NBA playoffs: Pacers take 2-0 lead in Damian Lillard's Bucks return as bad blood spills over
The NBA playoffs continue Tuesday with three Game 2s, including the Lakers' return to to action against the Timberwolves after a stunning Game 1 loss at home.
Check out Yahoo Sports' predictions for each first-round series, in addition to Kevin O'Connor's ranking of the top 40 players in the NBA postseason.
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Here are the results and key takeaways from Tuesday's games:
Pacers 123, Bucks 115
An already heated series between the Milwaukee Bucks and Indiana Pacers intensified on Tuesday.
But Damian Lillard's return wasn't enough for a Milwaukee win as the Pacers held off a late Bucks rally for a 123-115 win. The Bucks mounted a 13-0 fourth quarter rally to cut a 115-100 Pacers lead to two points. But the Pacers regained their composure to hold on for the win.
The series now shifts to Milwaukee with the Pacers holding a 2-0 lead.
Lillard not limited, but struggles from the field
Lillard returned to the Bucks lineup on Tuesday for the first time since March 18th because of deep-vein thrombosis in his right calf. He started and didn't take his first break until 2:20 remaining in the first quarter en route to playing a full starter's allotment of xx minutes. But he struggled after halftime after scoring 11-first half points and finished the game with 14 while shooting 4 of 13 from the field.
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The Pacers, meanwhile, jumped out to a 31-16 lead that the Bucks never threatened. This was on top of a 19-point in in Game 1 in which Indiana led by as many as 28 points. Each Pacers starters scored in double figures as Indiana shot 48.9% from the field and 44.4% (16 of 36) from 3.
Milwaukee's offense improved after a 98-point effort in Game 1, but not nearly enough to keep pace with Indiana's efficient attack. Doc Rivers needs to find some adjustment in Milwaukee to keep avoid digging an 0-3 hole.
Milwaukee Bucks center Brook Lopez (11) and Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner (33) fight for a rebound during the first half of a first-round NBA basketball playoff game in Indianapolis, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
These teams don't like each other
From Halibruton's Dame Time celebration in 2023 to Game Ball-gate days later to the Pacers upsetting the Bucks last postseason, there's plenty of bad blood between these two division rivals.
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It's spilled over aplenty in the first two games of the series.
Lillard mixed it up in Game 1 while in street clothes in a heated back-and-forth with Haliburton that prompted Pascal Siakam and Gary Trent Jr. to get involved.
On Tuesday, Lillard hit his first bucket of the series in the first quarter in his first action in more than a month. Haliburton swiftly responded with a 3-pointer in Lillard's face and some words for the Bucks guard on his way back down the court.
Minutes later, Trent threw Siakam to the floor during a fight for a rebound.
Siakam popped back up and made a beeline for Trent before players and an official intervened. A brief scuffle ensued, and Trent and Indiana's Bennedict Mathurin were hit with technical fouls.
The series wasn't five quarters old, and players were already at each other's throats.
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Then, in the fourth quarter, Milwaukee's Kevin Porter Jr. grabbed the foot of Indiana's Thomas Bryant as Bryant ran down the floor, drawing a flagrant foul of unsportsmanlike conduct.
With at least two games remaining in the series, there's plenty of potential for things to further boil over.
Game 3 is scheduled for Friday night (8 p.m. ET | ESPNU, NBATV) in Milwaukee.
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New York Times
33 minutes ago
- New York Times
What key plays from Thunder-Pacers Game 1 tell us about the NBA Finals going forward
OKLAHOMA CITY — So … what exactly happened here, and what does it mean going forward? That's why I've been trying to figure out ever since I staggered out of Paycom Center late Thursday in the wake of the Indiana Pacers' stunning 111-110 comeback win against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Advertisement It wasn't just that the Pacers rallied from a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit; it was the way they came back. Oklahoma City seemed to be dominating, forcing a series of JV-playing-the-varsity-type turnovers in the first half and seemingly coasting behind its NBA MVP in the second. But somehow, the size of the Thunder lead never quite matched the eye-test vibes, and the Pacers stayed close enough for a late stretch of hot shooting and sprinkling of Tyrese Haliburton clutch fairy dust to put them on top. In the wake of my bewilderment, I rewatched the game Friday morning and compared it to my notes on what I thought I saw from my perch Thursday. Watching again left me with a lot of random thoughts about some fairly important things that went under the radar: Aaron Nesmith's ironclad perimeter defense, Rick Carlisle's creative play-calling (corner iso for T.J. McConnell? Triple drag to get Nesmith an open 3?), the forces of nature that were Lu Dort and Alex Caruso, the incredibly random Ajay Mitchell cameo and more. But I can't do play-by-play from the whole game, so let's narrow things down. In particular, 10 plays stand out as important ones that defined not only why the Pacers came back and won but what the strategic questions will be for both teams Sunday in Game 2 and beyond. A harbinger of what was to come for the Thunder came on this free-throw miss. Nembhard tapped out a rebound, Pascal Siakam retrieved the ball while Cason Wallace recovered from presumably falling off the edge of the earth on the left side of our TV screens, and Siakam blew to the rim for a bucket over an MIA-for-the-night Chet Holmgren. This play encapsulated several underlying themes from the game: Siakam's quietly great play, the struggles of Holmgren and Wallace and Nembhard making subtle big plays. Advertisement But the one I want to focus on is rebounding. The Thunder were a terrible rebounding team last year, and when Isaiah Hartenstein wasn't on the floor, they mostly remained a terrible rebounding team this year. With Hartenstein removed from the starting lineup and only playing 17 minutes in Game 1, guess what they were terrible at? Indiana had 13 offensive rebounds, even while sometimes staying small themselves, and this play was illustrative. It was also an omen for an even bigger play later. Oklahoma City should have been up by 20 at halftime after forcing 19 Indiana turnovers and holding the Pacers to 45 first-half points. The reason the Thunder weren't was that their offense kept leaving money on the table. Much was made of the lack of points off turnovers, but a lot of them were turnovers that weren't particularly conducive to quick baskets. The Thunder also missed an unusually large number of shots at the rim, going just 8-of-22 in the restricted area in the first half; give Myles Turner some credit, as he played a major role in several of the misses. The other issue for the Thunder was how many not-great quick jump shots they were taking. In part, this was because the Pacers were able to guard one-on-one on the perimeter without sending much help; Nembhard on Gilgeous-Alexander and Nesmith on Jalen Williams were both up to the task. Beyond that, the lack of minutes for Hartenstein took the Thunder's best screener out of the game, and that made it harder to get bodies off their two best scorers. In theory, the Thunder were playing five-out, but they weren't running much of anything. Rewatching this game, it was shocking how many zero- and one-pass possessions the Thunder had. This is a fairly indulgent one by Gilgeous-Alexander, who tilted too heavily toward hunting quick jumpers, but at least he's the MVP. The ones initiated by secondary players were even more egregious; remind me again why Wallace is trying to cook with 17 seconds on the shot clock? All that presaged the final possession for the Thunder, when Gilgeous-Alexander did the same and got a decent jump shot but also missed an open Williams at the top of the key. In this clip, Nembhard drove to the cup with Holmgren in perfect position to snuff his shot at the rim, and then Holmgren … just kind of watched Nembhard lay it in. While this play also stood out for the cleaner ball movement Indiana had in the second half — quicker actions, fewer passes, not trying to seal bigs and thread entries in traffic — that cleared up the Pacers' plague of turnovers, the bigger point here is the Thunder just need way, way more from Holmgren. Advertisement Holmgren can be pretty hard on himself, and I imagine he's gnashing his teeth watching film of his game. He finished 2-of-9 from the field with no assists, and the eye test might have been worse. Credit Turner for stymying several of Holmgren's forays to the rim, and (dis)credit the Thunder's offensive impatience for taking him out of the game as a secondary offensive player. Holmgren is at his best when the ball swings to him against a rotating defense or he's able to finish a play at the rim, but with Oklahoma City in hero-ball mode, his offense took a major hit. But we can't let him off the hook. He was a non-factor protecting the rim and on the glass, even with the Thunder switching his matchup to keep him off Turner and let him roam a bit more. The biggest reason for Thunder optimism going forward is that Holmgren and Jalen Williams should both be way better in future games; that's especially true of Holmgren on defense. Another look at this MONSTER block by Benn ⤵️ — NBA (@NBA) June 6, 2025 Mathurin didn't play a lot in Game 1, but he held up very well at both ends. This spectacular block of Williams' drive was the highlight and underscored a 6-of-19 shooting night from Williams when he also missed multiple assist chances. Look at Mathurin's man, Hartenstein, under the rim; if Williams either drops this off or lobs it, it's a dunk. Williams lamented after the game that a lot of the shots he missed were normal shots for him that just didn't go down. Certainly, there are elements of truth to that, particularly in his pull-up game. However, his Game 1 performance left a lot to be desired as a secondary offensive weapon and brought up reminders of his 'spring tour dates' in the Denver series (2-of-13; 3-of-15; 5-of-14; 5-of-20) and his struggles to be a secondary weapon against the Dallas Mavericks a year ago. Again, one wonders if more Hartenstein as a screener might have helped; the two had a solid run at the start of the fourth quarter with the help of some road-grader screens from Hartenstein. Regardless, Oklahoma City's 'other' All-Star is a huge key to this series. While Indiana got all it needed and more from its No. 2 guy in Siakam, Williams left the Thunder short in that respect. That can't be the case going forward. On this play, Hartenstein got Nembhard off Gilgeous-Alexander's body with a solid screen, cooking a switch that leaves the MVP guarded by the highly cookable Thomas Bryant. It went down as a jump shot, but these were some of the easiest points of the night for a player of SGA's caliber. Advertisement As I noted above, the Thunder missed a ton of paint shots, and on the night, they missed a staggering 40 2s — making only 41.2 percent inside the arc. That's how they barely averaged a point per possession despite shooting 21 of 24 from the free-throw line and making a respectable 11 triples. These stretches, where Hartenstein was setting ball screens for Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams, were the Thunder's best offensive forays. Hartenstein sprang both Thunder All-Stars downhill for layups with the help of Gortat screens that stopped his own man from helping. He also set up weakside mayhem with short rolls and quick kickouts and even aggressively took a few handoff plays to the cup himself in the first half. There's a reason Hartenstein didn't play longer, which I'll get to in a minute, but one major adjustment for the Thunder for Game 2 has to involve increasing his role; he's just too important to both their offense and rebounding, the two areas in which they lost Game 1. That's particularly true since his replacement, Wallace, had little impact in 33 minutes replacing him. This play precipitated Hartenstein's removal, as he lost track of Turner at the 3-point line. The Thunder were already leery of starting Hartenstein because they were worried about him getting isolated in space against Haliburton, but the death knell for his evening was all the 3-pointers Indiana's stretch bigs got at his expense. It started late in the first quarter when he and Kenrich Williams messed up a zone scheme that left Obi Toppin with a practice 3-pointer from above the break, but the situation escalated in the second half. This Turner shot was the third in a series of similar errors; Hartenstein also let Bryant and Toppin get free for catch-and-shoot 3s in the second half, which is why Thunder coach Mark Daigneault took him out for good with 7:44 left after Turner's make. (Bizarrely, the Thunder didn't even put him back in with 0.3 seconds left when they could only score on a lob. What did they think Wallace was going to do on that play?) The 'play better' adjustment looms large here. Hartenstein's instincts will always be to protect the rim, but he can't lose the assignment so regularly if he's going to stay on the court longer. The Pacers were trying to deny Gilgeous-Alexander catches in the backcourt and pressure his dribble all game, even handing over two free points at the end of the first quarter when Nembhard needlessly fouled him 75 feet from the hoop with the Thunder in the bonus. Advertisement In the fourth, however, it started paying off. On this play, the MVP tapped out on getting the inbound pass after a Pacers basket, and the ball went to Holmgren instead, who decided to call his own number and attack Turner at the cup. The shot failed, and Holmgren was done for the night shortly after this, with the Thunder playing five smalls for the final 3:24 until Holmgren returned with 0.3 seconds left. Logically, as I rewatched, this was the only thing that made sense for OKC. Holmgren was terrible, and Hartenstein was a 3-pointer waiting to happen, which is no bueno sitting on a multi-possession lead. Moreover, that same unit of five smalls finished the first half and tortured the Pacers, forcing an avalanche of Indiana turnovers. Remember that missed Nembhard free throw above? This will awaken some ghosts for Thunder fans since it was also a massive factor in their Game 6 loss to Dallas a year ago. And it was why Caruso stepped in early on the second free throw by Siakam with 3:24 left. Hartenstein, the Thunder's best rebounder, was out, and Caruso was the closest thing left to a 'big.' (Holmgren would have been useless here as well; he gets shoved into the stanchion on every foul shot.) Caruso knew that Jalen Williams on the other side would get caved in by Nesmith, and nobody else on the court was an instinctive rebounder. (Caruso, who played 28 minutes, also might have run out of gas in the fourth; he was uncharacteristically cooked off the dribble multiple times.) Siakam missed the free throw, and a lane violation was called, giving him another one that he ended up converting. That point ended up being massive given the one-point final difference. But hey, it could have been worse. I joke that the best offense against Oklahoma City is missing a foul shot, but there's a kernel of truth; when Hartenstein and Jaylin Williams aren't on the floor, they are supernaturally bad at this for an otherwise historically awesome team. Check this out: On that third free throw, Caruso ended up boxing out air and nearly fell over, and Nesmith again caved in Jalen Williams. Look at the Pacers' rebounding position if Siakam had missed again: One other issue with Oklahoma City playing small is Caruso in the dunker spot instead of, say, a dunker; if it's Hartenstein or Holmgren, the image above is an easy lob to the square for two points. Instead, Siakam blocked this shot, and he's able to because Gilgeous-Alexander had no realistic lob option as he came down the pike. Advertisement If there's one aspect of this that Daigneault might be replaying in his head, it's likely whether he could have closed with a bit more size in his 'small' group by using Kenrich Williams instead of Wallace. Wallace shot 3 of 9, playing 33 lightly impactful minutes and finishing with a plus/minus of minus-13. Kenrich Williams, meanwhile, played 27 very effective minutes when Holmgren missed OKC's late March blowout win over Indiana, finishing a team-best plus-23 that night; he would have added a bit more size, screening and rebounding to this look. Here's the thing, though: Oklahoma City's small group did fine down the stretch if you just look at the shots they took and allowed. In a vacuum, over the last four minutes, they probably had better ones than the Pacers. Nembhard made an and-1 mixtape 3-pointer, Nesmith made one that he shot like the ball was on fire while he was still moving, and of course, minutes earlier, Turner banked in a 3 by accident. Meanwhile, Dort, Jalen Williams and Wallace all missed catch-and-shoot fungoes. The Thunder were 0-of-9 outside the charge circle in the fourth quarter; the Pacers were 9-of-14. Make-or-miss league, as they say. Sometimes it happens even if the strategy and process are fine. For the most part, the real problem wasn't the 12-2 run at the end; it was the fact that Oklahoma City hadn't amassed a much greater lead before. HALIBURTON WINS GAME 1 FOR THE PACERS. THEY TRAILED BY 15. ANOTHER CRAZY INDIANA COMEBACK 🚨 — NBA (@NBA) June 6, 2025 Yeah … this was something. As I noted above, at the start of the play, it looked like Gilgeous-Alexander had a chance to hit Jalen Williams for a dagger 3. Also, props to Carlisle for not calling a timeout and letting Haliburton work against a scrambled defense. That 'scrambled' part stands out in one sense: Dort is matched up with Haliburton when the shot goes up, but he didn't pick him up at the other end. Dort chases the offensive rebound despite not exactly leading the league in this category and doesn't chase back to regain the matchup. Haliburton ends up with the less stout Wallace on him. Making matters worse, Wallace doesn't get into his dribble and doesn't force him left, even though Haliburton is a more comfortable pull-up shooter going to his right. That should have been clear to the Thunder if they watched some of Haliburton's tape. Here's Game 1 of the first round against the Milwaukee Bucks, for instance, with a virtually identical shot to end the third period when Haliburton gets a chance to cook against Bobby Portis. This play, however, was probably the least relevant thing going forward for the rest of this series. It was a one-point game in the final minute, and then Gilgeous-Alexander missed his pull-up and Haliburton made his. Big picture, the Thunder have to feel decent even though Indiana stole the result. Oklahoma City dominated big chunks of the game, made a series of very fixable mistakes to let Indiana back in it, has obvious tactical alternatives it could put into play and was in position to win the game despite very poor outings from its second- and third-most important players. On the other hand, the Thunder gave away a game they had in the bag, and there's no guarantee they defend as well going forward as they did in the first half of Game 1. Advertisement Given what an overwhelming favorite the Thunder were coming into this series, and the fact that they survived a similar late collapse against Denver, I still would rather hold their cards; aspects of this game reminded me of the Philadelphia 76ers' Game 1 win over the Los Angeles Lakers in 2001 or the Miami Heat's Game 2 win at Denver in 2023. Nonetheless, what's good for all of us (we have a series!) is probably not great for Oklahoma City. Game 2 is now a must-win, and the pressure carries over from there to win at least once in Indiana. This was entirely avoidable, and how the two teams resolve the questions above will go a long way toward telling us what happens next. (Illustration: Demetrius Robinson / The Athletic; top photos: Alonzo Adams, Kyle Terada/Imagn Images, Julio Cortez-Pool,)
an hour ago
Pacers take 1-0 lead into game 2 against the Thunder
Indiana Pacers (50-32, fourth in the Eastern Conference) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (68-14, first in the Western Conference) Oklahoma City; Sunday, 8 p.m. EDT BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Thunder -11; over/under is 227.5 NBA FINALS: Pacers lead series 1-0 BOTTOM LINE: The Indiana Pacers visit the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals with a 1-0 lead in the series. The Pacers won the last matchup 111-110 on Friday, led by 19 points from Pascal Siakam. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 38. The Thunder are 36-6 in home games. Oklahoma City is third in the league giving up only 107.6 points per game while holding opponents to 43.6% shooting. The Pacers have gone 21-20 away from home. Indiana ranks fourth in the Eastern Conference shooting 36.8% from 3-point range. The Thunder average 14.5 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.6 more made shots on average than the 12.9 per game the Pacers give up. The Pacers average 9.8 more points per game (117.4) than the Thunder give up (107.6). TOP PERFORMERS: Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 32.7 points, 6.4 assists and 1.7 steals for the Thunder. Jalen Williams is averaging 18.6 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.9 steals over the past 10 games. Tyrese Haliburton is averaging 18.6 points and 9.2 assists for the Pacers. Aaron Nesmith is averaging 2.3 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games. LAST 10 GAMES: Thunder: 7-3, averaging 113.1 points, 42.2 rebounds, 23.3 assists, 11.2 steals and 4.3 blocks per game while shooting 46.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 106.9 points per game. Pacers: 7-3, averaging 115.9 points, 39.5 rebounds, 26.5 assists, 7.3 steals and 5.5 blocks per game while shooting 48.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 114.0 points. INJURIES: Thunder: Nikola Topic: out for season (acl).
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
How Pacers coach Rick Carlisle helped Thunder GM Sam Presti break into NBA C-suite
How Pacers coach Rick Carlisle helped Thunder GM Sam Presti break into NBA C-suite A general manager's job is to win now and plan for the future. It's not easy. Since taking the Thunder job in 2007, Sam Presti has turned the franchise into one of the NBA's best. Show Caption Hide Caption Pacers and Thunder NBA Finals is better than it's 'small-market' billing USA TODAY Sports' Jeff Zillgitt breaks down the star-studded NBA Finals between the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder. Sports Pulse OKLAHOMA CITY — Thunder executive vice president and general manager Sam Presti is a student of the game. Not just of the people who played in the NBA, but the people behind the scenes, the GMs and front-office executives who helped define the position and made it what it is today – an indispensable role necessary to competing for championships. When Presti was named NBA Executive of the Year last month, he released a statement and within, mentioned several former executives: Wayne Embry, Kevin O'Connor, Jack McCloskey, Rod Thorn, Sam Schuler, Mark Warkentien, John Gabriel, Bob Whitsitt, Carroll Dawson, Scott Layden and Geoff Petrie among others. Some of those names are familiar. Some are forgotten. But not to Presti, who made sure the trailblazers are appreciated. ANALYSIS: A tale of two point guards: Thunder have MVP, Pacers have Mr. Clutch OPINION: Thunder filled with regret after fumbling NBA Finals Game 1 Presti, 47, started in this business when he was 22 – a video intern for the San Antonio Spurs in 2000. Quickly, Presti, who graduated from and played basketball at Emerson College in Boston, moved into the scouting and player personnel department. He began traveling and got to know those executives he named. Sitting with them at airports. Visiting European cities with them in search of a hidden gem. They might arrive at a gym in Ljubljana only to find out the player they wanted to scout was no good. Maybe they traded NBA apparel for a VCR cassette recording of a potential prospect. Or maybe Presti saw something in a young Tony Parker and encouraged the Spurs to draft him. Spending time with Embry, O'Connor, McCloskey, Gabriel, Dawson and others, Presti learned about team building. McCloskey's work with the Detroit Pistons' Bad Boys in the 1980s left an impression. McCloskey shipped fan favorite Adrian Dantley to the Dallas Mavericks for Mark Aguirre. The smaller trades were important, too, and acquiring Rick Mahorn helped shape Detroit's 1989 championship. Consider a couple of Presti's moves: Trading Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and trading Josh Giddey to Chicago for Alex Caruso. Embry drafted Brad Daugherty, Ron Harper and acquired Mark Price in a draft-day trade, turning the Cleveland Cavaliers into one of the top teams in the East. Think about some other moves Presti has made: drafted Aaron Wiggins No. 55 in 2021; drafted Chet Holmgren No. 2 overall, Jalen Williams No. 12 and Jaylin Williams No. 34 in 2022; selected Cason Wallace No. 10 in 2023; drafted Ajay Mitchell No. 38 in 2024; signed Isaiah Joe and Isaiah Hartenstein in free agency. Presti has found value through the three-pronged approach to team-building: trades, draft picks and free-agent signings. How Sam Presti built the Thunder for long-term success A GM's job is to win now and plan for the future. It's not easy. Since taking the Thunder job in 2007, Presti has turned the franchise into one of the best in the NBA. From 2009-10 through 2019-20, the Thunder made the playoffs 10 times in 11 seasons, reaching the NBA Finals in 2012 with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden and the Western Conference finals in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2016. They averaged 51 wins in that span. After 2019-20, Presti promoted Mark Daigneault from assistant to head coach and embarked on a rebuild that has led to this Finals appearance. Presti wants another decade of 50-win seasons and championship-caliber teams. The Thunder won 57 games last season, 68 this season and are set up contractually to keep Gilgeous-Alexander, Holmgren and Jalen Williams. MORE: How Shaq 'flipped the script,' expanding fortune after retirement ANALYSIS: Unsung heroes? Underrated players who could make a difference in NBA Finals 'I didn't know much about professional basketball before I came here, and so my entire philosophy in professional basketball was underneath the umbrella of the Thunder organization,' said Daigneault, who was an assistant for Billy Donovan at Florida before joining the franchise in 2014. 'Our philosophical alignment is so tight because of that, because this is the only place I've ever worked and this is the only way I've ever done it, and a lot of it is stuff I've learned from Sam and learned from being in this organization in terms of understanding that these organizations are robust. 'It's not just you coaching your team. You're part of a large ecosystem of developing players and developing a team, and you're executing a large strategy for an organization. Those are things that have to exist in order to be a sustainably successful team in the NBA.' Pacers coach Rick Carlisle first met Presti 25 years ago, and Carlisle told reporters that after the Pacers fired him in 2000, he spent time around the Spurs. 'He is from the Boston area. So, he had grown up a Celtics fan,' Carlisle said. 'He actually remembered when I played, which was miraculous to me. Seemed like he was probably way too young for that. We had a couple of dinners together. He asked me, 'What can I do? I got to somehow get a job out of this.' 'I said, 'Just become a guy they can't live without.' ' Presti has done that – first with the Spurs and now during nearly two decades with the Thunder. He has an expert eye for talent, a special knack for roster construction and a clear understanding of the collective bargaining agreement/salary cap machinations. He has the vision to see where the league is headed. 'Sam is a great demonstration of resourcefulness and wherewithal and stuff like that,' Carlisle said. 'He's forged himself a great career. He and (Indiana's) Kevin Pritchard are two of the best franchise builders around.' Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Sam Presti: 'Seemed like a guy I can trust' Presti also has built relationships with players. It's not a one-way transaction. When the Thunder traded for George, Presti ‒ who has forged relationships with city leaders through philanthropy and commitment to Oklahoma City ‒ kept an open dialogue and when the time came, found a deal that worked for both sides. And he may have found an even better one for the Thunder and Gilgeous-Alexander, this season's NBA MVP. 'He's honest and upfront with me from day one,' Gilgeous-Alexander said. 'That helped our relationship right away. You don't get that very often, especially that early. Seemed like a guy I can trust. He's been that. I just try to be the same back to him. Nothing more than just two guys with good character trusting each other and have one common goal in mind.' You won't hear much from Presti during the Finals. TV cameras may catch him watching a home game from a tunnel near the Thunder's bench. He does two interviews a year, at the start of the season and after it's over, preferring the focus go to players and coaches. And other GMs who came before him and did the job with fewer resources financially, technologically and personnel-wise. Presti has learned from the past while creating his vision for what a team that wants to capitalize on its NBA Finals window should look like today - and in the future. Follow NBA columnist Jeff Zillgitt on social media @JeffZillgitt
