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The Oklahoma City Thunder collected 68 resounding victories in the regular season. But none of those wins matter if they don't play their best 48 minutes of basketball on Sunday. The Indiana Pacers will unleash every ounce of energy left in this epic NBA Finals matchup.
Both teams have exchanged blow after blow. Even unlikely heroes emerged — a la TJ McConnell for Indiana in Game 6. Or Isaiah Hartenstein on the Thunder's side.
OKC needs more than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to will its way to the Larry O'Brien Trophy. He's the only Thunder player to score past 20 points in all six finals games. They'll need Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams to step up after a disastrous Game 6. The latter especially was on the wrong end of a Pascal Siakam dunk.
But the Western Conference champs need more than the big trio to beat Indiana one last time. There's an even larger critical area OKC must address ahead of Sunday. Which rises as the x-factor that'll determine the outcome of Game 7.
Bench play must step up for Thunder after Obi Toppin performance
SGA is ready to empty the gas tank inside the Paycom Center. He'll go full throttle in the most important game of his career. Holmgren and Williams will get their minutes in, even if their shots don't fall.
But the last thing head coach Mark Daigneault wants is all three to get gassed. Furthermore, Daigneault needs a spark or sparks outside of the starting five.
That's where the bench play must step up now more than ever.
Indiana buried OKC with its reserves. Obi Toppin dropped 20 points off the bench. McConnell chipped in 12 on his end. Ben Sheppard, Bennedict Mathurin, Thomas Bryant and Tony Bradley also got their points in — leading to 48 bench points on Thursday.
OKC shockingly had more players score off the bench with eight. But settled for 37 points there. They need more than Isaiah Joe to hit double figures.
Thunder performs better vs. Pacers when bench accomplishes this mark
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The Thunder scored a total of 2,880 points off the bench this season per StatMuse. OKC increases its chances of winning when at least two reserve players cross the 10-point mark.
Such was the case in Game 5's win 120-109. And in Game 2 that tied the series the first time. The latter contest watched Alex Caruso explode for 20 points. Aaron Wiggins dropped 18 in that win.
Caruso needs to erase his dismal Game 6 shooting night. He finished with zero points. OKC still needs to rely on his past championship winning experience for this moment.
Wiggins can also improve from his own dismal shooting night. But another integral piece here is Cason Wallace.
He's only reached double digits in scoring twice since May 15. Wallace delivered 11 off the bench in the Monday win. The Thunder needs that version of Wallace and more to place their fingers on the O'Brien hardware.
Whoever explodes after leaving their seat will alter this game. Indiana watched Mathurin and Toppin hit 20 points and boost the Pacers in this series. OKC needs someone on its side to pull something identical. And relieve SGA, Holmgren and Williams on the scoring end.
Turnovers will be forced, shots will fall and adjustments will get made. But the best bench play matters here.
