Only three teams in NBA history have overcome a 3-1 deficit in the conference finals to advance, the last being the Golden State Warriors in 2016. The New York Knicks are hoping to take a page out of that book to beat the Indiana Pacers, starting with Game 5 on Thursday night, May 29, at Madison Square Garden.
Why do the Knicks face an uphill climb to reach the finals?
However, the Pacers will have something to say about that, mostly due to the heroics of point guard Tyrese Haliburton. His historic triple-double in Game 4, with 32 points, 15 assists, 12 rebounds and no turnovers, was as close to a knockout punch as it gets without a sweep. Prior to the game, Haliburton said he had to play better than he did in Game 3, and he backed it up.
“I’d rather do really anything else on a basketball court than turn the ball over,” Haliburton said, “I mean, there’s some games that are good, there’s some games that are bad. I’m just trying to play the right way. And in a time like right now, I don’t have time to second-guess my game or anything. All that’s out the window. It’s about winning. I feel like if I can take care of the ball, I put us in the best situation to win.”
What he does for an encore in Game 5 will largely determine the outcome.
Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle called the ups and downs during this series a motivating factor for his point guard.
“It’s pretty remarkable,” Carlisle said. “But this has become his thing. There will be a new statistical category, perhaps named after him, somewhere down the line. Him and Chris Paul, these guys, there aren’t a lot of them. I know Stockton didn’t turn it over much back when he played.”
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Oklahoma City is seeking its first title since the franchise moved from Seattle in 2008. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander could become the first MVP to win the title since Steph Curry did for the 2015 Golden State Warriors.
What awaits the Pacers if they are able to advance?
High praise from Coach Carlisle, but if the Pacers do advance, Haliburton could meet his match in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The league MVP led Oklahoma City to a blowout win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday to put the Thunder back in the NBA Finals for the first time in 13 years. He’s averaging 29.8 points per game in the playoffs, but the recipe for success is more team-oriented, and the close-out win was a perfect example.
“We did everything we were supposed to do defensively,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We made it tough on the guys we’re supposed to make it tough on. It felt like it was tough on everybody, but we were clicking on all cylinders as far as what their tendencies are, what our game plan is, how we want to impact the game, how we want to impact the ball. And from there, we were able to just run and have fun and be ourselves offensively.”
Why are the Thunder big favorites to win the title?
A ‘be careful what you wish for’ goes out to whichever team has to match up against the Thunder next week. Oklahoma City is 8-1 at home in the playoffs in 2025, with the average margin of victory in those eight games being an astronomical 29 points. Gilgeous Alexander had an interesting answer when asked how they make it look so effortless.
“I feel like the biggest thing is (his teammates) make the NBA not feel like a job,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It can at times, with all the travel and all the hard days, ups and downs. I know I sound spoiled, being in the NBA complaining about hard days, but these guys really make you feel like I’m a kid playing AAU basketball, like I’m 15 years old again. They make it seem like it’s just fun. I think that’s what makes us really good. We have so much fun being out there together.”
The star power is there for a fantastic NBA Finals matchup, but the Thunder, by virtue of their league-best 68 regular-season wins, will have home-court advantage and be a massive favorite to win it all, no matter who their opponent is. Fun, indeed.
