Just like the entirety of the 2025 NBA Playoffs, the Indiana Pacers now find themselves as underdogs down 3-2 against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Following Monday night’s 120-109 loss, it was reported that Tyrese Haliburton suffered a strained right calf and underwent an MRI to determine the severity of the injury. After the game, Haliburton told reporters that despite his injury, he is still determined to play in Game 6:
“I was not great tonight by any means, but… if I can walk then I wanna play.”
This morning, Haliburton was seen on the NBA’s Instagram and Twitter getting shots up at practice, a good sign for the Pacers.
The Pacers have adopted that overcome-anything mentality throughout the postseason, which is why the team made it to the Finals in the first place. They are 14-7 in the postseason but were 4-5 in the regular season when Haliburton did not play. But during Game 5, when Haliburton left briefly to tend to his injury, the Pacers looked just as confident without their all-star point guard on the floor. They scored 26 points with him off the floor, thanks to Pascal Siakam and T.J. McConnell, but fell short of beating the Thunder.
To win back-to-back games on the biggest stage, everyone who plays must keep that win-or-go-home mentality. Even if Haliburton plays in Game 6 and is not 100 percent healthy, it sends a message to his team that they need to leave everything out on the floor, whether they win or go home.
To win Game 6 and force a Game 7, the Pacers need to play through the experienced, one-time champion, Siakam. If they can get the Thunder in foul trouble early by attacking the rim, then they can throw off their momentum. Siakam needs to tell the team to slow down and take care of the ball, as in every game in the Finals, the Pacers have had more turnovers than the Thunder. In Game 5 alone, the Pacers turned the ball over 22 times, which led to 32 points for the Thunder off turnovers.
But the young Thunder team, as seen in previous games, tends to let the Pacers crawl back into games. Add on the fact that the Pacers are at home in Game 6, and all of the pressure is now on the Thunder to perform.
Easier said than done against the league’s MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who averages nine free throws a game. But the Thunder thrive against their opponents when they are getting to the line at will. The Pacers also need to switch up their defense plan on Jalen Williams, as over the last three games, he is averaging 31 points and 6.3 rebounds. They should, at the very least, flash a double team on him to make him get rid of the ball early.
When Haliburton left in Game 5, McConnell stepped up big time, scoring 18 points in 22 minutes. The Pacers need that same effort out of McConnell if they are going to play on. They also need more consistent play from Bennedict Mathurin, who dropped 27 points in Game 3 but has not scored over 14 points since.
While Myles Turner and Andrew Nembhard are not bench players, their stats have said otherwise. The two starters need to be a factor on offense if the Pacers are going to muster up two wins. And Turner has to show more effort on defense when thrown into the pick-and-roll action. If all of these Pacers, who have already stepped up in the postseason, can step up for two more games, then they can call themselves NBA Champions.
While the winner of Game 5 in the NBA Finals wins the championship 74 percent of the time, the Pacers will look to change those odds in the 2025 Playoffs. They have been the underdogs for the majority of the postseason, and the Finals will be no different. Even if the Pacers do not have Haliburton, or if he plays injured, they can still overcome this young Thunder team.
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