2025 NBA Finals: Pacers Focus On Little Things Meant Nothing In Game 5
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA - JUNE 16: Pascal Siakam #43 of the Indiana Pacers handles the ball against ... More Chet Holmgren #7 of the Oklahoma City Thunder during the third quarter in Game Five of the 2025 NBA Finals at Paycom Center on June 16, 2025 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Photo by)
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Indiana Pacers made their message clear with one word after losing Game 4 of the 2025 NBA Finals: little. In their eyes, their late-game collapse was the result of overlooking the small details. That word, little, echoed throughout the days leading up to Game 5.
As they blew a four-point lead in the final three minutes of Game 4, the Pacers had a turnover, several missed free throws, and defensive miscues. They watched the league's MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, rip their heart out. When asked about those late-game failures ahead in the ensuing days, that one word kept resurfacing.
'It's all the little things,' Pacers starting center Myles Turner said of the defeat. 'Little things. Getting stops. Rebounds. Fouls. All the controllables,' added wing Aaron Nesmith. Ben Sheppard, a reserve, echoed the same lines. 'Just little mistakes,' he said of the fourth-quarter issues revealed in a film session. 'There's little things that we've got to work on.'
Little. The mistakes the Pacers felt like they made were small, and Nesmith added more detail by naming the areas those little mistakes came in. Turner later pointed to their tempo and deviation from team principles as key issues in the loss.
And yet, with a chance to bounce back in Game 5 and take a lead in the NBA Finals once again, little things became big things. A mountain of little things is a major problem. On Monday, the Pacers dropped consecutive games for the first time since March, and now they find themselves searching for answers with their backs against the wall.
The Oklahoma City Thunder took Game 5 120-109 just one day after Indiana explained their focus on little things. That game was close at one point in the fourth quarter, with the Pacers deficit being just two with 8:30 to go. Yet for much of the night, OKC was the better team. They were in control. And the Pacers couldn't complete a comeback because little problems became huge problems, and those huge problems prevented them from overcoming an injury nightmare.
It started on the Pacers fifth possession as Pascal Siakam, a star player who has been wonderful in the playoffs, coughed up a turnover. It was his, and Indiana's, first of the game. But it was far from the last.
Siakam coughed up the ball again 79 seconds later, then Nesmith followed suit with one of his own on the next possession. By the end of the first quarter, the Pacers had seven turnovers, more than they recorded in entire games twice during the regular season. They've had three playoff games this year with eight or fewer. By the end of Game 5, the Pacers accumulated 22 turnovers. Forcing errors is a staple of the OKC defense, but the blue and gold were careless to an alarming extent.
A few turnovers are manageable. Somewhere between 10 and 15 would have been a little problem. The 22 Indiana ended with took it from a small issue to a big one.
'The turnovers were tough,' Pacers point guard T.J. McConnell said. '[And] at a timely point in the game.'
Then came Jalen Williams. His terrific performance was a similar problem for the Pacers. The Thunder's All-NBA forward had six points after one quarter, then 16 by halftime. He was having a quality outing for the third-straight time, and his scoring barrage only intensified.
Williams exploded the second half thanks to a 13-point third quarter. He finished with 40 points, six rebounds, and four assists – a remarkable night on such a stage. He's been unstoppable since Game 3. A non-Gilgeous-Alexander scoring outburst is normally a little thing. But a full-on takeover is a major problem.
Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) drives past Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai ... More Gilgeous-Alexander (2) during the second half of Game 5 of the NBA Finals basketball series, Monday, June 16, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)
The Pacers pace was off, too. That's usually a minor issue. Indiana almost always believes they are playing too slow in this postseason, and they typically speed up throughout a game as they get more comfortable. This time, for once, they were playing too fast. The Thunder sped them up for the first time in the playoffs.
'They sped us up today,' Pacers forward Obi Toppin said. 'We've got to slow down, have fun, and play our type of basketball. They sped us up, we were throwing random passes, uncontrolled passes. We've got to breathe and play our basketball.'
Having a pace issue is a little thing. The Pacers have overcome that. Being sped up and having the mind work faster than the body is a big problem, and one that creates chaos. It played a part in Indiana's rough start offensively.
This theme continued in so many other aspects of Game 5. Little things became big things. The Pacers got off to a slow start, a tiny issue they've overcome countless times. Yet their first quarter deficit was 91% of the final score differential. Oklahoma City had 19 offensive rebounds and 32 points off of turnovers. Haliburton, the Pacers star point guard, was struggling more than usual.
All of these had been manageable hurdles this postseason. But not this time. In Game 5, there were too many of them. 'We continued to fight no matter what, and we gave ourselves a chance until we made some mistakes there,' Siakam said after the battle.
During Indiana's victories, they overcame their miscues. This time, they weren't able to. And a big reason why is that the little things become much more significant when a massive problem appears during the game – and that happened as Haliburton started to grimace and limp in the first half. He was hurting and less effective.
The All-NBA guard was rubbing his lower right leg throughout the night. His minutes were staggered unusually, and he couldn't cut or move as he normally does. Haliburton was laboring, and the Pacers were working around it.
That's not a little thing, that's everything. Head coach Rick Carlisle later said the team considered shutting him down at halftime. Carlisle made it clear his star isn't 100% healthy. 'It's the NBA Finals. It's the Finals, man. I've worked my whole life to be here and I want to be out there to compete. Help my teammates any way I can,' Haliburton said postgame. He has a calf injury
'I was not great tonight by any means, but it's not really a thought of mine to not play here,' he added. 'If I can walk, then I want to play.'
That's a noble stance from Haliburton. He finished with four points, seven rebounds, and six assists – a quiet night by his standards. And he went 0/6 from the field. He was clearly limited, and the Pacers felt it.
Haliburton had an MRI on Tuesday night. Carlisle shared on a radio hit Wednesday morning that the star guard will be a game-time decision for Game 6. If Haliburton's words ring true from Game 5, he will try to play, but almost certainly not at full strength. And in a series where little things have become everything, that's a massive issue.
Now, the Pacers have their backs against the wall. Down 3-2, needing two straight wins to secure their first NBA title, there's no more room for error. With Haliburton limited, winning the 2025 NBA Finals will only be possible if the Pacers are flawless in every detail. The little things will have to be perfect.
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