2025 NBA Finals: OKC Thunder Paint Defense Has Pacers Out Of Character

Forbes

a day ago

OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA - JUNE 08: Andrew Nembhard #2 of the Indiana Pacers attempts a lay up ... More against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second quarter in Game Two of the 2025 NBA Finals at Paycom Center on June 08, 2025 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Photo by Julio Cortez - Pool/Getty Images)
OKLAHOMA CITY – 110 points. That's the line in the sand for the Indiana Pacers during the 2025 playoffs. Through 18 postseason games, they're a perfect 13-0 when scoring more than 110 points and winless at 0-5 when they don't. In Game 1 of the NBA Finals, that trend held steady as Tyrese Haliburton's heroic shot just before the final buzzer put 111 on the scoreboard for Indiana.
Yet 111 is just barely over that 110 threshold. And in Game 2, the Pacers final tally was 107. It took a monster 66-point second half featuring some garbage time to get there, though the blue and gold do deserve credit for reaching that total. And Indiana dropped that game as the Thunder evened the series 1-1.
Splitting the two games in Oklahoma City is a good result for the Pacers. But their offense has put up two of their six lowest scoring games in the playoffs so far to open the NBA Finals. OKC's defense is a monster. They are limiting the Pacers by cutting off the paint, and it's become the biggest issue to address for the Eastern Conference champions.
'They sell out to the paint. They are willing to give up a multitude of shots, three, mid-range, whatever it is, so we don't get in the paint,' Pacers center Myles Turner said. 'Now it's just about making a decision [and]
In Game 1, Indiana won despite scoring just 34 points in the paint, their second-worst in the playoffs, but overcame it with red-hot jump shooting and solid-enough defense. They drove to the basket 48 times, which is about average for their playoff run but still below their regular season norm of 50.3 per game.
The challenge of penetrating OKC's interior is no secret. Guard Ben Sheppard noted as much in between the first two battles of the series. 'I feel like they take away the whole paint. They're flying around everywhere,' Sheppard explained. 'They play a tight-knit defense… it's like five [defenders] on a string.'
In Game 2, with a known challenge in their way, the Pacers scored just 34 points in the paint again. The problem persisted. It was tied for their second-lowest in the playoffs and regular season. They had exactly 48 drives again, though many of them came late. After one quarter, the Pacers had zero points in the paint and made only a pair of two-point shots.
They were shut down. A core part of their offensive identity is missing in this series, and they need to re-capture it.
'We have to find ways to get the ball in there (the paint), it's just there are so many things that have to go right on a set of two possessions to get the ball into the heart of their defense. You've got to get a stop, a rebound. You've got to be able to get the ball up the floor without a turnover and then you have to be able to get it to the lane and to the rim,' Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle detailed. 'It's a tough task. So we'll look at it. There were some stretches where we did some good things attacking the paint but there weren't enough.'
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams (8) defends against Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese ... More Haliburton (0) during the first half of Game 2 of the NBA Finals basketball series Sunday, June 8, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)
This is what the Thunder do. They led the league in paint defense during the regular season and have remained dominant in the playoffs. Three of the five lowest scoring-in-the-paint games this postseason have come against them – the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves both mustered just 20 points in the paint against the Thunder, and the Nuggets had a separate game with only 26.
In the regular season, two of the lowest points in the paint games also came against OKC. Their work on the less glamorous end of the floor was just as brutal. Teams want to score at the rim but can't against the mighty Thunder defense. Their rim protection is elite and backed by a line of terrific perimeter stoppers.
'I'd say it's kind of our defense as a whole. It starts with pressuring the ball before it crosses halfcourt, stopping teams from scoring in transition so we can set our defense,' Thunder big man Chet Holmgren said of his team's paint presence. 'Defending actions, the screens, slide-outs, whatever, kind of controlling them within those. It makes it harder to get to the paint in the first place. It starts early. Making sure we have each other's back at the rim if somebody does get beat.'
Those tactics are crushing the Pacers offense. They can't generate clean drives. They're frustrated, and it shows. Forced shots and stalled possessions are creeping in. With no simple answers, players have been forcing the issue. It's not how the blue and gold want to play.
They need to figure out how to get into the paint. Maybe individual brilliance can be enough, but that isn't the right blueprint. The more viable path to success lies in the details. They need to set harder screens. They must keep the ball circulating and move with purpose as players. If there's space, Indiana has to take it.
On Tuesday, multiple members of the team described needing to play with pace and keep the rock moving from side to side quickly as possible solutions. They are necessary and must be executed well.
The Thunder defense is terrific. Breaking it down is challenging. But the Pacers have to. They need to find their offensive rhythm, regain their identity, and hit that 110 threshold with consistency. That's their win condition.
'Ball movement and player movement will help,' guard Andrew Nembhard said, simply as he always does. He shared what is known – that's it's a point of emphasis for OKC to take away the paint.
The Pacers still have to move toward the rim. If they don't, they won't reach 110 points often enough to win four times in this series. Without their offensive thesis, they're in trouble. It's currently their biggest problem to solve in the 2025 NBA Finals, and it's up to the coaching staff and players to adjust and find solutions. It's the only way forward.