Oklahoma City Thunder are a dynasty in making and will end NBA's age of parity
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We'll never know if Oklahoma City would have been able to rally from a 3-1 series deficit had Indiana been able to hold on to a late double-digit lead in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
But after Monday's impressive Game 5 120-109 win by the Thunder, the question that sprang to mind was if anybody will be able to challenge them anytime soon?
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Winnipeg Free Press
2 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Tyrese Haliburton scheduled for MRI as part of leg injury evaluation, AP source says
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Tyrese Haliburton's status for Game 6 of the NBA Finals is understandably in at least some doubt, after the Olympic gold-medal-winning guard was undergoing evaluation Tuesday to determine the extent of the injury to his lower right leg. Part of that evaluation was an MRI exam, according to a person with knowledge of the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because neither Haliburton nor the team revealed that publicly. ESPN first reported that an MRI was scheduled. Pacers coach Rick Carlisle did not specifically say that the MRI would be part of the team's next moves in figuring out how best to proceed with Haliburton, though made clear that the Eastern Conference champions would be taking a close look at the injury. Given that it is evidently a muscular injury, an MRI is part of the typical evaluation process. 'We'll evaluate everything with Tyrese,' Carlisle said after Game 5, which the Pacers lost in Oklahoma City to fall into a 3-2 deficit in the series on Monday night. Game 6 is in Indianapolis on Thursday night. Haliburton left Game 5 late in the first quarter and returned to the bench area with a wrap on his lower leg. He not only returned to the game, he played 34 minutes — but did so while missing all six of his shots and with him barely looking to shoot at all in the second half. He finished the game with seven rebounds and six assists, but only four points. It was the first time in Haliburton's career that he logged at least 34 minutes and failed to make a single field goal. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. The Pacers, Carlisle said, discussed not letting Haliburton play in the second half. Haliburton vetoed those plans and played 17 minutes in the second half, leading the Pacers in rebounds and assists after intermission. 'I mean, it's the NBA Finals. It's the finals, man,' Haliburton said after Game 5. '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. I was not great tonight by any means, but it's not really a thought of mine to not play here. If I can walk, then I want to play. They understand that. And it is what it is. Got to be ready to go for Game 6.' The Pacers are scheduled to practice Wednesday. ___ AP NBA:
Winnipeg Free Press
4 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Pelicans acquire a second 2025 first-round draft pick from the Pacers in exchange for a 2026 pick
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Indiana Pacers have agreed to trade their 23rd overall choice in next week's NBA draft to New Orleans for a 2026 first-round pick, the Pelicans announced Tuesday. The deal gives the Pelicans two first-round picks — the seventh and 23rd overall — in the draft, raising the prospect that New Orleans could package both in a deal to move up in the first round next Wednesday. The Pelicans also will receive the rights to Mojave King, a 2023 second-round draft choice who has played for Indiana's G League affiliate as well as overseas in Puerto Rico and New Zealand. The Pacers are getting back a 2026 pick they had traded to the Toronto Raptors in a 2024 deal sending Pascal Siakam to Indiana. Last February, Toronto dealt that pick to New Orleans as part of a trade that sent Brandon Ingram to the Raptors. The Pacers are the reigning Eastern Conference champions and currently trail the Oklahoma City Thunder, 3-2, in the best-of-seven NBA Finals, with Game 6 scheduled for Thursday in Indianapolis. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. ___ AP NBA:
Toronto Star
6 hours ago
- Toronto Star
SGA is doing Kobe things. And the Thunder are one win away in the NBA Finals
It is the time when sporting legacies are cemented, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is making his. The 26-year-old from Hamilton is one win away from completing the greatest basketball season ever posted by a Canadian after leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 120-109 win over the Indiana Pacers in Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Monday night. Gilgeous-Alexander, with all facets of his game firing on all cylinders, had 31 points, 10 assists and four blocked shots as the Thunder took a 3-2 lead in the series that resumes Thursday night. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Already the league's regular-season most valuable player, leading regular-season scorer and the MVP of the Western Conference championship series, Gilgeous-Alexander piloted a devastating Thunder performance at home. Doug Smith's Sports Blog Opinion Doug Smith: Raptors mailbag: Trade RJ Barrett or Immanuel Quickley? What are expectations for Toronto next season? Doug Smith It was his fourth game with 30 or more points in the five games so far, his first double-figure assist game, and the blocked shots are a career playoff high. It was also his 15th 30-point game of the playoffs, the most in a single post-season since Kobe Bryant did it with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2009. And with teammate Jalen Williams exploding for 40 points, the Thunder moved to within a win of the franchise's first NBA championship since it relocated from Seattle in 2008. 'Great force. I mean, that's the word,' Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said of Williams. 'We've used that word with him in his development. When he's at his best, he's playing with that type of force. 'That was an unbelievable performance by him, just throughout the whole game. He really was on the gas the entire night. Applied a ton of pressure. Thought he made a lot of the right plays.' ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW The Pacers did what they regularly do: grinding their way back into the game after facing a big deficit and giving themselves a chance. Doug Smith's Sports Blog Opinion Doug Smith: Raptors mailbag: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander vs. Steve Nash and the case to trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo Doug Smith Trailing by as many as 18 points in the first half and with their best player having his worst game of the season, Indiana made it a two-point game about halfway through the fourth quarter. But Williams got going again, the Thunder defence clamped down and they built the lead back to 14 with about five minutes left. Oklahoma City forced four consecutive turnovers in about a three-span minute to re-establish a comfortable lead. 'We had 23 turnovers for 32 points,' Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. 'That's the game. We've got to do a heck of a lot better there.' The Pacers got nothing from guard Tyrese Haliburton, who was clearly feeling the effects of some kind of injury. He fell awkwardly on his left leg in the first half and finished the night with four points, no field goals and had no discernible impact on the game. 'He's not a hundred per cent, it's pretty clear,' Carlisle said of Haliburton, who missed all six shots he attempted in 34 minutes. 'But I don't think he's going to miss the next game. We were concerned at halftime, and he insisted on playing. I thought he made a lot of really good things happen in the second half. But he's not a hundred per cent. There's a lot of guys in the series that aren't.' ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW And as good as Pascal Siakam is, he wasn't good enough to carry Indiana on his own. Siakam did have 28 points to lead Indiana, but with the smothering Thunder defence set up to stop him alone, he had no chance to take over. But Siakam also had six turnovers. 'I've got to be better, especially the first quarter, taking care of ball,' Siakam said. 'I think it just kind of sets a trend a little bit with turnovers that we had in the critical parts of the game. I've got to be better with that.' Nba Opinion Dave Feschuk: The secret to winning the NBA Finals is hidden in the lowlight reels — Tyrese Haliburton and Lu Dort get it Dave Feschuk Gilgeous-Alexander, on the other hand, had a perfectly healthy running mate in all-star forward Williams. Williams was 14-for-25 from the field, made three of five three-pointers and added six rebounds and four assists to his career-best playoff night. The delightful series has unfolded at a leisurely pace that's been perfect for the stakes. Having extra off-days for travel throughout the series extends it — it'll be an 18-day series if it goes to Sunday's Game 7 — but it has also protected the players. Every game is a physical battle and any extra time to rest keeps them as fresh as possible. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW 'You empty the tank in these games. That's what the games require in the playoffs, and the guys do an unbelievable job of that,' Daigneault said before the game. 'But we recover. The Finals are great because you get extra time in between the games. I think that's huge in terms of rest and recovery at this time of the year. I think it's good for the product. I think it's a good thing, and by the time the ball goes up in the air everybody is going to be ready to play and everybody is going to be excited.' And the games certainly haven't disappointed. Games 1 and 4 were decided in the dying seconds with surprising comebacks and twists; Games 2 and 3 were one-sided each way to illustrate the strengths of the winners. 'The NBA Finals is one of the great stages in all of sports, and … it shouldn't happen quickly and abruptly,' Carlisle said before tipoff. 'It should happen at the right pace and the right tempo, and the space in between games does help player health. You know, that's a very important aspect of it. So you know, this has been a long 10 or 11 days or whatever it is, but it's gone — it's also gone quickly.'
