent on someone else initiating possessions. Siakam cannot feed himself entry passes or serve as both the ball-handler and screener in pick-and-rolls. His 10 drives in Game 5 marked a series-high, partly because he was thrust into greater initiator duties with Haliburton struggling then hobbled.

Siakam is the Pacers’ second-best offensive engine and might now be promoted to best amid the Haliburton injury. That makes for a challenging balance between trying to put him in ideal scoring spots and recognizing he might be the one who has to put everyone else in those ideal spots more regularly moving forward.

After recording seven points (3-of-8 shooting), three assists and four turnovers in Game 5, Andrew Nembhard must bounce back and be a trustworthy ball-handler to ease Siakam’s burden and prime him as a play-finisher. T.J. McConnell (18 points, four assists in Game 5) has probably earned a longer leash and could aid these efforts, too.

The Pacers are in a tricky place trying to both insulate Siakam a bit and bank on even more from the man who’s been their best player this series. However they proceed Thursday, they must be meticulous and frequent in how they involve the Cameroonian, ensuring they can spotlight the highs of his Game 5 while suppressing the lows. It won’t be easy.

Hesitation Is The Loss Of All Things Great

Siakam’s game-high six turnovers on Monday were symptoms of a team-wide affliction rather than a rogue actor unilaterally sewing discord. Indiana gave the ball away 22 times, good for a 23.7 percent turnover rate — its second-highest of the entire season (Game 1’s 24.8 percent is first), per Cleaning the Glass.

Early on, the ball was seemingly lathered in grease, with various Pacers fumbling their touches, sometimes directly into Oklahoma City’s clutches. Beyond that phenomenon, though, too often was their decision-making defined by hesitation. They’d sidestep quality passing looks, driving lanes or shots, only to find smaller driving lanes, narrower passing angles or worse shots moments later, if any at all. Other times, their hesitancy spiraled into turnovers and jumpstarted the Thunder’s fiery fast breaks. Oklahoma City’s 16.3 percent transition frequency and 146.7 points per 100 transition possessions were series-highs for them.

Indiana held the Thunder to their second-lowest half-court offensive rating of the series (97.7 points per 100 possessions), but was undone in transition — a byproduct of rickety decision-making during its own offensive trips.

The Pacers are a premier offense because of their willingness to prioritize great shots over good shots. They’ll keep digging via pass-move-drive-pass-move-drive cycles until the shovel hits gold. Yet that gold is much tougher to unearth against the Oklahoma City defense. In this context, the good shot is a great shot.

They’ve recognized this At points of the series, made decisions accordingly and reaped the rewards. For the sake of both their offense and defense, they’ll have to do so again in Game 6.

Empty The Corner

When the Pacers weren’t turning the ball over at an outlandish rate in Game 5, they did generate successful offense through varying modes by vacating the strong-side corner and going to work. Whether it was traditional pick-and-rolls, post-ups and drives (empty corner only!) for Siakam or downhill dashes from McConnell, overloading the weak-side panned out numerous times.

Between their starting lineup or small-ball units with Siakam and Obi Toppin in the front-court, the Pacers can construct five-out spacing (per usual) and keep Oklahoma City’s perimeter players as the low man rotating inside. Turner is struggling mightily from deep in the Finals (5-of-22, 22.7 percent) but is 15-of-26 (57.7 percent) on two-pointers and has overpowered Chet Holmgren as a roller a handful of times.

Indiana is scoring just 103.0 points per 100 possessions with Holmgren on the floor (115.7 without him), so any wrinkle which might ignite Turner (11.3 points on 52 percent true shooting the past three games) while simultaneously cracking the code on Holmgren defensively should be explored — such as these empty corner pick-and-rolls.

Of course, the Thunder can neutralize ball-screens by downsizing and switching 1-5 with Holmgren, as they’ve increasingly done the past two games. If that happens, the onus is on Turner to punish mismatches inside and Indiana to deliver timely, well-placed entry passes. Both have periodically been tall tasks in this series.

I also like the instances in which a Pacer migrated from the weak to strong dunker spot once the Thunder brought help inside, as they’re wont to do. The Pacers are an excellent passing and moving team, and a good finishing team. They can nudge at a few possible pressure points by playing within this wheelhouse. They’ll have to land on something to extend their season Thursday night.