Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams have Thunder on cusp of greatness ...Middle East

OKLAHOMA CITY — Michael Jordan was in his seventh season and Scottie Pippen was in his fourth when they led the Chicago Bulls to their first NBA Championship back in 1991. They would go on to win five more in the next seven seasons, logging two three-peats along the way.

They earned recognition as one of the best — if not the best — two-man tandems in NBA history.

There are many reasons why trying to shoehorn Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and the Oklahoma City Thunder into a comparison with the earliest days of the Bulls dynasty is way premature.

Among them: the Thunder have yet to win an NBA title, and the Bulls never needed seven games to decide an NBA championship.

But the Bulls weren’t the Bulls until they toppled the fading Los Angeles Lakers in five games in 1991.

And the Thunder can take a giant step towards becoming whatever they are meant to be with a win in Game 6 against the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night in Indianapolis, which would earn the Thunder, Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams their first championship.

It’s hard to imagine it would be their last.

Given that Gilgeous-Alexander is 26 and completing his sixth NBA season, and Williams just turned 24 and is in Year 3 — combined with all the other youthful talent and draft assets OKC has to keep building — they could really be at the start of something.

Their future is in front of them because they alternately survived and thrived before finally icing a 120-109 win in Game 5 against a determined Indiana Pacers team that refused to let the Thunder blow them out when a lesser team might have caved to that kind of pressure multiple times on the night.

Not many teams are competitive in the fourth quarter when their opponent (the Thunder in this case) rips them for 32 points on 23 turnovers.

But the Pacers kept taking punches and remained standing. They had to make do even while All-NBA point guard Tyrese Haliburton was clearly compromised by a leg injury he suffered after driving the lane in the first quarter. It was an aggravation of an injury to his right calf he had in Game 2, Haliburton said later.

Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said he expected Haliburton to be ready for Game 6. It’s worth noting that after coming up limping at the end of Game 2, Haliburton popped off for a triple-double in Indiana’s Game 3 win at home.

The Pacers will need something special in Game 6 because despite a strong second-half showing, Indiana couldn’t get over the hump and squeeze out a win despite cutting what had been a 15-point lead midway through the third quarter to two points with 8:30 left in the fourth quarter.

Leading the way, refusing to allow their team to stumble at home in front of a crowd that was once again in their seats and at full volume a good 30 minutes before the opening tip, were the Thunder’s duo of young stars.

Gilgeous-Alexander is already minted: he’s coming off his first MVP award and has been putting up numbers that get him on lists with Jordan at or near his peak. But no one can win in the NBA alone, even though the Thunder did manage to steal a crucial win in Game 4 when he scored 35 points and didn’t record an assist.

That’s why the arrival of Williams as a worthy co-star should terrify the rest of the NBA, and most pertinently, the Pacers with their season on the line.

Gilgeous-Alexander delivered an exceptional performance, even by his standards, as he became the first player in NBA history to have (at least) 31 points, 10 assists, four blocked shots and two steals in a Finals game.

But — and not for the first time in the Thunder’s run to a title — he had to share the spotlight with Williams, who erupted for a career-playoff high 40 points, along with six rebounds, four assists, a blocked shot and a steal.

Williams is now averaging 31 points on 50.8 per cent shooting (including 40 per cent from three) over the Thunder’s last three games.

Were Williams and the Thunder making a statement?

“It’s something more that I’ll look back on later than worry about what kind of statement it makes. I think the only statement we have right now is we’re up 3-2 and we have to still go earn another win,” he said after connecting on 15-of-23 shots. “It will be cool to look back on later on. Hopefully down the line I’ll have, like, a more fun answer for you.“

His teammates aren’t ready to reflect on the meaning of it all either. They’re just happy he’s ready to take over Finals games so soon in his career.

Gilgeous-Alexander has broad shoulders, and he can carry a team, but you can see and hear his appreciation at having someone to share the load, not at some point in the future, but right now, when there’s a championship to be won.

“He was, like, really gutsy tonight. He stepped into big plays,” said Gilgeous-Alexander of Williams. “Felt like every time we needed a shot, he made it. He wasn’t afraid. He was fearless tonight.

“Whether they went in or didn’t, obviously tonight they went in more than didn’t, he stepped up to the plate with confidence, for sure.”

It’s difference-making stuff.

“(It makes things) lot easier. Not only for myself, but for the rest of the guys,” said the Canadian Olympian. “He can shoulder a load. I’ve said this before. He does so many things for us as a basketball team on both ends of the floor when he’s the best version of himself … he was great tonight. Makes a world of a difference when he’s that good, for sure.”

Williams put his imprint on the game in the third quarter when he scored 13 points on five shots in nine minutes, with the Thunder needing all of them. The Pacers began to work their way back into the game mainly on the strength of pint-sized point guard T.J. McConnell, who came off the bench with Haliburton labouring and scored 13 of his 18 points in a 6:40 spurt that saw Indiana pull to within five with 1:46 left in the quarter.

But it was Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams working together that secured the game. After subbing in with a five-point lead with 8:42, Gilgeous-Alexander made two steals, hit Olympic teammate Lu Dort for a pair of open threes and got to the line four times, while Williams scored nine of his points on the run, putting the Thunder up by 14 with a turnaround jumper with 3:40 to play.

The Pacers are on the ropes. Haliburton said he didn’t want to come out of the game given the stakes, but he was mostly just a decoy as he finished with just four points and six assists while shooting 0-of-6 from the floor as he struggled to attack off the dribble or finish with any force.

Former Raptor Pascal Siakam tried to pick up the slack with one of his better playoff games as he scored 14 of his 28 points on 5-of-5 shooting in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough.

The Pacers have shown plenty of times that they can’t be counted out, so it’s probably unwise to do so as they head back to Indianapolis for Game 6.

But with the presence of Gilgeous-Alexander and the emergence of Williams, the Thunder are beginning to look like a team whose time has come, with greatness waiting.

Too early for the Bulls, Jordan and Pippen talk, granted, but after performances like the Thunder’s two best players delivered in Game 5, the comparisons could ring true sooner than later.

Like maybe Thursday in Indianapolis.

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