Official NBA General Discussion 2025-26 V1.0

[mdenny]

The difference on this Game was chet. He is completely out of his league. Okc should start IH in the next game. Chet was brutal on both ends of the floor.

**** Homegrown

He's gonna be great. He has heart. But he needs another couple years to fill out. He looked so weak in this game. Needs weight training and diet to get more solid.

[sidsid]

Indiana has been shooting 40% behind the three-point line in the playoffs so far. Is shooting 6% higher for one game really considered a variance game? What about the fact that the Pacers turned the ball over TWICE as many times as they've averaged throughout the playoffs yet still pulled off the win? Give them some credit, man.

They're playing against the best in the west, not the JV conference with the stellar duos of KAT/Brunson and Mitchell/Garland (when not injured) on defense.

Contested Toppin/Nesmith 3s and backboard Turner stepbacks may be a trend, but I'll bet against it.

The Pacers have a lot of good shooters and they've done this all year; Nesmith shot 43% during the season, Turner shot 40%, Haliburton shot 39%, Siakam shot 39%, Toppin shot 37%, etc. Nembhard was at just 29% on the season, but he hit 35% of his 3FGA in his first two seasons while hitting 48% during the playoffs last year. I'd bet on the Pacers having at least another game like tonight where they hit 15+ threes at ~45%.

What I have serious doubts of happening again is Indiana turning the ball over 25 times while OKC turned the ball over just 7 times. That is some serious variance that the Pacers had to overcome with clutch defence, playmaking and shooting.

You seem to be surprised about the number 1 team in the league in a bunch of defensive stats, including said turnover generation, doing a very good job at those things with tons of prep time, especially against a team that loves passing a lot. And that they did it at a much better rate than the various regular season mix of dregs of the league and coasting contenders or the assortment of eastern conference pretenders who get exposed every year.

But not surprised that the same juggernaut defense is getting scored on a bunch of contested wing 3s from their worst shooters at a way higher rate. That this is more repeatable.

[dafan590]

OKC just didn't make enough shots (usual excuses that Sam Mitchell always uses when we lose lol)

[ForeverTFC]

They got their variance game. Final tally. 46% from 3. 6 games it is

Yup, what I said in the other thread. A team that can just get hot from 3 at any point kind of nullifies a 48 minute game lol. Doesn’t matter how well the other team plays when players can jack up shots from everywhere and make them now.

Also OKC relies a ton on Shai to do everything and Indiana has a more balanced attack. This isn’t going to be easy for OKC. They’re going to have to go real hard on defense to win this and run Indiana off the 3 point line.

Halliburton has been ridiculous with this last second shots lol.

This is a really simple explanation of this game. I implore everyone to go listen to Caitlin Cooper on Zach Lowe’s pod on Wednesday. Then re-watch the game / watch the rest of the series. Trust me, you will have a new appreciation for basketball.

[CPT]

Because he got Scottie and Scottie was due for a pay day. You now have Ingram, Quickley, Barrett. He's in a much better spot right now.

None of those players are better than Siakam though. Scottie might still have the chance to be, but that's about it.

It seems like we're scrapping and clawing to get back to that 4-6 seed ceiling that we might have just had by keeping everyone. Look out though, we've got Jamal Shead and Jakobe Walter to show for a few years of terrible basketball!

[mdenny]

They got their variance game. Final tally. 46% from 3. 6 games it is

Yup, what I said in the other thread. A team that can just get hot from 3 at any point kind of nullifies a 48 minute game lol. Doesn’t matter how well the other team plays when players can jack up shots from everywhere and make them now.

Also OKC relies a ton on Shai to do everything and Indiana has a more balanced attack. This isn’t going to be easy for OKC. They’re going to have to go real hard on defense to win this and run Indiana off the 3 point line.

Halliburton has been ridiculous with this last second shots lol.

This is a really simple explanation of this game. I implore everyone to go listen to Caitlin Cooper on Zach Lowe’s pod on Wednesday. Then re-watch the game / watch the rest of the series. Trust me, you will have a new appreciation for basketball.

Yep. It's actually hilarious how ppl who love basketball watch it without knowing what they're seeing.

Ball goes in, ball goes out. Derrrr

Basketball is literally just watching the ball go in the bucket or not for them.

[sidsid]

And here's another one of the 0-infinity stats.

https://bsky.app/profile/keerthikau.bsky.social/post/3lqvwxf26a226

[ForeverTFC]

Yup, what I said in the other thread. A team that can just get hot from 3 at any point kind of nullifies a 48 minute game lol. Doesn’t matter how well the other team plays when players can jack up shots from everywhere and make them now.

Also OKC relies a ton on Shai to do everything and Indiana has a more balanced attack. This isn’t going to be easy for OKC. They’re going to have to go real hard on defense to win this and run Indiana off the 3 point line.

Halliburton has been ridiculous with this last second shots lol.

This is a really simple explanation of this game. I implore everyone to go listen to Caitlin Cooper on Zach Lowe’s pod on Wednesday. Then re-watch the game / watch the rest of the series. Trust me, you will have a new appreciation for basketball.

Yep. It's actually hilarious how ppl who love basketball watch it without knowing what they're seeing.

Ball goes in, ball goes out. Derrrr

Basketball is literally just watching the ball go in the bucket or not for them.

30 FGA by SGA. Had 18 at half. Everyone should
Go listen to her on Lowe’s pod. So much more there!

Read on Twitter

?s=46

[Westside Gunn]

Because he got Scottie and Scottie was due for a pay day. You now have Ingram, Quickley, Barrett. He's in a much better spot right now.

None of those players are better than Siakam though. Scottie might still have the chance to be, but that's about it.

It seems like we're scrapping and clawing to get back to that 4-6 seed ceiling that we might have just had by keeping everyone. Look out though, we've got Jamal Shead and Jakobe Walter to show for a few years of terrible basketball!

That's a pretty wild claim considering RJ alone has replaced the production of Siakam and can do better. We haven't even seen all of BI yet and most will agree he hasn't even reached his peak yet.

Having these wingmen will be a lot more valuable than a PF that relies on a wing to shine

[sidsid]

This is a really simple explanation of this game. I implore everyone to go listen to Caitlin Cooper on Zach Lowe’s pod on Wednesday. Then re-watch the game / watch the rest of the series. Trust me, you will have a new appreciation for basketball.

Yep. It's actually hilarious how ppl who love basketball watch it without knowing what they're seeing.

Ball goes in, ball goes out. Derrrr

Basketball is literally just watching the ball go in the bucket or not for them.

30 FGA by SGA. Had 18 at half. Everyone should
Go listen to her on Lowe’s pod. So much more there!

Read on Twitter

?s=46

This has more to do with JDub taking terrible quick mid-range shots early. He changed up the attack a bit in the second half and was more consistently going inside. This was the same for Chet. And they ended up blowing a ton of shots inside when they did go. SGA had to then carry the load. More of a youth and inexperience problem that hurt them in the Denver series too, until they got to figuring out the zones.

[Basketball_Jones]

Finally watched the recap and Obi Freakin Toppin isn’t going to keep them in the game like that ever again. OKC will adjust and don’t expect the Pacers to come back like that again that was ridiculous.

[ForeverTFC]

Finally watched the recap and Obi Freakin Toppin isn’t going to keep them in the game like that ever again. OKC will adjust and don’t expect the Pacers to come back like that again that was ridiculous.

One game it’s Toppin. A game ago it was Nemhard. A few games before that it was Nesmith. And on and on. That’s the beauty of their depth and system.

But agree, I still think OKC in 6 (famous last words)

[CPT]

Because he got Scottie and Scottie was due for a pay day. You now have Ingram, Quickley, Barrett. He's in a much better spot right now.

None of those players are better than Siakam though. Scottie might still have the chance to be, but that's about it.

It seems like we're scrapping and clawing to get back to that 4-6 seed ceiling that we might have just had by keeping everyone. Look out though, we've got Jamal Shead and Jakobe Walter to show for a few years of terrible basketball!

That's a pretty wild claim considering RJ alone has replaced the production of Siakam and can do better. We haven't even seen all of BI yet and most will agree he hasn't even reached his peak yet.

Having these wingmen will be a lot more valuable than a PF that relies on a wing to shine

Yikes. Alright man, we’re just too far off on these evaluations to even have a conversation.

I was watching the Finals game today thinking “I don’t think RJ would see the floor in this game” (in crunch time anyway) and I guess you were thinking he could replace Siakam.

We’re probably both wrong lol.

[pingpongrac]

They're playing against the best in the west, not the JV conference with the stellar duos of KAT/Brunson and Mitchell/Garland (when not injured) on defense.

Contested Toppin/Nesmith 3s and backboard Turner stepbacks may be a trend, but I'll bet against it.

The Pacers have a lot of good shooters and they've done this all year; Nesmith shot 43% during the season, Turner shot 40%, Haliburton shot 39%, Siakam shot 39%, Toppin shot 37%, etc. Nembhard was at just 29% on the season, but he hit 35% of his 3FGA in his first two seasons while hitting 48% during the playoffs last year. I'd bet on the Pacers having at least another game like tonight where they hit 15+ threes at ~45%.

What I have serious doubts of happening again is Indiana turning the ball over 25 times while OKC turned the ball over just 7 times. That is some serious variance that the Pacers had to overcome with clutch defence, playmaking and shooting.

You seem to be surprised about the number 1 team in the league in a bunch of defensive stats, including said turnover generation, doing a very good job at those things with tons of prep time, especially against a team that loves passing a lot. And that they did it at a much better rate than the various regular season mix of dregs of the league and coasting contenders or the assortment of eastern conference pretenders who get exposed every year.

But not surprised that the same juggernaut defense is getting scored on a bunch of contested wing 3s from their worst shooters at a way higher rate. That this is more repeatable.

What is this "way higher rate" that you're speaking about? McConnell hit a wide open three above the break and Bryant hit an open three from the corner. Aside from Toppin, every other Pacer shot pretty much right in line with their average. And I'm not sure how Toppin going 5/8 can be considered high variance when OKC had a similar caliber shooter in Dort finish 5/9. Furthermore, this wasn't a one-off night for the Pacers; Indiana hit 16 threes on 44% in G2 against the Bucks and 18 threes on 46% in G4 then they hit 19 threes on 53% in G1 against the Cavs and 15 threes on 43% in both G4 and G5 before hitting 17 threes on 52% in the decisive G6 against the Knicks. Can you really call it variance when the Pacers have done something damn near identical in ~40% of their playoff games thus far?

The 25 turnovers that OKC forced tonight was their highest mark of the playoffs thus far while the 7 turnovers they committed was their lowest mark. If that's not enough, the 7 turnovers that Indiana forced was their lowest mark of the playoffs thus far while the 25 turnovers they committed was their highest mark. In other words, OKC forced the most turnovers of their playoff run and had their most efficient ball control game while the Pacers forced the least turnovers of their playoff run and had their least efficient ball control game – yet they still managed to win. If you want to talk about variance, that is the most extreme example of variance one could possibly find.

OKC had almost 20 extra possessions tonight and they couldn’t get the job done. They are still the heavy favourites and should win in 6, but maybe it’s time to reevaluate your assessment of the Pacers. Their defensive intensity has ramped way up in the playoffs and their offence has been elite while they’ve arguably been the 2nd best team in the league in the past 5 months. They deserve to be here and it’s not just because of some three-point variance.

[mdenny]

The best thing about this haliburton bucket is that a whole bunch of idiot posters on this board won't pretend they know anything about nba defense for 2 days.

[Raps in 4]

Because he got Scottie and Scottie was due for a pay day. You now have Ingram, Quickley, Barrett. He's in a much better spot right now.

None of those players are better than Siakam though. Scottie might still have the chance to be, but that's about it.

It seems like we're scrapping and clawing to get back to that 4-6 seed ceiling that we might have just had by keeping everyone. Look out though, we've got Jamal Shead and Jakobe Walter to show for a few years of terrible basketball!

That's a pretty wild claim considering RJ alone has replaced the production of Siakam and can do better.

Bruh. This cannot be a serious post.

[dTox]

Because he got Scottie and Scottie was due for a pay day. You now have Ingram, Quickley, Barrett. He's in a much better spot right now.

None of those players are better than Siakam though. Scottie might still have the chance to be, but that's about it.

It seems like we're scrapping and clawing to get back to that 4-6 seed ceiling that we might have just had by keeping everyone. Look out though, we've got Jamal Shead and Jakobe Walter to show for a few years of terrible basketball!

That's a pretty wild claim considering RJ alone has replaced the production of Siakam and can do better. We haven't even seen all of BI yet and most will agree he hasn't even reached his peak yet.

Having these wingmen will be a lot more valuable than a PF that relies on a wing to shine

It's Eid so I will try to be nice, but for the love of God man!

Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro using RealGM mobile app

[ash_k]

Those Pacers just have playoff performers all over the place.
Playoffs Nembhard gets to another level, that 3 down 6 in the NBA Finals on Shai! TJ freaking McConnell kept them in the game in the first half.
Without Neismith in game 1 against New York, the Knicks would have been playing yesterday most likely(same Neismith got those big shots against the Bucks).
Another big shot by Hali. This is just not a team overly talented, just full of playoff performers.

[ATLTimekeeper]

Indiana never really lost composure as OKC kept failing to deliver a knockout run. Then in the 4th you started to see OKC panac. If Indiana gets one more W in the next two games it'll be interesting.

[Lord_Zedd]

Must say, Indiana has done a masterful job mentally breaking teams throughout the playoffs