Sports

Behind Williams 40 OKC Wins Game 5

Williams Comes Up Big In Game 5

Photo: Special to the NY Beacon

By Andrew Rosario

The Oklahoma City Thunder dodged a bullet when they were down 2 games to 1 playing game 4 in Indiana. They didn’t want to go down 3 games to 1 even though they would go back home for game 5. The NBA league’s MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander carried the team on his back as he scored 15 4th quarter points in the 111-104 win to the even the series at 2 games apiece. The Thunder looked to take control of the series when they hosted the Pacers Monday night. Alexander and OKC, behind a sold-out raucous crowd saw a player they didn’t expect to have a great game come up big when they needed him the most.

In the 120-109-win, forward Jalen Williams was unstoppable as he scored a career playoff high 40 points. Williams connected on 14 of 25 shots from the floor, connecting on 3, 3-pointers and 9 of 12 free throws. Alexander chipped in 31 points getting to the free throw line 14 times making 13 of them. Like game 1 when the Pacers came back from a 15-point deficit, Indiana rallied to cut the lead to 2 points 95-93 after a Pascal Siakam 3-pointer with 8:30 left in the 4th quarter. The Thunder would right themselves as Williams nails a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 100-93 and never looked back.

The Pacers did not help themselves as they turned the ball over 22 times. Guard Tyrese Haliburton, dealing with a sore right calf, only scored 4 points missing all 6 of his shot attempts from the floor. Siakam finished with 28 points. Said Haliburton of trying to play with the injury, “it’s the finals man. I’ve worked my whole life to be here. l want to be able to compete and help my teammates any way l can. l was not great tonight by any means. It’s not really a thought of mine to not pay here. If l can walk, l’m going to play.”

Williams and Alexander combined for 71 points. The last teammates to do that were the Cleveland Cavaliers Kyrie Irving (40 points) and Le Bron James (31 points) in the 2017 NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors. 

So, the Oklahoma City Thunder can win their first NBA Championship when they play game 6 in Indiana Thursday night. The Pacers are looking to extend the series to game 7. The Pacers have not lost 3 consecutive games this year since early March.