The Thunder Are One Win Away from First NBA Championship After J-Dub’s 40 Points

It’s not just because of MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander either. Like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant before him, SGA seems to have found his partner in crime, the Robin to his Batman, in Jalen Williams, who was the star of the game with 40 points.

JDUB DELIVERS A GAME 5 MASTERPIECE 💯🔥

⚡️ 40 PTS (playoff career high)
⚡️ 24 PTS in 2H
⚡️ 14-25 FGM
⚡️ 3rd-straight 25+ PT game@okcthunder are now just 1 win away from an NBA Championship! pic.twitter.com/XQHbkCB2rz

— NBA (@NBA) June 17, 2025

Is That Scottie Pippen or Jaylen Williams?

It’s true that Michael Jordan didn’t get Chicago to the NBA Finals until he had a great No. 2 teammate in Scottie Pippen. Even the best players usually need that help to get here, and SGA is no exception.

Shai and Jdub in the NBA Finals pic.twitter.com/kdZQX4SBKy

— 🌩️ (@twowayshai) June 17, 2025

But it’s been Jaylen Williams in his third season that’s been the breakout star of this postseason and the NBA Finals after his third-straight 25-point game and a career-high 40 points in a playoff game after a dazzling performance that had fans feeling a mix of emotions on social media:

SGA and J Dub doing what these guys couldn’t is genuinely hard for me to wrap my head around. pic.twitter.com/T3rXeKBisX

— Josh Eberley 🇨🇦 (@JoshEberley) June 17, 2025

Legendary is an overused term now days…but JDub’s performance tonight was truly LEGENDARY. pic.twitter.com/EnYJ5XvF3k

— Sam Humphreys (@SamHumphreys34) June 17, 2025

we’re gonna watch this thunder team win like three championships in five years

they’re just so fucking good

— Shea Serrano (@SheaSerrano) June 17, 2025

While everyone was worried about Iran, it is actually JDub who went nuclear pic.twitter.com/w5ATsAdPSf

— 𝙅𝙄𝙈𝙈𝙔 𝙂𝙍𝙀𝙀𝙉𝘽𝙀𝘼𝙉𝙎 (@soonersonly) June 17, 2025

While it’s always SGA who is getting compared to Kobe Bryant for his mid-range scoring success, “J-Dub” may be doing the best young Kobe impersonation since Bryant broke out in the 2000 Finals to help Shaq and the Lakers beat the Indiana Pacers to start a three-peat run.

History could be repeating itself.

Pacers Are Down But Not Out

To Indiana’s credit, they played poorly with 22 turnovers, Tyrese Haliburton had no field goals in 34 minutes, and they still pulled within 2 points in the fourth quarter before things imploded. I guess those soft pregame shots had no carry-over effect for Hali.

HALIBURTON CAN’T MISS IN WARMUPS 🔥

22 seconds of consecutive makes from the Pacers star: mesmerizing 🤩

IND (2-2) OKC | 8:30pm/et | ABC pic.twitter.com/Q9ID9f4yo6

— NBA (@NBA) June 16, 2025

But don’t make the NBA rumors of the Pacers’ demise too premature, as this underdog has overcome a lot of adversity this postseason.

However, Game 6 in Indy this Thursday night is the first time they’ll face elimination, and Tyrese Haliburton’s stats were down because of a calf injury that could compromise him the rest of the way. That led to a weird discussion by the ESPN halftime show with Kendrick Perkins scowling that Haliburton was “scared” and Stephen A. Smith suggesting he sits out the second half.

Stephen A. Smith on Tyrese Haliburton: “HE LOOKS BAD! HE WAS NOT ACTIVE! HE WAS NOT AGGRESSIVE! AND NOW THAT WE KNOW THAT HE’S NOT HEALTHY, I TOTALLY AGREE WITH BIG PERK! SIT HIM DOWN! GET HIM READY FOR GAME 6!… HE AIN’T HELPING THE TEAM! HE’S NOT HELPING THEM!” #NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/nSsX2y3US8

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 17, 2025

Wait, did Stephen A. just suggest that Haliburton should be put in solitary confinement? Granted, maybe Haliburton should have tapped out, especially when T.J. McConnell turned into MJ to help bring the Pacers back.

pic.twitter.com/WADvwvzaNR

— Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz (@LeBatardShow) June 17, 2025

But in watching that segment, you get the sense why those guys wore Dumb & Dumber costumes to Game 4 with the faces of Stephen A. and Perkins on them.

Best thing I’ve seen tonight…. Dumb and Dumber at the Pacer game tonight! pic.twitter.com/LKRt9YnLcq

— Kooo (@Kooo670002) June 14, 2025

This is why there’s hope that TNT’s Inside the NBA crew will help ESPN with its halftime show as long as Stephen A. stays out of it. These attacks from Smith and Perkins feel really personal these days where Shaq and Charles Barkley are much better at poking fun without grinding an axe (unless Dwight Howard is involved for Shaq) or wanting to be the NBA’s main character.

But let’s hope the Pacers can force Game 7 and give us two more great NBA games this season.