00:00Shea Gilgis Alexander said it after the loss, this is a team in Indiana, it's a 48-minute game.
00:09They are going to play the full 48 minutes, you have to put them away.
00:15And they just did not do that.
00:18And I think anybody can look at that first half where you turn a team over 20 times.
00:22And to be up 12 in the first half of an NBA Finals game, you know, that should be awesome.
00:31We're crushing it.
00:33And I think, I know for me, Tom, I was sat there like, man, the Pacers should be down by more.
00:39And the fact that they weren't, I think, again, it depends who you are.
00:43But some people saw them down 12 playing poorly and they were like, see, this series is going to be a wrap.
00:49And I was like, you got to get this team away from you.
00:54And they could not just stiff arm this group into another realm.
01:00And it allows this Pacers team to just keep on coming, bombing away threes, getting some incredible three-point performance off the bench,
01:10including the five of eight performance from Obi Toppin, which if you just kind of freeze frame the first quarter for Obi Toppin,
01:18where it looked like he was going to be unplayable with some of his insane turnovers,
01:22to have that game with 17 points and he got a five-made-three performance was a part, again, of what makes the Pacers the Pacers.
01:32Is who stepped up?
01:34Everyone.
01:35They scored 111 points.
01:37Nobody on the team scored 20.
01:40And I almost want to say, like, that is a Rick Carlisle thing.
01:44Where his, like you said, Obi Toppin first quarter, not good.
01:46Other coaches would have sat him and he would not have played the rest of the game.
01:50Yeah.
01:50But it's a trust in the depth.
01:52It's a trust in the system.
01:54It's a trust in it.
01:54Like Thomas Bryant getting minutes, not only in this series, but the prior series.
01:58Like, listen, you don't have to play a lot, but you got to be useful when you're out there for the 8, 10, 12 minutes, whatever it's going to be.
02:05And, again, it is a well-rounded team effort.
02:07And we can transition some of this to the other side for OKC where it really wasn't a well-rounded team effort.
02:13Seeing all five starters for the Pacers in double figures and Obi Toppin coming off the bench scoring double figures.
02:18Not the same case when it comes to the Thunder where I have my questions about can we get a high level of consistency outside of SGA and Williams at times?
02:29Because it was a great game from Lou Dort.
02:31But are we going to be getting, you know, five three-pointers from Lou Dort on a nightly basis?
02:35Are we – we need to be getting more out of Chet Holmgren.
02:38Well, I think you're right to bring up Chet.
02:41You're right.
02:41J-Double 6 of 19, that's an unacceptable performance from him.
02:44The – this game was more interesting than I expected before it started due to a decision made by Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Dagnall
02:59where he changes his starting lineup before the series begins for the first time all postseason.
03:08And Kasson Wallace in for Isaiah Hartenstein is something that I didn't agree with because I, entering the series, thought that the double big OKC lineup was a very tough guard for the Indiana Pacers.
03:29And that was one piece of it.
03:32But you look at it and clearly Dagnall thought, look, I just want to have one big on the court at all times.
03:40And there are some who are defending the decision saying it worked, it worked, it worked, look at the turnovers, look at the first quarter numbers of it all.
03:47Here's the thing.
03:49Mark Dagnall then seemingly doubled down on his pregame adjustment and closed this basketball game with no big.
03:58If you make a move like that, Tom, and your new starter has the worst plus minus by far on your basketball team, I think it's fair to say you made a mistake.
04:14Absolutely made a mistake and seeing Hartenstein not in the starting lineup, I – we have to assume that they're going to rectify that and he'll be back in there on Sunday.
04:24I'm not sure.
04:25Really?
04:25I'm not because –
04:28Because if we're talking about logically, like minus 13, terrible.
04:32Like objectively, it was the wrong choice.
04:34Yep.
04:34And again, I can understand from a systemic standpoint, like listen, we've got to have someone big out there at all times and we have to manage the game flow.
04:44We have to manage the ins and outs, which I think could be done, but I don't think it would be done against the Pacers when you know what they're bringing.
04:51Like you can do that against Minnesota.
04:53Rudy's off the – he's a non-factor on offense.
04:55We can deal with that.
04:57You could do that in some of the prior series.
04:58I think Hartenstein not being in there would be an issue for me.
05:03I would be like, okay, we're at an 11-point line now.
05:06Give me the Pacers again.
05:07They may not win, but you're going to hang in 11?
