Oklahoma City

Thunder

This certainly wasn’t the performance OKC was hoping to get out of the MVP with a chance to close out the series. Sure, he led the team in scoring, but the eight turnovers were abysmal. Turnovers haven’t been an issue for the Thunder this year; they averaged the fewest turnovers per game in the league during the regular season and have won the turnover matchup for most of this series. They’ll certainly need to clean things up to defend their homecourt and win a championship in Game 7 on Sunday.

After a 40-point masterclass in Game 5, Williams cooled off in Game 6. It was a disappointing night after two consecutive strong performances. He also posted a team-worst minus-40 plus/minus, which isn’t solely on his shoulders, but it was indicative of how the game went during his 27 minutes. The 24-year-old will have to be better in Game 7 on Sunday.

Caruso has had some big games in this series, but Thursday was not one of them. He was held scoreless and didn’t contribute much else in the box score. Of course, his defense is always valuable, but it wasn’t enough to slow down Indiana. What was noteworthy was that Caruso started the second half in place of Isaiah Hartenstein. The Thunder were down 22 points at halftime, so this could’ve been Mark Daigneault trying to create a spark. Caruso will likely return to a reserve role on Sunday for Game 7, but the situation is worth monitoring.

While Alex Caruso has garnered the most attention among the Thunder reserves in the NBA Finals, Wiggins has stepped up with two quality performances. Monday night, he hit double figures for the first time since Game 2, when he scored 18 points in a win. Wiggins and Cason Wallace (11/2/0/4/1 with three three-pointers) combined for 25 points in Game 5, helping to counter the excellent showing by Pacers backup guard T.J. McConnell. Wiggins’ inconsistency makes him a challenging player to trust fully, but he’s shown the ability to have an impact on multiple occasions this postseason.

While the field goal percentage may not have been great, Gilgeous-Alexander was highly impactful in Monday’s victory. The four blocked shots were one shy of his playoff career-high, and he also hit double digits in assists for the first time since Game 4 of the conference finals. Gilgeous-Alexander recorded his 15th 30-point game of these playoffs, the most in a single postseason since Kobe Bryant had 15 in 2009. While the Pacers have done all they can to limit Gilgeous-Alexander, and they’ve had some success, the NBA’s Most Valuable Player still feels inevitable. He and the Thunder will look to win their first NBA title on Thursday night.

JDub put on a show Monday night in what was the most productive outing of his brief postseason career. Shooting 56 percent from the field, Williams notched a career-high point total, carrying over his productive play from Games 3 and 4. While Oklahoma City did drop Game 3, the shift to making sure Williams is on the opposite side of the court as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has significantly impacted Indiana’s defense. Having to account for SGA’s drives has left the Pacers in challenging positions regarding how they defend JDub, who’s been able to get downhill far more consistently than he did in the first two games. He and the Thunder will look to close out the series on Thursday.

While he may not be one of the marquee names in these NBA Finals, it’s fair to wonder where the Thunder would be without Caruso. He’s scored 20 points in both of Oklahoma City’s victories, and Friday’s offensive effort was supplemented by five steals and a blocked shot on the other end of the floor. While Isaiah Hartenstein (two points, six rebounds and two assists in 21 minutes) returned to the starting lineup with Cason Wallace (two points, three rebounds and two assists in 19 minutes) being bumped to the bench, Caruso was still the preferred option as Oklahoma City mounted its fourth-quarter rally. Caruso played 32 and 30 minutes in Games 3 and 4, and the Thunder may need him to continue shouldering that caliber of workload to win this series.

After two modest performances in the first two games of the NBA Finals, Williams upped his production in Indianapolis. In the two games, he totaled 53 points, shooting 17-of-36 from the field and 18-of-22 from the foul line. Friday night, Williams did most of his damage in the restricted area and at the charity stripe. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the charge in crunch time, but J-Dub’s ability to get to the foul line kept Oklahoma City within striking distance. That said, his perimeter shooting must improve, as Williams has shot 3-of-14 from deep in the first four games. Game 5 is on Monday, with the series tied at two games apiece.

While Holmgren has been relatively quiet offensively in the NBA Finals, his rebounding has improved by the game. After grabbing six rebounds in Games 1 and 2, the slender forward hit double digits in both games in Indianapolis. The 15 rebounds in Game 4 were one shy of his playoff career-high, and Holmgren has accounted for at least 10 in nine games this postseason. The lone concern for Chet coming out of Game 4 was him rolling his left ankle on two separate occasions, in the first and fourth quarters. However, he did not have to exit the game following either injury, and Game 5 is not until Monday night.

With his team staring at a 3-1 deficit, the NBA’s Most Valuable Player stepped up when the Thunder needed him most. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 15 points in the final 4:36 of Game 4, including a step-back jumper with 2:23 remaining that gave Oklahoma City the lead for good. He was perfect from the foul line and shot 50 percent from the field to lead the Thunder to a win that returned home-court advantage to the Western Conference champions. However, SGA did not record an assist, the first time he’s done so in these playoffs. Oklahoma City tried to play him off the ball more, but that approach tended to slow the team down more than they hoped. That changed in crunch time, and Gilgeous-Alexander did what he’s expected to do. Game 5 is on Monday night.