OKC Thunder Beat Pacers to Take 3-2 Finals Lead

On Monday evening, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers will face off in a potentially decisive Game 5 of the NBA Finals. The Thunder coasted to a win behind 40 points from Jalen Williams, taking a 3-2 series lead.

Here were live updates for Game 5 of the NBA Finals:

First Quarter: Thunder 32, Pacers 22

Surging with the double-big lineup, Oklahoma City got off to a 17-12 start, forcing a Pacers timeout. Indiana has knocked down shots in consistency, but the Thunder's pace and physicality has so far outmatched the road squad.

The Thunder lead would blossom to as much as 10 early, with OKC overwhelming Indiana with stingy defense and quick-moving offense.

Oklahoma City would end the first frame with three triples from Cason Wallace and Aaron Wiggins, already surpassing their Game 4 output from beyond the arc to lead by 10.

Halftime: Thunder 59, Pacers 45

The Thunder have continued to keep the Pacers at bay in the second quarter, using a mixture of its patented defense and triples from various players to extend it's lead to 11 with eight minutes remaining.

The Pacers would attempt to crawl back into the game with an Aaron Nesmith 3-pointer, but the Thunder's pace would continue to be too much, with Jalen Williams scoring five-straight transition points to give the home team a 13-point lead.

The Thunder would go up as much as 18 in the half, heading into the break with a 14-point lead fueled by two-way play.

Third Quarter: Thunder 87, Pacers 79

At the first break in action, the Pacers had dug into the lead by just two points, making it 67-55. But Indiana moved the ball much better, continuing to see shots go down.

The Pacers would make it a ball-game in the middle of the third, seeing the lead dwindle down to single digits via a scoring surge via TJ McConnell.

Still riding McConnell's offense, the Pacers would cut the lead all the way to just five.

Fourth Quarter:

Just two minutes in, the teams have traded both buckets and solid defense, with the OKC lead blossoming back to 10 before a Pacers bucket made it eight before another break in action.

With around nine minutes to play, the Pacers have cut the lead to just four, playing more inspired than their opponent in getting most of the 50-50 balls.

For every punch Indiana has thrown, OKC has so far had a counter, going back ahead by 11 on a transition and-1 from its MVP in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with just six minutes to play.

Jalen Williams — who's seen a game-high 37 points — capped off the Thunder run with a tough finish at the rim to put OKC up 13.

Oklahoma City has taken a 15-point lead with just minutes remaining in the game, using the same two-way force that helped it to win 68 games in the regular season.