The Indiana Pacers dominated the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night to send the NBA Finals to a winner-take-all Game 7 this Sunday.
It was an all-around effort for the Pacers, who jumped out to a 22-point lead by halftime that extended to 30 by the end of the third quarter.
After the game, NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was asked about the Thunder’s struggles, and pointed to one key factor that led to OKC’s demise: turnovers.
“They just turned us over a bunch,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “They didn’t pressure full-court like they have been, which led to more turnovers. I didn’t expect that. But whatever they did, they did it right. If we want to win on Sunday, we’ve got to take care of the ball. Moral of the story.”
Heading into the NBA Finals, the Thunder had been forcing their opponents to turn the ball over at a historic clip, but the Pacers were able to flip the script in Game 6. On Thursday, the Thunder had 21 turnovers, compared to just 11 from the Pacers.
Gilgeous-Alexander said new defensive looks from Indiana may have contributed to the Thunder’s off night, but there were clearly several factors that led to the discrepancy.
“Some of them I think was just carelessness. Not being focused, not being as engaged,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “They played harder than us tonight, and when a team plays harder, they usually turn the other team over. It’s probably a combination of multiple things.”
In Game 1 of the series, the Pacers had an unbelievable 25 turnovers, but still found a way to claw back and win the game at the buzzer. But since then in the NBA Finals, the team with more turnovers has lost, aside from Game 4 when the two sides finished tied at 16 in the stat.
Turnovers will undoubtedly play a huge role in who wins Game 7, and with it, the NBA title, and the Thunder know that a similar effort to the one they put up on Thursday will not be enough to get the job done.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Breaks Down the One Thing OKC Needs to Fix Before Game 7.
