What have the Thunder lacked en route to 2-1 hole against Pacers? Cohesive play

New York Times

15 hours ago

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Thunder must get back to team basketball
There is a Leonard Nimoy quote that goes: 'The miracle is this: the more we share, the more we have.' That quote has resonated with me for the last 90 seconds, since I googled quotes about sharing because I needed something other than 'sharing is caring' to throw in here. But that quote from the man who played Spock, which I know from watching 'The Simpsons' as a child, definitely applies to the Thunder's issues with the Pacers in the NBA Finals.
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The latter has a 2-1 series lead primarily because the Thunder have gotten away from team basketball. While Pacers coach Rick Carlisle won't discuss strategic endeavors (nor should he), you can see the Pacers' defense emphasizing how to limit Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, thus the Thunder as a whole.
OKC has dominated all season long and had one of the best offenses in the league during the process. But it's not a team that passes often. NBA.com Stats has tracking info for passes made, and the Thunder actually averaged the sixth-fewest passes (270.7) in the NBA. That didn't stop them from generating potential assists, though:
Going into the finals, the Thunder were doing pretty well with their passing numbers:
Unfortunately, that hasn't been the case in these finals. The Pacers have found a way to shut down OKC's passing and turn the Thunder into an unusually selfish squad. This was their breakdown in Games 1-3:
I don't think you can just chalk this up to the Thunder's propensity for getting to the free-throw line, either. They had 33 free-throw attempts in Game 2, when they also had their best passing game of the series. When the ball is moving, the Thunder are pretty impossible to handle. The Pacers have just found a way to get that ball to stick. And that's going to be the key to avoiding the typically daunting situation of going down 3-1.
We know the only team in NBA history to come back from a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals is LeBron James' Cavaliers in 2016. Maybe this Thunder matchup with the Pacers would be ripe to become the second one. I know most people would believe OKC can do it, mostly because they're still doubting a Pacers team that is now two wins away from its first Larry O'Brien Trophy.
We're still at a 95.6 percent success rate for teams that go up 3-1 in a playoff series. In the NBA Finals, that's a mark of 97.4 percent (37-1 record). The Thunder will have more if they share more. I've been thinking about that quote for, like, a good five minutes now, and I've never believed in it more than I do at the end of this sentence.
(Game 4 is tonight at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC. Stream on Fubo for free!)
Knicks might actually hire a coach
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🤔 Shooting slump. A key reason the Thunder trail the Pacers? Bad luck from midrange.
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📈 Feeling trendy. Fred Katz broke down Tyrese Haliburton's knack for sneaky rebounding in the NBA Finals.
📲 Rank 'em! The 'No Dunks' crew ranked the Kevin Durant trade scenarios. Watch it here!
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My favorite parts of Sam Vecenie's latest
We're less than two weeks away from the Mavericks selecting Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 pick. After that, this year's draft is anybody's guess. We could see a bevy of trades, even starting at No. 2 with the Spurs or No. 3 with the 76ers – or both! Luckily, Sam Vecenie has been doing work to help prepare us for a chaotic night. You should already know about the extensive, annual draft guide he puts together. He also put out a mock draft yesterday with some great pick projections, analysis and possible trade ideas.
These are my five favorite ideas from his mock.
Does Pacers acceptance require a ring?
Today is the six-year anniversary of Kawhi Leonard leading the Raptors to their first NBA championship. Back in 2019, Leonard was essentially dragging the Raptors to victory on one leg, averaging 28.5 points, 9.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.2 blocks in six games against the Warriors. Pascal Siakam had his moments, and Fred VanVleet helped them close out Game 6. But the Raptors took the series.
It was a big deal for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, the Raptors became the champs. Secondly, they beat the vaunted Warriors and knocked them down from their perch atop the NBA. The previous two seasons, the NBA world groaned about how the Warriors had ruined basketball because Durant signed there. But the Warriors lost their attempt to three-peat. Thirdly, the Raptors received a lot of help from Durant rupturing his Achilles' tendon in the series and Klay Thompson tearing his ACL.
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Initially, the series was about the Raptors getting their ring and Leonard's glory of winning a ring with a second franchise. Plus, we didn't know if he would stick around in free agency. Then, it quickly became about the Warriors injuries, whether or not they'd stay together, and if this run was now over. It felt like everybody quickly moved on from the Raptors and they didn't fully get the respect they deserved.
As mentioned above, the Pacers are up 2-1 in this series, and they continue to get overlooked in this playoff run. Although the Pacers are two wins away from the championship, it feels like non-Pacers fans still aren't taking them seriously. They still aren't favored in this series with OKC now -220 to win it all. I understand that's more of what it says about how good this Thunder team has been all season long, and how dominant it can look. At the same time, so much following Game 3 seemed to be about what this would mean historically if the Thunder 'collapse' and lose the finals rather than what it would mean to have a Pacers team like this win the whole thing.
I don't know if it's a carryover from last year's playoff run, in which you can't deny they were helped tremendously by opponent injuries. That hasn't been the case this season. They've earned their 2-1 lead in this series. Carlisle is putting on a masterclass, and the roster president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard has built is giving the proper balance it needs to follow its design. Yes, OKC losing this series would be a big deal, considering its historic margin of victory and being just one of seven teams in league history to win at least 68 games.
While so many people bemoan how tough it is for small-market teams to have a fair shot, the Pacers are showing a great blueprint. They have a great coach, coaching staff and talent evaluation (see Bennedict Mathurin's huge Game 3, for example). They created a team identity and stuck to it, didn't tank to get their players, developed players and improved. Opportune trades also helped.
There is still a long way to go to get the final two wins it takes, but it would be a shame to wait until then to widely acknowledge this team belongs with all of the other top teams. They didn't get here by default.
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