OKLAHOMA CITY — Rick Carlisle wishes to emphasize one crucial point: The Pacers are not seeking to enable Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to excel.
“We are not aiming to get Shai going,” he stated on Saturday, just before Game 2 of the 2025 NBA Finals. “That does not make any sense.
This is quite logical! If the opposing team’s top player possesses the ball frequently and is highly productive, it is reasonable to conclude that this would pose a significant challenge for your defense.
- In the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs against the Pacers, Donovan Mitchell averaged 34.2 points on 25 field-goal attempts per game, concluding a staggering 41% of the Cavaliers’ offensive possessions with either a shot attempt, a foul drawn, or a turnover a usage rate exceeding 10% higher than his performance against Miami in the previous round. (Injuries to Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and De’Andre Hunter contributed to this situation.)
In a possibly related development: Only one other player from Cleveland (Mobley) averaged more than 15 points per game in the series, and a Cavaliers team that boasted the league’s top offense throughout the season managed to score just 109.6 points per 100 possessions during Mitchell’s minutes in the conference semifinals — equivalent to the performance of the 25th-ranked Toronto Raptors during the regular season. The Pacers eliminated Cleveland from the playoffs in five games.
In the Eastern Conference finals against the Pacers, Jalen Brunson excelled, averaging 30.7 points on 20.8 field-goal attempts per game and concluding 34.4% of the Knicks’ offensive possessions with a shot attempt, a foul drawn, or a turnover — a usage rate nearly 5% higher than it had been against Boston in the previous round.
In a potentially related development: Only one other player from New York (Karl-Anthony Towns) managed to average over 18 points per game in the series, while a Knicks team that was fifth in the NBA for offensive efficiency during the regular season managed to score merely 114.3 points per 100 possessions during Brunson’s minutes in the conference finals — a scoring rate that aligns with the league average. The Pacers eliminated New York from the playoffs in six games.
• Furthermore, it is understandable that, given the choice, one would prefer the NBA’s reigning Most Valuable Player not to score over 30 points against them — as Gilgeous-Alexander did on Thursday, scoring 38 points to lead the Thunder in the Pacers’ surprising Game 1 victory.
However, if he is going to score, it would be preferable for those points to be accumulated as inefficiently as possible. For instance, on 30 shot attempts — which is tied for the third-highest total in his career. Additionally, it would be ideal if he consumed a significant number of possessions. For example, a usage rate of 37.1% — the third-highest of his playoff career. Moreover, it would be beneficial if he dominated the ball more than usual. For instance, a total possession time of 8.8 minutes — which is over two minutes more than during the regular season and more than one minute longer than in the first three rounds.
In a potentially related development: Only one other player from Oklahoma City (Jalen Williams) scored more than 15 points in Game 1, while a Thunder offense that recorded an impressive 122.4 points per 100 possessions with Gilgeous-Alexander on the court during the regular season and 116.2 points per 100 with SGA leading through the initial three rounds of the playoffs, managed to score only 104.7 points per 100 in the MVP’s minutes during Game 1 — a rate of offensive inefficiency that would have placed last in the NBA during the regular season.
Indeed, the Pacers emerged victorious in the game.
“As we entered the series, analyzing their playoff performance, he was scoring in the 30s during wins and in the low-to-mid-20s during losses,” Carlisle remarked. “… Our objective is to make it challenging.
Absolutely. However, what is truly difficult? It is the necessity to create nearly every opportunity by and for oneself, possession after possession, against a defense that has ranked in the top 10 for the past six months, spearheaded by one of the NBA’s most formidable point-of-attack defenders, the increasingly respected Andrew Nembhard, while the opposing team focuses on isolating your teammates and undermining your support.
How the Pacers played SGA in Game 1
It may not be entirely accurate to say that the strategy of “giving the best player on the team as many opportunities as he can manage” is Indiana’s closely guarded defensive game plan.
However, as far as strategies for success are concerned, the approach of “forcing that player to attempt numerous challenging 2-point shots, preventing others from getting involved, and when feasible, directing touches and shots towards less threatening options” — such as utilizing versatile power forwards Pascal Siakam and Obi Toppin to match up against Thunder guard Luguentz Dort, allowing them to sag off him to provide more aggressive help defense, and then accepting his dare-you 3-point attempts when the ball reaches him — would not be the least effective strategy against a team that heavily depends on its elite primary option.
The Pacers unleashed a variety of tactics against Gilgeous-Alexander in Game 1. The MVP faced a significant challenge from his Canadian national teammate Nembhard, who served as his main defender, while Siakam, Aaron Nesmith, and Bennedict Mathurin also took turns defending him. Indiana was proactive in providing help in the gaps during Gilgeous-Alexander’s isolations and drives, and they employed a strategy of “next-ing” his pick-and-rolls — having the defender closest to the action switch onto SGA as he drives, while his original defender switches back to cover SGA’s now-open teammate — in an effort to contain him in the two-man game.
“He’s the MVP of our league, so you’re not going to completely shut down a player of that caliber,” stated Pacers guard T.J. McConnell on Saturday. “He’s an exceptional talent. The goal is to make things as challenging as possible and to try to exhaust him. Kudos to everyone who defended him. They contributed to that effort. Clearly, he had an outstanding game, but it was a team effort.
This effort also applies to the defensive side of the court: The Pacers recorded 7 out of 12 successful plays in Game 1 when Gilgeous-Alexander was the nearest defender, as per NBA Advanced Stats. Similar to their strategy against Brunson in the previous round, Indiana occasionally aimed to exploit Gilgeous-Alexander — involving him in plays, taking advantage of size mismatches during switches, and attacking him in isolation — to ensure he would not have the opportunity to rest when he was off the ball:
I believe that’s our objective: to make him exert effort on both ends,” McConnell stated. “He is an exceptional player. And you know, when elite players log significant minutes, it can take a toll on their legs. Clearly, I’m not certain we witnessed much of that — he scored 38 points. However, it’s a matter of process.
Indiana will persist in relying on that process, wagering that the early investments will yield compounded benefits later on. The effort in Game 1 has already yielded some results, as it prompted Gilgeous-Alexander to shoulder much of the responsibility himself. He only passed out of two of his 27 drives to the basket — indicative of a performance where he opted to take matters into his own hands more than usual.
I consistently aim to be aggressive and I never, like, pre-decide it,” Gilgeous-Alexander remarked on Saturday. “I always allow the game to dictate my actions. So I suppose in the last game, I felt that more often than not, I had an opportunity to shoot or make a play that I could exploit more than in previous games, and that’s simply how it unfolded.
During the regular season, Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 41 passes per game and 46 per game through the first three playoff rounds. However, in Game 1? Only 38.
SGA was not the only one to pass less frequently: After averaging 270.7 passes per game in the regular season and 256.6 during the initial three rounds, Oklahoma City recorded a surprisingly low 207 passes in Game 1, resulting in a season-low of 13 assists.
The same scenario will occur in Game 2, Gilgeous-Alexander commented. “I will assess the defense, and I will play based on my instincts.
SGA will need help in Game 2
What is the key for the Thunder? If the game requires Gilgeous-Alexander to distribute the ball — if, following film analysis, he identifies that the defensive setup Indiana is presenting indicates that several of his teammates are unguarded — then they must convert their opportunities at a significantly higher rate than they did in Game 1.
The non-SGA players for the Thunder managed to shoot only 25 out of 68 attempts (36.8%) from the field — which includes a disappointing 5-of-19 performance on passes from Shai — and 8 out of 24 attempts (33.3%) from beyond the arc on Thursday. Excluding Dort’s impressive 5-for-9 performance from three-point range, the remainder of Oklahoma City’s rotation only succeeded in making 2 of 15 attempts from deep — a level of performance that is unlikely to convince the Pacers to allow Gilgeous-Alexander’s teammates the chance to demonstrate their ability to make enough shots to capitalize on their defensive strategy.
That puts the spotlight squarely on Williams, who needed 19 shots to score 17 points in Game 1, and on Chet Holmgren, who spoke Saturday about needing to improve his finishing after going 2 of 8 in the paint in Game 1 against the length and physicality of Turner on the interior.
I think we had a good offensive process, Williams said after Game 1. “We got some good shots towards the end. … I repped a lot of the shots that I shot tonight — over and over and over again, consistently, throughout my career, this year, the playoffs. All you can do is shoot them and not get scared to shoot them.
Maintaining that mentality isn’t easy, especially when you know the opponent is betting that, if they throw everything they’ve got at stopping your teammate, you won’t be able to make them pay for it. But Williams said Saturday that knowing he’s Oklahoma City’s failsafe Plan B isn’t anything new for him and doesn’t come with additional pressure to score every time the ball swings his way.
Sometimes, though, the circumstances will demand Williams and Holmgren finish those possessions with a bucket pulling a contested 3, finishing over Turner or Siakam at the rim, or just playing through contact to get to the foul line. Heady stuff for 23- and 24-year-olds.
[Holmgren] and Dub, specifically, obviously, they have carved out huge roles on our team,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “They are a huge reason why we’re here. They are in an uncommon position for third-year players … and now that they are here, they have to continue to do what they have done all the way through the playoffs, which is go out there, fully compete, learn the lessons and apply it forward.
Williams appears prepared to move past Game 1 and accomplish just that.
Pressure is a privilege, Williams remarked. “I take pleasure in being relied upon.
The Thunder are depending on him, Holmgren, and the entire team to make a significant comeback. The Pacers are relying on this as well.
Understand that everyone’s response after a defeat is to approach the next game with greater intensity,” Carlisle stated. “Thus, [Gilgeous-Alexander] will be more assertive. Williams will be more assertive. Chet will be more assertive. Their entire squad will adopt a more aggressive defensive stance. Our challenge is to match that intensity.
If the Pacers are unable to do so, they will still leave Oklahoma City with a split. However, if they can — if they manage to replicate their successful strategies from Game 1 and enhance the areas that fell short — they may find themselves in the same position they have occupied in every series this postseason: leading 2-0, fully in control, and poised to achieve something that very few outside their locker room believed was feasible.
We aim to prevent Shai from scoring 38 points if possible,” Carlisle noted. “We want to keep him off the free-throw line. We want to deny him easy three-pointers — we want to prevent him from making that three at the end of the third quarter. That was a challenging shot, yet he made it.
We must make it difficult for him.
