OKLAHOMA CITY — The television ratings are down for these NBA Finals, as was expected.
The Indiana Pacers facing the Oklahoma City Thunder is a small-market series, and the numbers reflect that, with viewership down close to 20% from last season and on pace for the poorest TV turnout for the league’s best-of-seven title series in five years.
Well, don’t blame the Pacers and the Thunder for that.
It’s been a back-and-forth NBA Finals over the first four games, and now what’s essentially a best-of-three showdown will decide the title. Game 5 is Monday night in Oklahoma City, with the Thunder trying to take their first lead of the series and the Pacers trying to head back home to Indianapolis one win away from a championship.
“I do not care, to be honest with you,” Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton said when asked what he’d say to those who, for whatever reason, haven’t tuned into the series. “This is high-level basketball, and I’m excited to be a part of it.”
Game 1 had a frantic Indiana comeback capped by Haliburton’s buzzer-beater in Oklahoma City. In Game 2, the host Thunder did what they have done in the majority of games throughout this season by taking full control early and rolling to a win. Game 3 had the host Pacers’ bench fueling the victory. And on Friday night in Indianapolis, Game 4 ended with the MVP doing MVP things, as point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 15 points in the final five minutes to carry the Thunder to a comeback win.
Add it up, and it’s Pacers 2, Thunder 2. The Thunder have outscored the Pacers by an average 3.3 points per game; the Pacers have outshot the Thunder by 1.4%. It’s only the third time in 15 years the NBA Finals have had all that through four games (2-2 tie, 3.3-point differential or less, shooting within 1.4% of each other), with the other instances in 2022 — when the Golden State Warriors beat the Boston Celtics in six games — and 2011, when the Dallas Mavericks beat the Miami Heat in six.
It all seems pretty even, and the looks aren’t deceiving.
“It’s good for y’all,” Thunder guard Alex Caruso said. “Good for me (is) we’d be getting ready for a parade right now.”
A championship parade in either locale will have to wait at least until next weekend; Game 6 is Thursday in Indianapolis, while Game 7, if necessary, would be next Sunday in Oklahoma City.
This series seems like it could have debunked some of the tired complaints about pro basketball in recent years: Nobody plays defense, there’s too much isolation and way too much 3-point shooting.
“I think from an outside perspective, it’s great for the league,” Caruso said. “It’s great for basketball. I think these two teams play stylistically the best versions of basketball right now as far as pressure and being influencing and aggressive on defense — causing turnovers, making stuff hard and then offensively free-flowing, shot-making, passing the ball. … A great brand of basketball.”
And that means it could end up as a great NBA Finals, whether more people start watching or not.
“We appreciate the opportunity to play this deep into the season,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “If you’re playing this deep into the season, your opponent is going to be really good. They have won 12 (playoff) games to get to this point, just like we have. You just know it’s going to be an unbelievable level. There are definitely times in it where, man, this is a high, high level.”
This marks the 32nd time the NBA Finals has been 2-2 going into Game 5. The winner of Game 5 has gone on to win the series 23 of the 31 previous occasions.
“We are both two games away,” Haliburton said. “Anything can happen here.”
For many players on both sides, it’s their first experience playing this deep into the postseason, and that includes the 26-year-old Gilgeous-Alexander, who won the league’s regular-season scoring title this year.
“I think above all, it’s been very fun,” said the former prep standout for Chattanooga’s Hamilton Heights Christian Academy. “It’s been everything I dreamt it to be growing up. There’s no other place in the world I’d rather be, and I’m grateful to be here. Thankful for the experience, for sure.”
Gilgeous-Alexander is up to 3,091 points this season, including the regular season and playoffs, which ranks 18th in NBA history. The Canadian star could climb several more spots on that list before this series ends; he’s currently 72 points shy of matching Michael Jordan’s 3,163 in 1991-92 for 10th.
As for the Pacers, their resilience is about to be tested again. They haven’t lost back-to-back games since mid-March, going 10-0 in that span in the game immediately following a defeat.
“We play better with our backs against the wall,” forward Myles Turner said. “Adversity is something that’s going to bring out the best in you. I think that’s really what it is, is just a response.”