NBA Finals: Thunder Tune Out The Noise As Pacers Await Tyrese Haliburton News

With their first NBA championship since the franchise moved from Seattle within reach, the Oklahoma City Thunder insist they’re not thinking about confetti or history. Instead, they’re dialed in on the next possession.

The Thunder lead the NBA Finals 3-2 heading into Thursday’s Game 6 in Indianapolis. But for head coach Mark Daigneault, the focus remains squarely on process over payoff.

“We want to win the game tomorrow,” Daigneault told reporters, “but the most important thing we need to do to win the game tomorrow is prepare today and prepare tomorrow and play the first possession really well, then the next possession, then the next possession. That’s how we try to approach a game, how we try to approach the playoff series, how we try to approach every single day and let that win the day.”

This is a team that preaches patience and discipline, and so far, it’s working. After a wild comeback by Indiana in Game 1, the Thunder recalibrated. They dominated Game 2, gritted out a road win in Game 4, and took their first series lead with a clinical Game 5 victory in Oklahoma City.

And now, with just one win separating them from the Larry O’Brien Trophy, league Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is echoing the team’s no-celebration-until-it’s-over mentality.

“The cusp of winning is not winning,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “The way I see it, winning is all that matters. It hasn’t been fulfilled. We haven’t done anything.”

Haliburton’s Status Looms Large

As for the Pacers, their hopes of forcing a Game 7 may rest on the right calf of All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton. He’s officially listed as questionable, though ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said Thursday morning on Get Up that Haliburton is expected to play.

“They already had the MRI results Tuesday,” Windhorst noted. “This feels like Indiana is setting the stage for Haliburton to be active.”

The bigger question? How effective he’ll be. If Haliburton can’t move freely, the Pacers’ offense loses its identity, and likely its punch.

An ESPN roundtable suggests the odds are stacked against Indiana without Haliburton at full strength. Still, ESPN’s Jamal Collier believes the Pacers’ role players could step up at home. Also, ESPN’s Zach Kram pointed to guard Andrew Nembhard as a potential x-factor, saying his scoring touch could shift momentum if he regains his early-postseason form.

But make no mistake: the Thunder are in control. One more win, and history calls.

Still, as Daigneault and Gilgeous-Alexander keep repeating, NBA history will have to wait. They’ve got a game to play first.