NBA Finals: Pacers found their offense after a disastrous start to Game 1, now it’s OKC’s turn to do the same
the Indiana Basars I spent several days before The American Professional League The finals are preparing for Oklahoma City Thursdays Defense is very infection. None of this seems to be when they had to try themselves. In the first half of the 1st match on Thursday, Pesrez turned the ball more than 20 times.
This was a historic miserable performance when it came to the security of the ball. It was also out of the team of a team that took the identity of his franchise player, Teres HaleportonThe playmaker without fear but low unbelievable. But this is what thunder does for their opponents, especially in their building. It is normal for you to feel some nerves on the larger game stage.
“I was a little tense in the first quarter, as I quickly got out of the ball, and fled the ball screens without any real preparation,” Haleporton said. “I felt myself. I will admit that I felt this way, so I am sure that the other players felt this way.”
There is a difference between paying speed and recovery. Indiana wants to do the first at every opportunity. The latter is what happened in the face of OKC pressure early.
“It is never the end of our end,” said Al -Raad coach. “It is really about the turmoil.”
Sometimes, the transformations of the defense forces gather; At other times, it forces the shots out of rhythms and bad decisions. In the first half, Haleporton, Harun Namith and Andrew Nimbard Throwing the apostasy passes to Miles Turner And chose them all thunder. Bennedict Mathurin’s The main drive into three OKC defenders was not technically rotating, but it was working on the same.
“They are a defensive threat,” Carliel said. “We have often taken it into crowds, then you know, at other times, they take the ball out of your hands. Their defense level is good.”
At the end of the first half, Indiana was 57-45, but it could have been worse. “When you turn the ball to this extent, you expect to drop to 20 years,” “Pacers Forward Pascal Siyam He said. Fortunately, Oklahoma City scored only nine points of all of these transformations and only 37 % of the field.
“Not the end of the world,” Carliel told his team at the end of the first half. “We are there.”
After that, Indiana calmed down. Reduce the deficit in half near the end of the third quarter before Gilgos Alexander tea The last pushed 3 to nine. A few minutes after the fourth, TJ MCCONNELLL She committed what seemed to be the most expensive rotation, and threw a wrong pass on a basic play of the border that led directly to the Thunder. Lower 15, then put Paces in a completely new assortment and eventually went, ultimately The game theft Amazing, but not horrific.
Once a series, made Hallibron A terrible bell bell in a coming victoryHow can anyone be shocked anymore?
“There was never there [lack of belief] As a group, frankly, Haleporton said after 111-110 victory. chaosugly. “Given the bad half of the first half, the situation was” not this bad “that enters the third quarter.” We never think the game has ended. honestly. never. This never crawls. “
In the second half, Indiana turned the ball only five times. Another way to put it: its rotational rate was 10.4 %, which means that it takes care of the ball better than any team during the normal season. Haleporton attacked thunderstorms and made a legendary bullet immediately, but, decisively, nothing imposed. In the middle of the fourth quarter, after a break with Turner, no open shot, see him refer to Turner to move the ball to NEMBHARD, who then created the big man for the medium bird:
Instead of trying to create an advantage with Lu Dort all over, Haliburton was fine with the ball down and allow his teammates effectively 4 to 4. NEMBHARD, from Play a 6 game champion of the Eastern Conference Finals With the defense of the world against Gallin BronsonI got a tremendous hiatus against Gilgeous-alexander late in the fourth quarter, but before that he made many plays that touched the need with the ball in his hands.
In the third quarter, NEMBHARD turned the driving throw over 7 feet 1 Chit Holmegren:
Early of the fourth, he manufactured a bullying ball and 1 against Alex Caroso:
Then he created this kick 3 for Obi Toppin:
With less than three minutes remaining, the Paces team dropped at nine, NEMBHARD brought the ball against Cason WallaceDraw an additional defender, almost the ball, and then reached the ball to Toppin, who handed it over to Nesmith in Corner 3:
In the following possession, NEMBHARD turned into Gilgeous-alexander, then drilling Stepback 3:
Indiana did not win a game in which the ball turned more than 25 times. She won a game in which no one scored in the team more than 19 points. This was possible because all Pacers beginners registered in dual characters, as did Toppin (McConnell also had nine). This is “what makes it good”, thunder forward Gallin Williams He said.
Throughout the second half, Indiana’s offensive approach seemed very similar to its approach against Cleveland Cavaliers In the second round. Some stars will not be at the Haleporton level well with 14 points recorded in 13 attempts in a game like this, but this does not seem to be a problem with him. If he is not ready to get out of the ball and allow NEMBHARD to start, it is likely that he will not have a chance to hit the murder at the end.
“They understand that five people are on the ground and that you are definitely a more dangerous team when everyone participates,” Williams said.
Carroso said that “they remained honest with themselves, their brand for basketball,” and “threw a big couple on the road.”
If they find themselves offensive throughout the game, thunder now must do the same. Even when they were forcing tons of transformations, they did not turn enough of them into almost points.
“We did not get a kind of juice to this pressure that we usually do when we move the difference,” said Diennult.
Oklahoma City wore a loss like this before. Caroso said this was “frighteningly similar”, in game 1 of the second round against Denver Nags.
What matters to thunder, though, is that their offensive performance was not exactly. Entering the finalsThey photographed 34.2 % collectively of the 3 -point scope in the qualifiers and returned to a semi -equal crime by controlling the possession game. On Thursday, Oklahoma City scored 106.8 points per 100 properties. Gilgeous-alexander set 38 points (on 14-FOR-30 shooting) and Dort expelled five of his three attempts, but Williams was not particularly effective and Holmegren was particularly involved.
“I feel we got some looks that usually decrease,” said Gilgos Alexander. “But this is never an excuse. We have won a lot of games despite the lack of fire as we know we can.”
He entered thunder in paint often, but he struggled for finishing. According to NBA.com, they shot 20 against 37 at the edge and 3 for 17 of the Floater Group.
“We can look at these,” said Daigneault. “We must end stronger, we must be stronger with the ball or we must spray some of these.”
Daigneault said that game 1 was “a starting point, not an end point”, and there is “a lot of things that we can improve” before game 2 on Sunday. Looking at how to play the opening match, Paces feels completely the same way about everything except for the result.
“This game, if you look at all numbers, it is not the recipe for winning,” Haleporton said. ))
