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Rabat – The Oklahoma City Thunder are on the verge of winning an NBA Championship after a thrilling Game 5 victory against the Indiana Pacers (120-109) in the NBA Finals.
The win in Oklahoma City gives the Thunder a 3-2 series lead and puts them one win away from capturing the franchise’s first championship victory.
Rising star Jalen Williams was the best player in the game, after he delivered a career-best 40 points to shoulder the scoring load on Gilgeous-Alexander, the league’s MVP and scoring champion.
“He can shoulder a load…he was great tonight. Makes a world of a difference when he’s that good, for sure,” Gilgeous-Alexander told the press, praising Williams’ performance.
Gilgeous-Alexander had his 15th 30-point game of the playoffs, putting up 31 points and 10 assists—a stat line matched only by Michael, Jordan, Hakim Olajuwon, and Kobe Bryant.
Indiana fought through a tough road crowd as well as an injury to Tyrese Haliburton. Their star player hurt his right leg early in the game, left briefly, then came back but played mostly as a decoy. Struggling to move well, he played 34 minutes and finished with just 4 points.
“It’s the finals, man. I’ve worked my whole life to be here, and I want to be able to compete, help my teammates any way I can,” Haliburton said of his determination to play despite the pain.
With Haliburton’s injury, the Pacers leaned on other players to stay close in the game. T.J. McConnell added 18 off the bench, and Pascal Siakam scored 28, including 14 in the fourth, to help cut a 15-point second-half deficit.
Indiana cut the lead to two in the fourth, but Oklahoma City closed strong when Gilgeous-Alexander made two key steals, Luguentz Dort hit back-to-back threes, and Jalen Williams scored nine late to push the lead back to 14.
This is the Pacers’ first back-to-back loss of the playoffs. Now, the Eastern Conference champs are facing elimination for the first time this postseason.
Game 6 is set for Wednesday, 8:30 pm Indianapolis time (Thursday 1:30 a.m. Moroccan time), where Oklahoma City will aim to win their first championship while Indiana fights to force a Game 7 decider back in OKC on Sunday.
