Game 5 of the NBA Finals started to feel like déjà vu for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Just like in the series opener, they built a big lead at home, only to see the Indiana Pacers come storming back in the fourth quarter. But this time, the ending was different — and possibly historic.
With a career playoff-high 40 points from Jalen Williams and 31 points and 10 assists from MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder held off a fierce Indiana rally to win 120-109 on Monday night and take a 3-2 lead in the NBA Finals. Now, Oklahoma City is just one victory away from its first-ever NBA championship.
“We’re learning,” Williams said after the game. “That’s the difference now. Earlier in the playoffs, or even in Game 1, we might have folded. But we grew from that.”
Williams was nearly unstoppable, hitting 14 of his 24 shots and scoring in all three levels — in transition, off the dribble, and even in crunch time. Gilgeous-Alexander was his usual composed self, dissecting the Pacers’ defense with precision and poise. It was the 10th time this postseason that the Thunder duo combined for over 70 points — but never in a moment this big.
For the Pacers, it was another heart-wrenching near-miracle. Down by 18 late in the second quarter, Indiana clawed back the way they have all postseason — with grit, speed, and relentless effort. Even with All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton hobbled by a lingering leg injury aggravated in the first quarter, the Pacers didn’t quit.
TJ McConnell sparked the charge, scoring 13 of his 18 points in a frantic third-quarter flurry that narrowed the gap to just five. Then Pascal Siakam — Indiana’s steadiest presence all series — brought them even closer. His free throws with 9:19 left in the fourth made it a four-point game, and his three-pointer a minute later cut the deficit to just two, 95-93.
That’s when the Thunder delivered their biggest answer of the season.
Josh Giddey buried a critical corner three. Williams attacked downhill for an and-one. Gilgeous-Alexander slipped through two defenders for a fading mid-range jumper. The Pacers’ rally was crushed under a 15-4 Thunder run that re-established control and silenced the momentum.
In the modern NBA “play-by-play” era — dating to 1997 — teams leading by 15+ points in an NBA Finals game were 80-9 entering Monday. Make that 81-9 now.
Pascal Siakam led Indiana with 28 points, while McConnell added 18 off the bench. The Pacers now head back to Gainbridge Fieldhouse for a do-or-die Game 6 on Thursday night. But the odds are against them: teams that win Game 5 of a Finals series tied 2-2 go on to win the title 74% of the time (23-of-31), and teams with a 3-2 series lead in the Finals are 40-9 all-time — an 82% success rate.
Still, if any team can defy history, it might be Indiana. They already have five postseason wins this year when trailing by 15 or more — matching the rest of the league combined.
But the Thunder believe their time has come.
“Everybody knows what’s at stake,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We’re locked in. We’re not done yet.”
One more win, and the Thunder — a franchise once defined by missed opportunities — will finally call themselves NBA champions.
