Williams Stars as Thunder Move One Win Away from NBA Title

Jalen Williams had 40 points and MVP Shai Gilgeous Aleander added 31 as Oklahoma City Thunder beat Indiana Pacers 120-109 to now stand on the verge of their first NBA title.

The victory at the Paycom Centre, put OKC in charge of the best of seven finals 3-2 with the series heading back to Indianapolis for game six on Thursday.

NBA Most Valuable Player Gilgeous-Alexander provided 31 points along with 10 assists as home side Oklahoma moved one win away from securing the NBA title in the best-of-seven series.

“My team-mates instil a lot of confidence in me to go out and be me,” Williams said. “And [coach] Mark [Daigneault] has done a good job of telling me to just be myself.

“I don’t got to be anything more and that’s given me a lot of confidence.”

The Pacers had overcome a 15-point deficit in game one to win but could not repeat the feat in game five.

“Tonight was the exact same game as game one, to be honest,” Williams said. “Learning through these finals is what makes this team good and we were able to do that.”

Game six will take place in Indianapolis on Thursday at 8:30 local time, with Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton insisting he will be ready for the contest.

Haliburton scored just four points in 34 minutes of action in game five, with Indiana coach Rick Carlisle saying the player was “not 100%”.

He added: “It’s pretty clear. But I don’t think he’s going to miss the next game.

“We were concerned at half-time. He insisted on playing.”

Haliburton said: “It’s the Finals, man. I’ve worked my whole life to be here and I want to be out there to compete, help my team-mates any way I can.

“I was not great tonight by any means, but it’s not really a thought of mine to not play here. If I can walk, then I want to play. It is what it is. Got to be ready to go for game six.”