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- [00:00]
Apple Card Announcer
This message is brought to you by Apple Card.
- [00:03]
Andrew Schlecht
Whoa.
- [00:04]
Dave Dufour
I just found out you can earn up to 3% daily cash back on everyday purchases made with Apple Card.
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Andrew Schlecht
Yeah, you can earn unlimited daily cash back with Apple Card on every purchase. No matter where you check out with Apple Pay, you always get daily cash.
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Dave Dufour
The possibilities are endless.
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Andrew Schlecht
What's better is that daily cash can automatically grow when you open a high yield savings account through Apple card.
- [00:29]
Dave Dufour
That's like endless plus one.
- [00:32]
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- [01:15]
Zena Keda
Help online therapy bought this 30 second.
- [01:18]
Dave Dufour
Ad to remind you right now, wherever you are, to unclench your jaw, relax.
- [01:26]
Esperaheny
Your shoulders, take a deep breath in.
- [01:33]
Dave Dufour
And out. Feels better, right? That's 15 seconds of self care. Imagine what you could do with more. Visit betterhelp.com randompodcast for 10% off your first month of therapy. No pressure, just help. But for now, just relax. Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily for June 17, 2025. I'm Dave Dufour here with Zena Keda and Esperaheny. Coming up, the Thunder are up three games to two. J Dub had a huge game. We got Andrew Schleicht live from the arena. Lots to talk about after five. Good morning guys. Good morning everybody out there. The Oklahoma City Thunder pickup a pivotal win in Game 5 of the NBA Final series. And guys, how often does a team win game five and go on to win the title? Hell of a game.
- [02:51]
Andrew Schlecht
75% of the time actually got that.
- [02:54]
Dave Dufour
Answer for me S. Because I did not. I appreciate that.
- [02:58]
Andrew Schlecht
When. When it is serious.
- [03:01]
Dave Dufour
Yeah, again, another electric game in the series. You know the. The Thunder controlled most of this one but we did get a furious Pacers comeback. They got it to as as much as, you know, within two and then the Thunder just stepped on the gas again. And I think the guy we got to start with, J Dub Jalen Williams just had a ridiculous game. 40 points, 14 of 25 from the field. I mean that sort of shot volume. Xena, like we don't normally see that out of him, but he really took the lead. I thought in the game he wasn't just playing off a sh.
- [03:35]
Esperaheny
You'd see this stair stepper performance from Jalen Williams in this series. I mean starting out with 17 points, next game 19 points, next game 26, 27 and then 40 points. And let's just be real, there was a layup at the end that he almost got that could have gotten him to 42. But it was just really impressive to see him have this consistent growth and, and acceleration not only in the production, but also like literally acceleration out on the court. He was so fast in transition off of, made baskets, off of turnovers, off of whatever action on the other end. He shortened the length of the court and he just felt like his, his game got to another level just off of his speed and his ability to get into the paint. But it's really fun to see that, especially because there were all of these speculations about his ability to be a true number two alongside Shea Gildas Alexander in that Minnesota Timberwolves series. There's a lot of questions about his ability despite his 34 point performance. Very next game he's in the teens again. So what can Jalen consistently provide? Well, he's showing that on the biggest stage.
- [04:44]
Andrew Schlecht
Yeah, it's a grow up game in the biggest way in the biggest game of his career. Which I think is the most awesome part about this. Like this is a superstar being born. Realistically when it comes to Jalen Williams and to your point about like his usage going up every single game, I think OKC has had to lean on him a little bit more too because they're getting SJ off the ball more. They're trying to do that like SGA as the screener for J Dub, so he can get downhill and drive and so it just opens up so many more opportunities for him. You talk about him being fast, I, I can't count how many transition opportunities he had tonight. He absolutely feasted. And part of that is how good he is defensively. Like we, we kind of forget the offensive evolution has been so important for J Dub, but the defense is where he hangs his hat. And because he can do multiple things, switch one through five, basically yeah, he can just, he can dominate on both ends. It's incredible to watch.
- [05:44]
Dave Dufour
We talk a lot of basketball about guys being able to play center field. You Know, a lot of cross position, you know, cornerback, like free safety. He's a middle linebacker for them defensively. He reads every play. He can blow you up at the rim, he can blow you up at the, at the dho, at the handoff level. Obviously, he blows up every single screen that they're trying to do. You know, if you're, if you're, if you leave the ball hanging out, he's just clubbing it down and turning it into something. But that's the Thunder, right? Like this, what they do, it's what they did to the Pacers in the entire game. But, but also, I think we got to talk about his shot making. I mean, he had a ridiculous, you know, drive into a pivot, fade away from the elbow, and it looked like, I mean, I'm not going to say it was like a Michael Jordan type of shot, but it was a Michael Jordan type of move. Right? Like. And you just don't see that from a lot of guys, and especially not at this, at this stage, we should say Shay had 31 in the game. So it wasn't like Shay didn't show up and J had to carry this thing. This is sort of the vision for these two. Right? Like, you know, we talked about this on the last show, you know, after, after the game Friday night, but getting these guys more involved with each other equals success. And it seems like they learned something from that fourth quarter in game four. They stuck with it more often, I thought, in Game 5. And it wasn't an easy win, but it certainly was one that they controlled for the entire game. It was a heck of a game for the Thunder.
- [07:13]
Andrew Schlecht
I just want to throw out a quick stat. SGA and J Dub combined to score or assist on 103 of OKC's 120 points tonight. So it was like 80% of their buckets was those two. Just wanted to mention that because that's incredible.
- [07:30]
Esperaheny
That's ridiculous. I'm happy you mentioned that because I actually, that was literally the stat I was going to add. And I was also thinking the connectivity between those two. Dave, as you're mentioning, getting them to play together amongst, you know, admits the 10 assists that Shay passed out, three of them went off to J Dub. So you just love to see that tandem working so effortlessly. And even in, in the moments where things got a little dicey towards the top of that fourth quarter and you were like, oh, maybe the Pacers will make, you know, some sort of run, who are the two that immediately stepped up to make some tough buckets in the paint on their defenders, Jada and Shay Gilgis. So it's just, it's exactly what Indiana did not want to see, but exactly what OKC has been planning for guys.
- [08:15]
Dave Dufour
It's going to get a little bit overlooked. Chad Holmgren had, I thought probably his best game two ways and is definitely his best game when he was the only big out there. I thought he looked great in the minutes that he played without Hartenstein. Had some huge rebounds, blocked shots. I mean this is the sort of that you would love to get more than nine points out of him. But in a game where you know, you have Shea and J dub combined for 71 points, nine is plenty out of chat. And this is the sort of stuff asks like this high motor defense crash in the glass, which we always worried he's too skinny to do. But I mean I, I think that when you play at a pace like the, the Thunder do, and especially against a team that plays as fast as the Pacers do, I mean it seems like he kind of fits in with exactly what, what this finals is about.
- [09:04]
Andrew Schlecht
Yeah, there's this one possession, it was in the first half where Chet blocked the shot, grabbed the rebound, took it all the way to the basket. You know, basically one man, fast break, didn't finish the layup, but got his own offensive rebound and then finished again. And so it's, it's those like Giannis type plays where you're like, whoa, where did that come from? Where if he just puts that together consistently, if he is a guy who can, like you said, add some muscle to be able to finish through the basket, finish through contact. Right. He just makes this OKC team so unbeatable because of what he can do as a floor stretcher, five out offense type, but also because he's such a great rim protector. And it's just those type of players don't grow on trees, right? There's like three or four guys in the NBA who can do what Chet Holmgren does. It's just about doing it consistently. And to your point, like when he does it like, like he did tonight, they're just a different animal to be able to guard.
- [09:58]
Dave Dufour
He got dunked on by Neesmith on that put back.
- [10:00]
Zena Keda
He.
- [10:00]
Andrew Schlecht
Oh, that was insane.
- [10:02]
Dave Dufour
And nobody knew what, what happened?
- [10:04]
Esperaheny
I'm not acknowledging it. I'm, I'm treating it like the, the crowd.
- [10:07]
Zena Keda
Okay.
- [10:08]
Esperaheny
See, they just kept going. No one even saw him.
- [10:10]
Andrew Schlecht
Broke his arm.
- [10:11]
Esperaheny
It was crazy. On the checkpoint really quickly though, I just want to give him credit. We talked about it being A grow up game for Jalen Williams. I think it was a grow up game for Chet with his offense not clicking the way he wanted. He still played really great defense, and I think that that is a turning point for Chet. We've seen in this play, in these playoffs that his offense not being on has not impacted his ability to make an impact.
- [10:34]
Andrew Schlecht
So that's great.
- [10:35]
Dave Dufour
Yeah. Let's talk about the Pacers. It was not their greatest game. Obviously. This is another high turnover game for them. They had 23, 32 points off turnovers for the Thunder in the game. I mean, that's the story of the game. It should have been the story of game one. Right. But they had this miraculous comeback and they almost did it again. And look, everyone is going to start when they. When they get to the Pacers part. They're going to start with Tyrese Halliburton not hitting a shot. We'll get to that. It's. That's a little bit more boring than what T.J. mcConnell did in this game. I'm not sure what happens when these guys get to OKC, but TJ McConnell gets into the planes and all of a sudden he's got superpowers. He was the best thing that they had going, you know, outside of Pascal Siakam, individually. Once again, the. For the Pacers to have success, they need two feet in the paint. Halliburton had nothing going. You know, we find out kind of in the game that he's still dealing with the calf, and again, we'll talk about that. But I thought that the difference for this team when T.J. mcConnell was in the game was just. I mean, you could see it clearly. They wind up closing with TJ McConnell over Andrew Nemhardt. And I just can't figure out what's the disconnect between the starters and the bench and why the bench is so relentless attacking. And the starters just seem to get hung up. I mean, I'm talking. They're up around the logo often with three guys, you know, trying to. To get the ball inside. And it's almost as if the Thunder just say, you know what, we're going to just relax a Little Bit and TJ McConnell go to work. But he went to work and he. And he almost pulled him back into this game.
- [12:10]
Andrew Schlecht
He kind of catches you off guard because you don't expect it to happen. I don't know if you guys have ever done it. He's the son of a coach, but like, let's say you're running, let's say you're on a basketball run, right? And there's a guy who doesn't necessarily look like he can hoop, but he.
- [12:25]
Dave Dufour
Does eventually end up wearing New Balance or something.
- [12:27]
Andrew Schlecht
Yeah, he's wearing New B. It catches you off guard. And so for some reason, McConnell just always catches defenses off guard and to your point, like, gets into the paint forces, you know, kick outs, be able to generate threes, he puts pressure on the basket, et cetera, et cetera. But more than anything, it's just like he makes things happen. He is the most make things happen guy I've seen in the NBA. He just finds a way and it's just. It's incredible, man. It's really incredible to watch TJ do this.
- [12:58]
Esperaheny
You know, when you watch maybe like Tom and Jerry, just any of the old cartoons back in the day, and they would be like, trying to sneak around a corner quietly, and it'd be like. Like that little voice. We're gonna have to find Grayson. Is that. Gotta find that little. That little sound just like getting. Just trying to get around the corner. I could just see, like, that's how I see TJ McConnell's toes getting into the seams of the defense of OKC. Because every time there was such a sliver of him to be able to weave through and he found a way to get into it. And there was also great moments where you could, like, see the almost shell drill defense set up by OKC, like they're moving on a string. And TJ McConnell just cuts in the middle of that thing, which is exactly what you need in order to try and beat the shell drill. And he's the smallest guy out there doing that. And there's a fearlessness about him that is part of what makes him a get s done, right, get stuff done type of guy. You remember that very first big foul. He got his first foul, I believe, on Isaiah Hartenstein. He hits him hard and he doesn't back away. He kind of looks to see, is Isaiah good? Because he came up kind of like. And Isaiah zapped him up like, good hard foul. And I feel like that is so. That is so indicative of who T.J. mcConnell is. Like, listen, I had to do the job. That need to be. That needs to happen.
- [14:22]
Andrew Schlecht
He's.
- [14:22]
Esperaheny
He's a gym rat. He's going to do what it needs to happen, and people respect him for it. And it's part of what allowed the Pacers to put the game kind of in his hands in that third quarter and got them on that run to put him in the position to even try to battle at the top of the fourth, but, man, absolutely a spark plug for the Pacers.
- [14:42]
Andrew Schlecht
He is a sneaky athlete. He. He did this last year for Indiana, too. I feel like people forget about this, but he did this to help them get to the conference finals, and he got a bag off of it, and now he' just doing it again at the highest level. And it's just. He's a spark. He's a spark for everything they want to do.
- [15:00]
Dave Dufour
I think I got all my white guy cliche terms in there for tj. I mean, he checks all those boxes. He is the stereotypical one. I mean, like, it really is. He checks all those boxes and then he comes in and gets stuff done. And that was in stark contrast to what was happening with the starters. Tyrese Haliburton, oh, for six from the field. Oh, for four from three.
- [15:22]
Zena Keda
Did.
- [15:23]
Dave Dufour
Did hit four free throws, grabbed seven rebounds, had six assists. Again, he's dealing with this calf issue. You could see it. Yeah, he hasn't been able to drive in this series actually for a couple games now and turn the corner and. But you could see it. But it was in his passivity as well, right? Only five shots in the first in the first half, takes one in the second half. Just couldn't get open, couldn't get the ball. And then guys like, the secret to their sauce where even when Halliburton isn't this high impact guy with the ball in his hands is that you always had to worry about him. He was cutting, he was going to make a good pass. But in this game, he just. He did not look like Tyrese Halliburton at all. In particular, that connector. I thought even the assist, it wasn't like what we normally see, where the ball's kind of popping out of his hands. That was a diminished version of Tyrese Halbert.
- [16:17]
Esperaheny
There is a late assist that he had to Obie Toppin late in the game. Obi was behind the defense, snuck behind, got a alley oop. And it was like, oh, it was late, though. Like, at that point, the game was a little bit out of your hand. And you're looking and you're seeing. That's probably the most Tyrese Haliburton thing we've seen tonight was that one pass. And it came so late in the game. And I know that frustrated him. You could see like the camera continued to be on Tyrese and you could see in his face just one, how tired he was and frustrated with his situation. To me, at least, it seemed but as you mentioned, the passivity, like, the amount of times that early in the game he was. He was giving the ball to Nemhardt and, you know, going to get a screen, etc. Moving quickly. After he hurt his calf, it was like, pass the ball away and let me just stand over here.
- [17:07]
Andrew Schlecht
Yep.
- [17:07]
Esperaheny
And let's see what Siakam can do. Let's see what anyone. Miles Turner, like, let's see what anyone else can create. Because right now it feels like. Or looked like he was saying, I'm in some pain.
- [17:17]
Dave Dufour
It was like James Harden. What was it? 21, 20, 21. Something like that. Where he hurt his hamstring and just couldn't barely walk. Yeah, that's what it reminded me of. I mean, it's not as bad, but. But to that level, I think it affected him kind of similar.
- [17:32]
Andrew Schlecht
Yeah. Honestly, I thought that's why this was a Herculane type of effort from Pascal Siakam, who ended up with six turnovers. But he just. He had to do so much for this team. He ended up with 28 points, and on 15, just like, he was the ball handler, he was the guy bringing the ball up the court. He was the guy dealing with the added attention because Halberton was in the corner. There was a possession where I think it was Nemhard who kicked it out to H, right? And H had this pretty open jump shot to take. He decided not to passed it to Siakam, and Siakam drew a foul. And so, like, there's those moments of passivity from Halle that you just. It's unexpected, and it's clearly because of injury. Pascal tried his best, especially in that fourth quarter. He was awesome, but you just. You need more from your. From your main guy to be able to win a game like this.
- [18:21]
Dave Dufour
Yeah. I mean, it's funny because he does put up 28 points, but I. I do think, like, this is a game where I want Pascal and he's not this guy to get to 22 shots, 23 shots, you know?
- [18:32]
Andrew Schlecht
Yeah.
- [18:32]
Dave Dufour
This is now multiple games in a row where I think it should have, like, fourth quarter, game four should have been a lot of Pascal Siakam, and we basically got none of the. I mean, he is their best player. And again, like, I call him the Cooler, and I'm going to try to get this name to stick, but because he hits big shots every single time they need it and.
- [18:49]
Andrew Schlecht
Yeah.
- [18:50]
Dave Dufour
And, you know, to get him more elbow touches, I think is. Is crucial, especially as we look ahead to game six. Speaking of that brings us to our bet. MGM pick of the night. Guys, we're going to look at Game 6, and really the pick is. Is it over?
- [19:09]
Andrew Schlecht
Damn.
- [19:12]
Esperaheny
I am gonna stick with my original prediction. That got shifted one game after game one. Okay. See, in six, they look much more like the versions of themselves. That defense was stellar last night, and I feel like they've got the confidence to go into Indiana and finish this out, especially because they're one game away. So, yeah, okcn6. I might. I might have taken my apology back from Indiana, but I do have to factor in the fact that Halliburton was not himself.
- [19:55]
Andrew Schlecht
Yeah.
- [19:56]
Esperaheny
And that's. I think that's unfair to fully assess Indiana in that way with their star, their. Their point guard and their.
- [20:04]
Dave Dufour
We're going to put an asterisk on this title.
- [20:11]
Esperaheny
I thought you meant asterisks on. On Indiana. No asterisks on it.
- [20:13]
Andrew Schlecht
No asterisks on the title. Absolutely not.
- [20:16]
Dave Dufour
Where are you leaning? Is it over?
- [20:18]
Andrew Schlecht
Yeah, it's. It's over. And the reason I say that is because of the Halle injury. I'm really curious to see how he'll look after two days off. Maybe he looks better and he's good to go on Thursday on Indiana, and that changes things. But as of now, it's tough to see Indiana pulling out of game seven or forcing game seven.
- [20:37]
Dave Dufour
So.
- [20:37]
Andrew Schlecht
Yeah, okay. Scene six.
- [20:40]
Dave Dufour
I hate to do it, guys. We're going seven. I think I believe in the Pacers. I don't know if they can win the title, but I feel like you give them a couple days off, they can win at home. It's going to be hard to beat Oklahoma City in a Game seven in Oklahoma City. But this Pacers team, I officially cannot rule them out. Even if halberton is not 100%. I just can't do it, guys. Stick around. We got Andrew Schlecht live at Paycom after the Thunder's big win.
- [21:13]
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- [21:16]
Andrew Schlecht
Whoa.
- [21:17]
Dave Dufour
I just found out you can earn up to 3% daily cash back on everyday purchases made with Apple Card.
- [21:22]
Andrew Schlecht
Yeah, you can earn unlimited daily cash back with Apple Card on every purchase. No matter where you check out with Apple Pay, you always get daily Cash.
- [21:32]
Dave Dufour
The possibilities are endless.
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Andrew Schlecht
What's better is that Daily Cash can automatically grow when you open a high yield savings account through Apple card.
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Dave Dufour
That's like endless plus one.
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- [22:02]
Zena Keda
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- [24:03]
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- [24:46]
Dave Dufour
The vibes in Oklahoma City are at an all time high. The vibes on the podcast even higher because we got Andrew Schleck in the house, and he wouldn't confirm that he was going to appear on the show until the buzzer sounded because he's so afraid of the NBA daily curse. Congratulations to the Thunder. They're now up three. How was that game?
- [25:11]
Zena Keda
It was pretty unbelievable.
- [25:12]
Dave Dufour
How many T shirts are they going to come back with? That's. That's the other question.
- [25:16]
Zena Keda
That's a good question. A lot. A lot of T shirts. Listen, this was the loudest event that I've ever been to. And I like rock and roll concert, NBA game, whatever. It's never been louder in any kind of event that I've ever been to. I mean, your ears are just ringing. It's. It is. And truly, it's. It's. The crowd itself is very special, and it's. A lot of times I feel like NBA crowds are kind of egged on by BA announcers or MCs or somebody getting out there and, like, trying to get them hyped up. I don't even remember the MC talking during the game, to be honest, because the crowd would just chant during timeouts. God, it was so. It was electric in here. It's never been louder, and you could see it. And the phrase that Mark kept using was, they were the wind at the back of the Thunder all night. And it was that. It just felt like impossible. 1. There were shades of game one tonight, a lot of shades that were terrifying to Thunder fans here. But the fans were persistent throughout it, like, to continue to cheer for them, to kind of push them over the edge and, you know, they were able to handle business.
- [26:33]
Esperaheny
I feel like people didn't sit down the whole game. Like, that's what I kept noticing is that people were.
- [26:38]
Zena Keda
No.
- [26:38]
Esperaheny
So, like, standing the whole time.
- [26:40]
Zena Keda
I sit in this corner up here, and because of the way that it's situated, when fans are standing, I can't really see. So I have to stand, right. Which is pretty unusual, like, for a medium. But I stood for probably 70% of the game because everyone was standing for, like, any made basket, the crowd would stand for the next defensive possession. If they got a stop, they would continue to stand. And so I'm standing up most of the time on my bum knee. And, you know, it. It was. It was very, very cool. It was. It's a very unique environment. It was a very unique NBA environment.
- [27:18]
Dave Dufour
That.
- [27:18]
Andrew Schlecht
That was what was. Surprised me in game one, too, when we watched it live. It was like everybody was standing the entire time. And you mentioned the. The VI loudness. I I can't imagine an arena being louder than it was in game one. So if it was loud in Game five, like, we got a chance to see that a little bit in the starting lineup intros, which, by the way, was awesome. Hopefully they do that more often. It from your perspective, when you look at like, crowds and comparisons are kind of like, whatever, but you see how OKC supports this team. They show up at 3am to the airports and whatnot. In terms of, like, connections to the community. This has to be number one in the NBA, right?
- [28:03]
Zena Keda
I mean, it's got to be close to it. If not, I mean, there's not really anything else that like, binds this state together. Like the Thunder, you know, it was. There was always the Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State rivalry that always existed. And like this just. It. It bonds everybody in the state together. And you can't go anywhere right now without seeing something Thunder or somebody's trying to talk to you about the Thunder. The collective misery that happened when they went down two one was palpable. And now like the energy with fans walking out of here chanting, one more win is just electric. There's just, there's just nothing else. No other way to describe it. There's electricity in the city right now and they can feel that their, their team is finally going to get over the hump after going through the Durant years and the Westbrook years and, you know, everything to get to this point where it's, it's all these all. You should have done it. You should have done it. You should have done it. And it's like, there's one more win away. And like, you can. You can feel the energy for sure.
- [29:11]
Dave Dufour
One more win and then Paul George gets the parade invite, right? Isn't that how it's gonna work? Thank you, Paul.
- [29:18]
Andrew Schlecht
He at least gets a float.
- [29:20]
Zena Keda
Podcast P Live from Bricktown. Let's go.
- [29:22]
Dave Dufour
That's right. Come on. The Tipsy Tiki will open the doors up. Andrew, look, this was a growing up game for, for Jalen Williams. J Dub. You know, coming into the playoffs, we talked about a lot about last year and how he didn't step up when they needed him, especially in the games. I mean, he dominated in this game. It's one of the best games I can remember from him in his career, period. 40 point game was aggressive. Getting his shot, driving to the basket, creating chaos and passing lanes on the defensive end. It was kind of like a highlight reel of what he's able to do.
- [29:57]
Zena Keda
Yeah, it was funny trying to ask him questions about it. To get, like, a good answer was really tough because all he wants to do is win, right? All he cares about is winning the games. And he's like, yeah, we just. What I think about is we have one more win, you know, to go. It's like when you ask him. So I asked him this question. There are only eight other players in the history of the NBA that have scored 40 or more when they're 24 or younger in the NBA Finals. And it's Booker, Kyrie Westbrook, Wade, Magic, Rick Barry, Jerry west, and George Mikin. And now Jalen Williams is on that list.
- [30:32]
Andrew Schlecht
That's a very good list. Wow.
- [30:34]
Esperaheny
And I asked him about Mike in action.
- [30:36]
Zena Keda
There you go and all. Yeah, that's right. Mike and Leia.
- [30:39]
Esperaheny
Mike and Leia's baby. That's what they're doing all night.
- [30:43]
Zena Keda
He. He was. All he cares about is winning this thing. He's. I'll give.
- [30:47]
Esperaheny
He's.
- [30:47]
Zena Keda
He said, I'll give you a better answer, you know, later on. But right now, all they care about is winning. It is the right approach, and they are laser focused on bringing the first title to Oklahoma City.
- [31:04]
Esperaheny
Andrew, we talked a lot about, obviously, the offensive performances, Jalen Williams, obviously, Shea Gildis, Alexander alongside him, but we did not really talk about what was so apparent in this game. And really, I think, also galvanized by the crowd, this OKC defense. And I feel like we probably don't talk about it enough because it's just been who they are. It's been their identity leading up into this point. But tonight, between Alice Caruso, Shay Gildous, Jalen Williams, hands everywhere, it was just like, consistent disruption, the passes that Tyrese Halliburton usually makes. Pascal Siakam was dribbling through trees. You know, Andrew Nemhart was turning the ball over. Like, it was just consistent disruption of all of the telegraph passes that Indiana tried to get through, did it feel like to you that the defense was on another level? Because you've been watching this all year? Did it feel energized in a different way?
- [32:06]
Zena Keda
Yeah, no question. 27 stocks in this one for them just is insane. Yeah. I mean, it's the. The perimeter guys, for sure. I thought Dort was ridiculous. I'm sure you guys have talked about Halliburton.
- [32:19]
Esperaheny
Yeah.
- [32:19]
Zena Keda
And, you know, the. The game that he had, but it was a collective. You know, it wasn't just. It was a lot of Dort, but it wasn't just Dort. It was a lot of. It was a lot of guys that contributed Chet was just amazing. Yeah.
- [32:34]
Andrew Schlecht
Yeah.
- [32:35]
Zena Keda
Defensively, yeah. I mean, it was truly special. It was almost like the powers of the crowd and the Oklahoma City defense kind of like merged at points because it.
- [32:46]
Dave Dufour
A crescendo.
- [32:48]
Zena Keda
Yes. It got so loud that it. It felt like they truly were. Like they were one at one point. It's like the crowd and the Thunder were going to stop the Pacers. It was a weird feeling watching it and maybe even describing it. That might sound weird, but I'm telling you, that's how it felt in the building. That's moment.
- [33:09]
Esperaheny
That's how I asked you the question. When I was like, they galvanized them. It really felt as if the spirit of the crowd was moving through the long hands and fingertips of OKC in the way that they just were everywhere.
- [33:22]
Zena Keda
Yeah, that way.
- [33:25]
Andrew Schlecht
Andrew, I want to ask you a little bit of a side tangent here, because I texted to you about this during the game, but Kayson, Wallace. There was an argument to be made after game four where the Thunder could like, cut their rotation and run six or seven guys. And they doubled down. Mark Dagnall doubled down on it. Case and Wallace ends up playing. Aaron Wiggins ends up playing. They were massive. Aaron Wiggins had 14 points. Case and Wallace had 11. A couple of massive threes in that first half. What does that say about the stunter team? That they're just like, they're willing to keep going with their depth, even though maybe you could have argued that they probably should have shortened their rotation?
- [34:02]
Zena Keda
Yeah, I think they have a lot of trust in these guys. And they know, like, Casen's really young.
- [34:08]
Dave Dufour
Yeah.
- [34:08]
Zena Keda
Kayson's in his second year and he was a really, really young rookie. And I think that they know one, that they want this guy to be a part of what they do for a long time and that they have, like, a trust in him. I actually went and talked to Kayson's parents and his brother who plays for the Hawks after the game. And like, there probably weren't any. There's probably nobody happier in this arena than that group of people. I mean, they were just buzzing after the game. But yeah, I mean, it does say a lot that they would trust. Trust him in this moment because he hadn't made a three in the finals up until tonight. Yeah.
- [34:45]
Esperaheny
And he's 0 for 8.
- [34:47]
Zena Keda
Yeah. Oh, of 8. I mean, is it more likely that continues or that he makes shots? I mean, we've seen a lot of young guys, second year guys, rookies, go into the finals and they just lay in There the whole time. It is really hard to perform in the finals, and for him to be able to show up and get them one step closer is huge. And you have to give a ton of credit to Mark for trusting in him for sure.
- [35:10]
Dave Dufour
Smart strategy. Don't. Don't sub your guys out until they need to be right. And he's proven that he's been able to bench these guys as need be. All right, well, look, before we get out of here, Andrew, going to put you on the spot. Is it over?
- [35:27]
Zena Keda
It kind of feels like it's over. It kind of.
- [35:32]
Andrew Schlecht
Don't you. Don't you want to celebrate in the locker room? Don't you want to be, you know.
- [35:36]
Esperaheny
Yes.
- [35:38]
Dave Dufour
Would you rather be here or in seven at home? Right. Yeah. Risk game seven. Andrew, this is you on the spot.
- [35:46]
Zena Keda
Listen, you just want to win it. That's what it comes down to.
- [35:49]
Dave Dufour
Yeah. All right.
- [35:49]
Zena Keda
You just want.
- [35:50]
Esperaheny
Sound like Shay and Jaylen.
- [35:51]
Zena Keda
I think you would rather win it here. Like, it would really be special.
- [35:56]
Dave Dufour
Sure.
- [35:57]
Zena Keda
But. Oh, we saw this game. We saw this game. Get down to four, though.
- [36:01]
Dave Dufour
Yeah, yeah.
- [36:02]
Esperaheny
You want to close this and then.
- [36:04]
Zena Keda
Like, I give Halliburton just, like, wakes up suddenly, which we've seen before. We've seen him be asleep for three and a half quarters and then wake up and be like, oh, okay, I'm just going to pour in 10 points here. Like, then what? So, no, you don't mess around. Like, if you. If you got a chance to go do it. I feel like the momentum is with the Thunder. I think that that Game 4 loss for the Pacers was, yeah, massive.
- [36:29]
Andrew Schlecht
Yeah.
- [36:29]
Zena Keda
And so. And then the Thunder being able to lead as. By as much as they did and just kind of. Kind of kept punching them in the mouth tonight. I think momentum is on Thunder side. I think that they're going to have a good shot to win in Indy.
- [36:43]
Dave Dufour
Yeah, feels like it. All right, that's going to do it for the show, folks. We'll be back with more stuff. We got Sam Amick. On tomorrow's show. We're going to actually talk about Desmond Bain getting traded, which was insane, and we just didn't have time today. But for Andrew Schleck, Xena Keda, Esperaheni, I'm Dave Dufour and this has been the NBA Daily. Thanks for waking up with us foreign.
- [37:31]
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