2025 NBA Finals Game 6 Prediction
After a Jalen Williams playoff career-high, stifling defense creating 22 turnovers, and an overall convincing 4th quarter performance, the Thunder look to clinch their first title in team history on Thursday in Indianapolis.
What Will It Take For The Thunder To Win Game 6 On The Road?
The Thunder have forced the Pacers to commit an average of 17.8 turnovers a game. They have won the turnover battle every game except for Game 3, which resulted in a loss. If they continue to fly on defense and run off of Indiana’s mistakes, they’ll be in good shape.
Another key factor for OKC is Jalen Williams. For the first time this series, J-Dub looked comfortable and moving at his own pace. If he can continue to build off of his 40-point performance, staying aggressive yet under control, it gives the Pacers’ defense one more thing to worry about.
Lastly, hit hard and hit early. The Thunder proved they can withstand a signature Pacer comeback in Game 5. If they can keep the crowd out of it and prevent the Pacers from hitting any home runs, the Thunder will just need to worry about maintaining their lead and withstanding any sort of run the Pacers go on.
What Do The Pacers Need To Do To Force Game 7?
The Pacers do not have a lot going for them heading into Game 6. Aside from home-court advantage, Haliburton is playing with a calf-injury, they lost Game 5 after making another unbelievable comeback in the third and beginning of the fourth quarter, and they can’t seem to get their offense to flow for 48 minutes.
The Pacers need to limit their turnovers and limit their fouls. On top of turning the ball over almost 6 more times than the Thunder per game, they also get 6 less points and 5 less attempts from the free-throw line.
The Pacers can’t rely on Haliburton this time. Siakam can’t do it all. The Pacers need to find supplemental scoring from their role players. As they are a very deep team, it’s very possible that one of Mathurin, Toppin, Nembhard, or Nesmith provide a spark and then some.
Who’s Going To Win?
With a chance to close the series out, expect the Thunder to keep up the defensive intensity and grind out a tough win to clinch the series. Best believe with their backs against the wall, the Pacers won’t go down without a fight.
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