2025 NBA Finals Preview

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is it. After a very entertaining and exciting postseason,
it is time to see who will etch their names
in NBA history alongside all the NBA greats who have
won titles the past seventy seven years and earn the
coveted jewelry, respect and bragging rights that come with being
an NBA champion. Will the OKC thunder finally bring the

(00:21):
first championship of their post Sonics rebrand, or will the
Indiana Pacers earn their first championship ever in franchise history.
No matter who wins, we will all be witnessing history
and we are certainly in for an intense and electrifying series.
I'm here to talk all things Indian OKC, plus give
a preview of what we can expect from this matchup,

(00:42):
and more so, definitely get your popcorn ready as we
are set to dive deep into this year's NBA Championship
series right now on H two DG. Welcome to Hip
to the Games, the podcast for you, the basketball junkie
and the hip hop hit. I'm your host, Desmond and
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(01:04):
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(01:26):
you've come to the right place. They play my kind
of basketball and a lot of layers to this song.
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(01:47):
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(02:08):
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I gotta get my pregame shoutouts out the way. The
first one always goes to the creative director Jesus Christ
for another HGWO DG episode, as it's always a blessing

(02:31):
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(02:53):
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(03:14):
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when I say that. Now, as we get into today's show,
given it's really only one topic to discuss today, there's
two teams left in the NBA Playoffs, I'm gonna ditch
the format that pays homage to the classic hip hop

(03:35):
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(06:07):
to tip today's episode off with the basics, just on
the surface. I wanted to briefly, or maybe not so briefly,
you know how I get, But I wanted to talk
about the fact that we have a OKC Thunder versus
Indiana Pacers NBA Finals, because within the last month or so,
there's been a lot of talk about whether or not
this is the NBA finals people wanted to see, and

(06:30):
you got people saying there's no aura with this matchup.
Nobody wants to see foul Bait and Shay or the
lucky Pacers in the finals, And I'm just like, what
what are we talking about? Nobody wants to see the
best team in the league with the league MVP in
the finals. Nobody wants to see how a high octane
Pacers team plays against such a great defense that the

(06:52):
OKC Thunder have. These have literally been the two best
teams all postseason and record wise, have been the two
best team since January first. Who doesn't Who doesn't want
to watch that? Even for me, as much as I
would have loved to see Anthony Edwards on this stage.
As much as I was rooting for those gritty New

(07:12):
York Knicks to be right here, in the back of
my mind, I just knew it was gonna be okay
seeing Indy okay, see's the best team in the league.
Indy has had such a Disney esque playoff run with
all the comebacks and game winners and clutch shots. I mean,
it was only right, two small market teams with incredible
home crowds and amazing young stars. Since twenty twenty, we've

(07:36):
seen some unpredictable finals matchups. You know, people didn't expect
to see a fifth seed Miami Heat team make it
in twenty twenty. You know, twenty twenty one, it was
cool when it was Suns and Bucks. But I mean
for me, you know, because of Kadie's shoe size and
you know, Kawhi's injury, we didn't get what I believed
was destined to be a Clippers versus Nets NBA finals
that year. You know, twenty twenty three, when it was

(07:58):
Nuggets and Heat. You know, the Heat climbed all the
way from the play in you know, to another finals appearance,
and again, people are a lot of people have been
reference in that finals, like, yo, this is going to
be another finals where it's just whack, And I'm like, no,
you know, point being, I just think this decade of
NBA hoops has given us a lot of interesting matchups
that we likely wouldn't have seen ten to fifteen years ago.

(08:20):
And again, myself included. You got to remember, there was
a time where a lot of us were complaining as
great as those a lot of those series were, it
was getting a little annoying to watch Warriors and Cavs
every single year. So now that we're getting different matchups, now,
folks want to complain, you know, I just I just
don't understand that. And I think on a deeper level though,
this is where I think a lot of this thought

(08:42):
process comes from. Think about it, my generation, all right,
specifically the Gen Z elders, right, we aren't necessarily used
to the younger, more exciting teams winning and making it
far in the playoffs. I think the free flowing style
of today's NBA, and really the way the has deviated
from the super team thing, where super teams aren't don't

(09:04):
carry the weight that they once did. I think all
of that has allowed contenders that don't necessarily look the
part to find success. You know, when we were growing up,
it was rare to see the heavyweights get booted. I
think of how close the two thousand and nine Bulls
were to defeating the defending champs in the opening round
that same postseason, while not as young as as the Bulls, right.

(09:27):
I think of how close the Houston Rockets were to
beating Kobe's Lakers in the semi finals, and that was
without Timak and y'ao me. I can't help but envision
the possibility of those upsets being successful if the play,
if the game was played like how it is today,
Because what we see today is more of what we
saw from the two thousand and seven Calves, the two

(09:48):
thousand and nine Orlando Magic, the twenty twelve OKC Thunder.
Those teams pop off my head instantly. You know. Lebron
at just twenty two years old, found a way to
essentially single handedly overcome the grid Detroit Pistons and led
his guys to go against the dynasty that the San
Antonio Spurs were, but of course he got swept. Right.
The Magic surrounded a twenty three year old Dwight Howard

(10:10):
with shooters, which was unique at that time, and they
found a way to come out of an Eastern Conference
that featured a sixty six and sixteen Cleveland Cavaliers team
and a sixty two to twenty Boston Celtics team. But
of course they only got one game versus the Lakers
in the finals, and then never forget the iconic Game
six the OKC Thunder had versus San Antonio Spurs in

(10:32):
twenty twelve, where they had to come back from as
many as eighteen to advance to the finals. Even then,
the Thunder had two prior playoff runs where they took
ls from the eventual champion Lakers and twenty ten and
the eventual champion MAVs in twenty eleven. So even as
young as they were, they had gotten some experience that

(10:52):
some veterans don't even get, right when you take those
two playoff runs and then that hard fought Game six
versus a great team that the Spurs were at even
though Russ and them, you know, Russ Kate either like
twenty two to twenty three years old, you know, hardened
twenty twenty one years old, like they had already been
through some stuff that would age you in NBA years, right,
and then still even after winning Game one versus the

(11:15):
Miami Heat that NBA Finals, they lost the next four games.
NBA history traditionally just isn't in favor of the younger
stars and teams. You know, obviously there are some exceptions,
right you look at two thousand and six with the Heat,
they had a nice amount of vets. But d Wade,
you know, at twenty four years old, was able to
get that. He was able to get that title, you know.

(11:37):
But the Spurs, you know, they had experienced vets. They
were always in championship conversations. The Celtics Big Three, they
had plenty of experience collectively. The Lakers they were a
more mature team that leaned on Phil Jackson, Kobe and
like Derek Fisher's leadership, right, the Big three Heat, they
had plenty of experience as a collective. That said, though,
you know, you think about the Warriors in twenty fifteen,

(11:58):
you know, they were a lot like what we're seeing
now from the Thunder and the Pacers. They had a
young big three, but also had a lot of veteran
role players, you know, Maurice Spates, Leandro Barbosa, you know,
the players like that. There were a lot of good
veteran role players to balance out the youth that the
Warriors had. That's that's the point that I'm trying to make.
Until that Warriors dynasty, we just didn't really see the

(12:20):
exciting teams win. You know, Dirk had some really good teams,
but Dirk took some rough ls. It took his team
a long time to win. As good as Steve Nash
and the Phoenix Suns were, they never won. The Lob
City Clippers at times seemed destined to win at some point,
and for various reasons, they just never got close. After

(12:41):
twenty twelve, the year they made the finals, OKC lost
Harden Russ eventually got hurt in the playoff run when
Pat Bitv ran into his knee. KD broke his foot
in twenty fifteen, and they eventually blew a three to
one lead in the conference finals in twenty sixteen. They
just never made it better. More often than not, the

(13:01):
teams would discipline and balance are the ones that win
games and win really make the NBA Finals. So I understand.
I bring all that up to say, I understand why
some might think the Pacers don't deserve to be here.
It don't make sense. You know, I understand why seeing
an OKC team that feels that still feels so young,
it might look weird at first glance. You know, if

(13:24):
you look at this NBA Finals, there are no veteran
soon to be Hall of famers trying to add to
their resume here, you know, dramatically, like if we're thinking
of it in the kind of dramatic fashion we always
seen it growing up. Nobody's legacy seems to be on
the line, right. There's no high stakes pressure here, right,
There's nobody with the Jordan Kobe Lebron type of global

(13:48):
face of the league. Everybody knows who I am, superstar them,
Like your grandma doesn't even watch basketball and she knows
who Lebron is. That type of figure. You know, there's
nobody in this He is like a Tim Duncan who
had three rings before he turned thirty, right, Like like
a legend in the making, you know, And again this

(14:09):
isn't to disguis like Shay and Tyree's. I absolutely think
they're legends in the making. But you know, like there's
nobody even like Dirk, right, somebody who we've watched for
try and fail for ten years before finally getting his
only title. You know, this is only shake Gilgers Alexander's
second playoff run as the star that we see him

(14:29):
as today. This is only Tyrese Haliburton's second playoff run
in general. Right, it looks I get it. It looks
weird to see these guys at center stage like this,
But welcome to the new NBA. We knew the league
was getting younger, and now people are suddenly surprised when
younger teams, even small market teams who have built through

(14:50):
the draft, you know, have built their rosters to reach
the NBA finals in what feels like historic time. Remember
what I said in my last episode, don't miss out
on the beauty of the present by comparing it to
the past. Like I said, we did not get these
kind of matchups growing up. Imagine if we were able
to see Carmelo's Nuggets make it in two thousand and nine,

(15:12):
and Brown was able to overcome Orlando and we got
bron versus Melo in the two thousand and nine finals.
How exciting that would have been. You know, how exciting
the Chicago Bulls and the OKC Thunder would have been
in twenty twelve, say d ros didn't get hurt, right,
or even if you look to twenty eighteen, where that
up and coming Celtics team, that new look Celtics team,

(15:33):
you know, had they been able to face the Houston
Rockets at James Harden's peak, right, if they were able
to overcome the Warriors, like we missed out on these
kind of matchups. So enjoy these talented players and mature
leaders like Shae Gilgers, Alexander and Tyrese Haliburton having this
opportunity so young, because we did not see that coming up.

(15:54):
To say that this is the NBA Finals you know
that the NBA didn't want, or that it's gonna be
the worst one in years, to me, is just a false,
asinine take. Like this is the finals real basketball fans
and NBA fans will appreciate, and I wholeheartedly believe it's
gonna deliver and close what has already been an amazing postseason.

(16:15):
We're definitely gonna get into the actual game stuff itself,
believe me. But I had to address the Oscar Meyer
out here and let these folks know that they are
being blinded by the beauty of this finals matchup by
focusing on the wrong thing All right. Next up, I'll
be talking all things Pacers and Thunder in these strengths Okay,
see strengths Shay's leadership, ty Reese's skill set, and much

(16:37):
more before hearing my keys to the game for each
team and my finals prediction. But before all that, if
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(16:58):
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represent the H two DG lifestyle. Welcome back to Hip
to the Games, and now we can get into the
fun part right What actually matters the fact that the
two best teams are ready to battle for the Larry. Now,

(17:20):
I'll admit I had concerns about both of these teams
at some point, despite the Thunder being my pick to
come out the West before the season started, I still
had some doubts that their surrounding pieces would be able
to contribute offensively, especially in off the dribble situations. But
to my surprise, guys like Cason Wallace you know, has
shown to hit a couple bailout close range jumpers. I

(17:42):
didn't think he had that in him right. Similarly, Alex
Caruso has shown to hit some floaters in the close range,
some little one dribble pull ups in the lane when
left open, you know, maybe in a late shot clocks situation.
Even a guy like Kenrich Williams has gotten some short
bursts of minutes and found a way to sneak some
points on board in okay C's favor, you know. And
while my opinion hasn't totally changed, I've definitely been pleased

(18:06):
to see how these guys have found a way to
contribute offensively. Likewise, I felt that Indiana was not as
confident in their half court game, despite the offensive skill
set Pascal Siaka presents in the post in the mid
range area, and you know the way Tyreez Haliburton can
shoot from thirty feet and even while ray are, a
guy like Miles Turner can score on the block you know,

(18:27):
he shoots a lot of face up jumpers. You know
he's out in the three point line, but he can
score on the block when you give it to him.
And even with those talents, I just feared it would
be easy to jam up those role players and force
a bad shot, which we have seen flashes of in
the Pacers last two series. Nonetheless, both of these teams
have stuck to what works for them, no matter how

(18:49):
it varies on a night to night basis, and it
has paid off. Now last episode, I gave my flowers
to Indiana. In this episode, I wanted to show some
love to OKAC for a historic season. I realized, Man,
I was so you know, I think it was I
got caught up in the whole, like, okay, s he's
the best team, so they don't need their flowers, like,
let's focus on some of the other things. But then

(19:09):
it dawned on me, like, man, I just really haven't
shown them their proper love, even for them to be
my preseason pick, I just haven't shown them their love,
and you know quite a while. So first off, I
just wanted to say I love how Shay Gildris Alexander
has set the tone for this group, it's clear as
day Shay is a bit of an old soul. Me
and him are the same age. And again, I think

(19:29):
he's one of the few guys you know, in these
this crop of young stars that genuinely follows a lot
of the old school of values and principles. That's why
I'm a fan of his, because he sees the value
in it. And lo and behold here he is arguably
the best player in the league. Right he lets his
teammates enjoy their success, but he's also the same guy

(19:50):
that keeps them level headed, reminding them that their job
ain't done yet. You know, he rarely looks rattled, and
even when they get their butt kicked, he understands it's
an opportunity to to learn from the mistakes, handle adversity,
and bounce back. And you know, the other thing I'll
say about Shay is that, yes, you can tell he
studied a guy like Kobe Bryant based on his skill

(20:13):
set right, the mid range arsenal, the pivot work, it's
all there. But it's also his demeanor. I know people
get carried away when it comes to comparisons, but when
I was watching the Conference finals, it dawned on me
shake Gilgess Alexander is probably what Kobe Bryant would have
looked like if he had the wisdom of his thirty
two year old self at twenty four. Mind you, Kobe

(20:36):
already came into the league a lot more mature than
his peers and even some of his veterans, but he
went through his stages of being known to take the
highlight over the right play right, the tougher shot instead
of the extra pass, and his brash personality didn't help
his case as a leader when he was younger. But
from twenty eight to twenty ten, we saw Kobe grow

(20:58):
much more understanding of his teammates and realized he could
keep his intense motivational tactics but now blend those with
his empathy for his teammates' individual personalities and their life journeys,
something he didn't bother to care about in his younger days.
And this is exactly what I meant when two seasons ago.

(21:20):
If you remember, I mentioned that Paolo Bancaro had such
an impressive rookie season. Because we are officially in the
era where guys have benefited from YouTube, these young stars
are a part of the generation who always had their phones,
always had access to watch their favorite players and study
every bit of them. And call me crazy, but I

(21:41):
feel like that's genuinely what Shai Gilgers Alexander has done,
because that's how I thought about it myself. Okay, what
did Kobe learn at thirty two that I can learn
at twenty six? How can I learn from what he
did well but adjust what he didn't do so well.
I'm as competitive as Kobe, but I'm a nice, chill guy.

(22:03):
I don't really like, you know, yelling at folks or
getting down on my teammates. I want to uplift them
a little more. How can I use that difference in
our personality to to my and my teammates benefit. This
is what Kobe looked like in an NBA that was
more physical and les less spaced out. What would he
would have done in this era where there's more space,

(22:24):
where there's more pick and roll opportunities? Would he take
more threes or treat it like a haymaker in boxing?
Because I was watching the games, like, man, you forget
that Shay is a very respectable three point shooter because
he looks for the mid range so much. Shay has
clearly done his homework. He gets it. That's why he's

(22:45):
the MVP and and a part of one of the
best teams historically. I totally get why the youngins if
you pay attention, the youngins love Shay, and I think
that's why they want him to be the face of
the league so bad, because his answer to the media
are mature. He's great on the court. He's merged the
old school mid range game with the modern esque dribbles,

(23:07):
change of pace, and lay up packages. Right, he can
lay up off the wrong foot, he can scoop it,
he can take a different angle, throw the defense off,
you know, all those flashy things. And contrary to popular belief,
Shay understands that great scores know how to get to
the free throw line. Yeah, you know, I had to
talk about it. You know I had to talk about it.
I know it's a hot topic now, But throughout NBA history,

(23:30):
the guys that got to the free throw line the
most were either the most aggressive or the most savvy.
And I acknowledge. Sometimes it does look ugly. Sometimes it
can get annoying to watch. Sometimes Shay will get a
call that he probably shouldn't have gotten, but make no
mistake his change of pace. The fact that you have
to honor his mid range accuracy is why so many

(23:51):
guys fall for his pump fakes in the first place.
You have to honor that. If you play too soft,
you know, he'll just push off your momentum and hit
that step back Jay or if you play too tight,
he'll take you with him. Is a and one. The
pump fakes that we see are no different than what
we saw from d Wade and Kobe. If you watched
d Wade, Kobe Bryant, even Michael Jordan growing up, you

(24:15):
shouldn't be complaining the use of shake. Gilgris Alexander's off
arm is not much different than what we've seen Prime
James Harden do. The average fan doesn't realize how hard
it can be to catch those movements in real time
if you're a referee, especially knowing that they're at specific
spots on assignment on the floor. I set it on

(24:36):
my YouTube channel. There were always tricks to the trade.
Nowadays we have the luxury of slow motion replays, so
you can see when a guy you know hooks a
arm or whatever you know. They said back in the day.
Tim duncan even shoot DeMarcus Cousin said, even old Tim Duncan,
his trick to the trade was always I'm gonna pull
you down with my off arm and go up for

(24:57):
the block. Right. It wasn't all the slow mode replay
and all the dissecting in the snitching, if I'm being honest,
the snitching that's going on now, it wasn't like that
back in the day. This is nothing new. Shake Gilgers
Alexander is a high usage score. It comes a point
where you don't want to drop thirty points on thirty
shots every night. If you plan on playing eighty two

(25:19):
games you think you want to, you want it to
take thirty shots to get thirty points just because you
feel you want to play to a certain preference. And
mind you Shake Gilgers Alexander does not play off ball.
So he's not getting pinned downs for catching shoot middies,
he's not getting backdoor cuts for easy layups, and he's
not always the one getting the bucket in transition because

(25:41):
his other teammates are so good defensively. Add in the
fact that he's facing zones, traps, doubles, even three bodies
at a time, he knows he's got to get to
the line to still get the thirty points his team
benefits from while conserving his energy in the process, and
it results in the more efficient thirty point games we
see from him. I understand at times for some it

(26:02):
can be annoying to watch. I get it, But me personally,
I can't knock the hustle because the reality is, while
Shay is a part of the business, that entertainment side
of the NBA, he does not play this game of
basketball to satisfy your preference of how he scores. I
had to get my take on the foul the foul
baiting situation, because I think it's just getting a it's

(26:24):
getting a little crazy. You know, we're acting like we
didn't see great scores get to the free throw line.
Like I know a lot of people you know, around
my age have been saying it, like if you're complaining
about Shaye right now, you would have hated d Wade
back in the day. And even then, Like I remember
watching d Wade and like what what? What had me
is that he was so electrifying getting to the rim

(26:45):
and he eventually developed that pump fake. I wasn't even
thinking about foul merchant, foul bait or whatever you know,
all these terms like sure you know, was every call
a legit foul? You could debate that, But for the
most part, he was aggressive. He was always at the rim.
He was more likely to get touched up, But I digress. Additionally,

(27:08):
what makes ok See scary is the fact that they
have two All Star caliber players alongside the MVP and
Jalen Williams and chet Holmgren. Even scarier to think that
Chet Holmgren hasn't even reached the level of what he
was drafted to become yet. J Dubb is special because
he's a strong small forward who is able to play
the small ball four and even plays the small ball

(27:29):
five at times and holds his own. He's an All
NBA defender. He has a great knack to turn defense
into offense. And while we gush over Shade's ability to
score in the mid range, J Dubb has a similar
skill set as well. He often uses snatchbacks and behind
the back moves to create space for his shot and
can find his way into the close range area and

(27:50):
hit different drifters and fades like that's really impressed me
over the last year or so. You know, he just
knows how to make the right, plays on both ends
of the floor. In some games, JDub is an energy guy,
you know. Other games, he's the d way to SHA's lebron,
which is the role I think Jadub performs at his best.
An aggressive Jalen Williams like we saw in Game four

(28:12):
versus Minnesota, is the version of him that really takes
Okac over the top. Same thing with Chet. He's not
necessarily a post up player, nor is he an isolation guy.
Shay said it himself. They don't really run plays for Chet.
Imagine they don't run plays for second Pick overall, Chet Holmgren,
you know. Like but Chet's ability to find his place

(28:33):
in a game, whether that means focusing on being a
rim protector or using his small forward esque skill set
to step up his aggressiveness offensively, that's what makes him
somebody to worry about, especially because they don't run sets
for him. Great plug and play player. The fact that
this big three is so young, so talented, you know,
Okac just has so much room to nurture this core

(28:55):
and even adjust it if they ever feel the need to.
Like this truly puts OKC in a position to potentially
potentially be that next dynasty we see in the league.
I know there's a lot of talk of like, oh,
there's so much parody in the league. We're never gonna
see anybody repeat as champions. We're never gonna see another
dynasty because there's so much parody. And I and in
some ways I agree, but I really think what OKAC

(29:17):
has right now and how much they're able to work
with and the growth that still has yet to be
had from even their best players, they they might very
well be the next dynasty and shake Gilgess. Alexander might
very well be that next kind of you know, Stephen Curry,
Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, x Figure sque figure where it's
like multi champion, you know, all the All Stars, a

(29:39):
couple of MVPs, you know, the whole nine. So, okayc
is in a dope spot, you know, as long as
you have those three guys with hungary, selfless defenders, scrappy
rebounding and contributors like Alex Caruso, Caseon, Wallace, Lou Dort,
Isaiah Hartenstein, Aaron Wiggins, Isaiah Joe j a y l
I N Williams. Right, Okay, se can hoop at this

(30:01):
level for a long time, a long time, as long
as they stay healthy. Now on the pacer side of things,
this has been a team that you have to compete
with for forty eight minutes. They play fast, they move
the ball, and play with high energy. And a big
reason they can play high energy is because they use
all of their rotation. Again, depth is everything in this NBA.

(30:24):
The two teams in the finals right now are living
proof of that. They have done away with the traditional
eight or nine man playoff rotation and said, no, we
have ten or eleven guys that can contribute. So just
when you think you've seen everybody who's gonna play, here
comes Kenrick Kenrick Williams to score four quick buckets to
cap off a ten oher run and force you to

(30:46):
use a timeout, right, because now it's like, well, shoot,
just when we couldn't stop Shay jdubb Chet, here comes
you know what seems like a random guy off the bench,
another guy that I don't even know how to game
plan for because he just came in and gave in minutes,
you know, or even for Indy. Right, let's sneak in
Tony Bradley after a TV timeout to get us a

(31:07):
couple extra rebounds. You know, that'll give us extra possessions
in the last two minutes of the second quarter, right,
And that's not even mentioning how a guy like TJ
McConnell pushes the tempo, how aaron Ne Smith is a
really good three and D player, how Ben Matherin can
drive to the hoop when he's aggressive, or how Obi
Toppen is the perfect transition player for a guy like
Tyre's Halliburton. The Pacers are a collective of selfless, high

(31:31):
energy dudes that don't care how they contribute as long
as it ends in a win. But of course it
starts with their star guard, Tyre's Halliburton, who's had an
amazing playoff run. He's been as clutch as I've seen
anyone be. He can get after it on defense when
he's locked in on that end, and I think, you know,
obviously it's the it's the dimes man. He can drop

(31:52):
fifteen dimes with zero turnovers. It's it's really funny. Marcus
Morris went viral that morning of I's historic game for
a triple double, you know, comparing Tyree to future Hall
of Famer Chris Paul, And at first I was like, Okay,
you know, let's chill for a second. Pumpy breaks. You know,
let's not forget Chris Paul was doing what he was

(32:13):
doing as a floor general while being one of the
best on ball defenders at the point guard position in
NBA history, also being one of the best pickpockets in
NBA history. Tyree is balling, but he ain't No. CP three, right?
But then I thought, well, Tyrese has shown to have
zero turnover games like Chris Paul. He's helped teams get

(32:37):
to the conference finals. Like Chris Paul. He's made it
to the finals much sooner than Chris did. He's just
as clutch. He does have a small sample size of
potentially being able to develop that mid range game that
Chris Paul developed. The similarities are certainly there. In fact,
I would even go as far as saying this, Tyrese

(32:58):
Haliburton reminds me of Magic Johnson off the simple fact
of why play slow when we can run teams out
the gym. Let's not forget how Magic changed the NBA
game by leading an up tempo team to multiple championships.
That was the critique back in the day. How is
just like we say now, how does a slow team

(33:20):
win games. Back then, they were saying, how does a
fast team win games? You know? Similarly, we've watched the
Indiana Pacers beat teams with a transition heavy style of
play in an environment where it didn't seem like it
could work long term. Coach Carlisle has made it work
for Indy, and Mark Daignault has been a genius for
okc's defense first identity. This year's finals is a match

(33:43):
made in heaven. I've certainly set the scene for this
matchup here on H two DG, but now it's time
to get into the nitty gritty of the series. I'm
gonna take a quick break first, but get ready to
get into the matchups, trends, strengths, weaknesses for both teams.
Next on Hip to the Games. So what's up? I'm
Desmond and I'm the host and creator of Hip to
the Games, a podcast from nineteen media group from hot

(34:05):
topics across the NBA. How can you say we done
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and present. If you two love the game of basketball
and the game of rap, that means you're hip to

(34:26):
the games. But no matter where you fall on that spectrum,
I'm sure you'll find your place in the H two
DG family, and I encourage you to join the fund.
He has a little more Knock if You Buck if
you will, every other Friday on your favorite podcast platform
or YouTube, courtesy of the Home Teams nineteen media group.

(34:51):
So how will these two teams fare against each other? Well,
I expect Indiana to run the anybody but Shaye defensive
strategy that most teams I've been running this postseason, right,
And what scares me about OKC is that if they
are having dry spells from three point land with that
defensive strategy, the Pacers are gonna be off and running

(35:13):
is over with. And the more that OKAC misses, the
more opportunities Indiana will have to have to do what
they do best. Again, this isn't gonna be like Denver,
where when they were missing shots, you know you knew
that they were gonna run a post up with Jokic
or maybe a dh O with Jamal Murray or something
like that. Right, this isn't like Memphis who didn't have

(35:34):
any creators outside of John Morant and you could say
Desmond Bine. You know, a team that just struggled in
the half court like Indiana is going to take that
misshot and go the opposite direction like thank you, easy points.
You know what I'm saying, that's what they want. So
if i'm OKC, I'm keying in on two things. Number one, rebounding,

(35:56):
especially the offensive boards, just like they showed versus the Timberwolves.
And number two, the aggressiveness of Jalen Williams. We saw
how both of these factors helped the Thunder go up
three to one versus Minnesota in what was otherwise easily
could have been a two to two tie. The reason
OKC one in the end was because of the extra
possessions they got throughout the game and the fact that

(36:17):
Jalen Williams kept his foot on the neck all game long.
Fortunately for them, Isaiah Hartenstein will have the rebound advantage
versus Yakam and home Grin should be able to with
stan Miles Turner, who is more of a stretch big
like I said earlier, and thus has never been a
great rebounder. But wildly enough, though, I think the most

(36:40):
important rebounder Okac may have to worry about is actually
Tyrese Haliburton because, similarly to Rajon Rondo and Russell Westbrook,
Tyreese Halliburton seems to be at his best when the
Pacers let him get the rebound and push the brake.
We saw that in Game four versus the Knicks, tyres
was the team's highest rebounder with twelve tyme Carl Anthony

(37:00):
Towns for the most in the entire game. The next
best rebounder on the Pacers was Pascal Siakam who had five.
Everyone else had less than four, even Miles Turner at
six to eleven, and they still beat the Knicks. Okac
has shown that they have the hustle to win fifty
to fifty balls and scrap for extra possessions, but in

(37:22):
a series like this, it might have to be more
about keeping the ball from Indiana as opposed to just
getting extra opportunities to score points. If that makes sense.
You almost gotta play defense in that way, right like
you gotta get the fifty to fifty balls even if
you're not scoring. That's an extra possession that Indiana can't
go off and run, So you gotta take pride in

(37:43):
those even more if you're ok. See. Additionally, I think,
presuming Aaron Nee Smith tackles the Shay matchup just because
he has he's a little bit bigger than Andrew Nemhart,
Jalen Williams should have a size strength advantage on Nemhard
or Haliburton. But even then, right like let's say Hall
or let's say Nemhr wants to tackle that Shay matchup,
you know, Jalen Williams can probably hold his own versus

(38:04):
Aaron Ne Smith. That would be a fun matchup to
watch because those guys aren't gonna let up against each other.
But let's say, you know, they choose to put Nie
Smith on Shaye. It's it's interesting for Indiana because you know,
do you risk losing a key player to foul trouble
by having them hard guard Shay instead of Nie Smith?
Like this is what this is what I'm anxious to

(38:26):
see because it seems to be a no win situation
for the Pacers. Whoever guards Shay will have to be
careful with their defensive aggression. Yet, if a smaller or
weaker defender is on J Dubb, he will be able
to channel that aggression we saw in the series versus
Memphis and in the series versus Minnesota. Now, talent wise,
I think it's fair to say that Indiana's bench is

(38:47):
better at scoring than Okac's bench. So unless Okac is
turning defense to offense, the non Shay Gildris Alexander minetes
are going to be super important. We know Okac has
the tendency to keep teams around once Shay goes to
the bench. I've stressed this all year. The games where
J dub is aggressive when Shay is on the bench

(39:08):
are the games they tend to do well. But if
he decides to go through the motions, this is where
a team like the Indiana Pacers can use those minutes
to pad a lead or even come back in a game,
similar to what we've seen them do throughout the playoffs.
I love the defensive versatility a team like okayc can
bring in a series versus the Pacers. But I'll put

(39:28):
it like this, with guys like Caruso, dor J Dubb,
and Wallace, I anticipate, instead of one og Ananobi is
gonna be like two or three clones of him out
there this time. The Pacers have to watch out for that.
Og Nanobi was probably the best nick who who I
would say in terms of who gave the most energy.

(39:50):
Og Nanobi was the best nick I would say games
four through six, and he was getting in the passing lanes,
he was locking up. You know, I felt terrible for
Aaron Nee Smith because I'm like, dude, you just have
no chance versus og and Anobi, Like you're you're not
a guy that can that's a half court operator, Like
he's gonna stonewall you every time. And we saw a

(40:11):
lot of possessions like that. So now imagine it's it's
Lou Door over here, Caruso over here, JDub over here,
Cason Wallas as a point of attack, like there's no
weak links there. So so imagine what OKC can do
with that. So again I say, I love what Indy
has been able to do this postseason, but they do
not want the guys not name Halliburton or Siakam operating

(40:33):
off the dribble versus the in your face defenders that
OKAC has. You know, they might get a little cup.
I'm not saying they'll just be scoreless, but it's gonna
be trouble. I anticipated be in trouble. I'll even say
this to me. This should be okac's easiest matchup since
Memphis in terms of man to man defense, yet it

(40:54):
will be their hardest test yet in terms of facing
a team with elite ball movement and a team that's
equally as good as them in transition. And as I
wrap up this conversation with Oka See, I want to
finish on the topic of defense, because where the Knicks
messed up versus Indiana was when they tried to play
the pacer style in Game four. Sure, they came back,

(41:16):
they won Game five, but then Game six was kind
of a little bit of a It was a little
bit of a mix, but especially Game four, if you noticed,
the best minutes they played were the times they stuck
to their method of play. Y'all can play fast, but
you ain't about to rush us. But it eventually got
to the point where the Pacers were finding so much

(41:36):
success playing fast, the Knicks decided to do the same.
And in some ways it did make sense, as they
were trying to score before the Pacers defense got set right.
But that up and down basketball was never the New
York Knicks formula, and it's partially why they committed so
many turnovers. Because you're not playing your game. I've been

(41:57):
saying in all playoffs, man, you do not beat the
India Yana Pacers playing their game. And so many teams
have succumbed to that. Remember, I'll even give you an example.
Remember when we were kids and we took tests in school,
and sometimes you could be cruising at your own pace,
or I studied. I was getting a's on a homework,

(42:17):
you know, a couple of bees. You know, I'm doing
my thing, I'm ready for the test. I'm cruising, you know.
But suddenly you see some of your classmates finishing faster
than you. I mean, like one by one, everybody's putting
up giving a paper to the teacher. Three classmates, turns
to six, Six turns to ten, and you take a
peek around the room, like you realizing you're not finishing

(42:39):
as fast. So then you start overthinking, does this mean
my answers are wrong? Did I skip a question on an accident?
Like what if my classmates think I'm dumb because I'm
taking longer to finish? You know, some kids might fold
under that make believe pressure and try to hurry up
and finish instead of sticking to what got them there. Right.
In reality, the kids who finish fast are sometimes the

(43:02):
same ones who got the worst grades. But you can
get so caught up in what's going around you you
lose focus, right, And the secure kids are the ones
who are like, look, I don't care if I gotta
come back at lunchtime to finish my test. Like I'm
gonna take my time, stay with my momentum, and I'm
gonna make sure the answers are done to the best
of my ability. And I give this example to say,

(43:24):
if you follow me, the Knicks should have been the
latter kid. Right. It's just like the Warriors in their heyday.
Everybody that tried to stay in games shooting hella threes
embarrassed themselves. And remember basketball is a teacher. Basketball is
a teacher. So I hope you peep the life lesson
in this. The teams that lost to the Warriors and

(43:45):
now the Pacers succumb to the wisdom of life. Run
your race. What works for you ain't supposed to work
for everybody because we're all unique. Everybody got a different path.
Do what you do do you and stick to what
works for you. Thankfully, I don't expect, okay see to
fall into that trap. But that is something that I'm

(44:07):
gonna be key keying in on. Are they finally gonna
learn from these other Eastern Conference teams and say, nah,
we're not falling for it now? Speaking of to speaking
of sticking to what works, what defensive strategy may work
against the Pacers who seem impossible to keep up with.
After all, the Pacers barely ran any sets in Game
four versus the Knicks, so much of it was go,

(44:29):
go go, whether made or missshots, quick and bound speed
up the floor, get a bucket. Now, At first, I
believe the Knicks they didn't do the best job forming
a wall on defense to prevent those transition looks they
often but but what really happened is that they often
struggled to sprint back on defense, and even if their
defense was set, they gave Tyree's Halliburton too much space

(44:51):
to come up the floor and gave him that freedom
to orchestrate the offense in a clean manner. So that
that's where my thoughts initially, but after hearing Tim Legler's
analysis on ESPN, I realized the Knicks primary issue was
wasn't solely their wall up defense, but more more so
their pressure on Tyrese Halliburton specifically, I presume the Knicks,

(45:13):
you know, they didn't want to guard him ninety four
feet because when picking up full court, you have to
take that risk of the offensive player blowing by you
for an easy lay up or driving kick opportunity. And
that's exactly what you don't want to give the Pacers.
But then I had a thought. Remember the twenty nineteen
Raptors versus Buck series where the Raptors were able to
come back down two to zero to win the series

(45:35):
thanks to the simple adjustment of Kawhi, Leonard gard and
Giannis Antetokumpo. Kawhi being one of the best on ball
defenders in NBA history, he chose to wall up Giannis,
knowing that number one, he wasn't a great half court
scorer and number two he would be more reluctant to
attack Kawhi one on one versus a weaker defender. Additionally,

(45:55):
Kawhi made a similar adjustment in twenty twenty one versus
Dallas Mavericks. He decided to guard Luka Donci's full court,
knowing that he could tire out Luca since he already
controlled so much of the MAVs offense. Right this was
yet another series that featured Kawhi Leonard team coming back
down from a two to zero series deficit. So I'm

(46:17):
sitting back and I'm thinking, what if OKC combined these
two strategies versus the Pacers. Imagine lou Dort garden Tyrese
ninety four feet while the other players focus on getting
back on defense. This way, Tyreese can't observe the floor
as easily, and his teammates, like Pascal siakam Obi topping,
they can't leak out like two thousand and seven Randy Moss.

(46:38):
You know what I'm saying. Of course, all this is
much easier said than done, and much easier after made
baskets than missus. But it's certainly worth a try, especially
when you factor in that Alex Caruso in case and
Wilders can do the same job so it doesn't all
fall on lou Dort's shoulders. Three fresh bodies are gonna

(46:59):
be able to guard one player ninety four feet over
the course of forty eight minutes. That sounds like a
nightmare to me, because the best thing about guys like
Alex Caruso, Caseon Wallace and Lou Dort is that they
aren't asked to carry a heavy responsibility offensively. So when
you can give them an assignment like this, and when
they have an assignment like this, it becomes their sole focus.

(47:22):
Oh you mean it's my sole job to make sure
Tyree's Halliburton takes seven seconds to get the ball up
to have court that he has to turn his back
around and he can't look forward and try to, you know,
be the floor general that he is. You mean to
tell me that's the only thing I gotta worry about
is Tyree's Halliburton. Oh yeah, oh yeah. This is the

(47:45):
Tony Allens, the Gary Payton's, even though Gary Payton had
a lot of responsibility as the point guard. But I think,
like as a defender might bese all NBA defenders, this
is what they do best. The best thing you can
do is give them an assignment like this. Offensive player's
worst nightmare is a defender that has made it their
sole mission to stop them. The Knicks weren't able to

(48:07):
do this as much because guys like Mikal Bridges and
og Ananobi still needed to produce offensively for the team.
But for OKAC, they legit have three players that can
rotate this responsibility like a work shift. If I'm Dort
Caruso and Cason Wallace, I'm treating this like MJ and
Pippen taking turns Garden Tony Kukoch in the ninety two Olympics.

(48:30):
But even then, they haven't faced anybody in the playoffs
that can pull from Steph Curry, Damian Lillard range until
now having to face Tyrese Haliburton. So OKAC is gonna
have to be careful to move their pressure up versus
Tyres because of his ability to see the floor and
the fact he can make deep threes. So those are

(48:50):
my keys for OKC. Guard Tyree ninety four feet wall
up in transition, get back on defense, take care of
the boards, most notably the offensive glass. You know, get
those fifty to fifty balls. Empower JDub to be aggressive
and force the Pacers to embrace a half court game. Now,
most of these come on defense, so they shouldn't be

(49:10):
too hard for the league's best defense. But as always,
this is the Indiana Pacers who have earned their ticket
to the NBA Finals. And at the end of the day,
I'm just a fan with a podcast, or it's up
to the guys on the court and in the locker
room to get it done. You know. Like I said,
I always say I am never I never want to
come up here like I'm the smartest and like I
know it all. But these are just some of the

(49:31):
things that I see in the series. Now it's time
to go to the other side with the Indiana Pacers. Now,
right off the bat, the Pacers need to take care
of the basketball like it's their child, because if OKC
is forcing turnovers, it's trouble. Granted, Tyreese is great at
running the show and protecting the pill but we saw
flashes of this versus New York and Cleveland, especially New

(49:53):
York right Ogananobi Delon Wright. These are guys that were
able to get into the passing lanes. And as great
as the Pacers are offensively swinging the rock, great defenders
know how to read one pass ahead, right. It's something
that I learned in radio. Right, Like you're coached to
if you're reading a script, you read one line ahead,

(50:15):
so it sounds more natural. Defenses in the NBA do
the same exact thing. If you can face a team
that moves the ball a lot, if you can be
one step ahead up here, you can read that pass
and get a turnover. I saw Ognanobe do that a
lot versus the Pacers, you know. And one thing about
a team that likes to drive and kick, you know,

(50:36):
like I said, is that as a defender, you can
time a lot of those passes, especially against a team
that doesn't have a go to shot creator to stop
that ball movement. So if you know they like to swing,
you can kind of read ahead of time. If you
face a team enough, you're gonna be able to jump
on those passes. And you know this is out of
the Pacers' control, but they do have to watch out

(50:56):
for this because the thunder have very active hands. If
you thought oh Oo, Giananobi was bad, like I said,
just imagine four more on the court, you know. So
fewer pocket passes are gonna be safe, fewer of those
Tyree's jump passes are gonna be sure right, the skip
passes are gonna be even more dangerous. So right off
the bat, my first key for the Indiana Pacers is
to take care of the basketball force. The OKC role

(51:20):
players to try to find a rhythm outside of transition opportunities,
because if I'm the Indiana Pacers, I don't want to
see Alex Caruso, Kesel Wallace, Lou Dort. I don't want
to be chasing them for transition buckets. I want them
to be so fed up that they're not getting those
stops that they have to find a rhythm offensively in
a half court, which they're not used to doing. All right,

(51:41):
So secondly, I've referenced the game four versus the Knicks
a lot this episode, and another thing that happened in
this game was that Ben Matherin managed to get twenty
points in just twelve minutes of action. He was able
to attack the basket, which I said in my last
episode was gonna be a great third option behind Siakam
and Hall in the half court. The rim pressure of

(52:02):
TJ McConnell and Ben Matheren was gonna be so imperative,
and it paid off in that game. For you know,
the fact that he can come off the bench and
have that kind of impact is what gives me faith
in Indiana that they can hang versus the thunder. That's
what the Timberwolves were missing right, somebody outside of Ant
and Randall to give some kind of aggressive scoring punch.

(52:23):
The Pacers have that in Ben Matheren and like I said,
TJ McConnell. Additionally, Matherin's rim pressure led him to go
ten of eleven from the free throw line, so to
score twenty points on like eight shots and he went
ten of eleven from the free throw line in just
twelve minutes. Absolutely insane, and it does show just how

(52:45):
impactful he can be when he's locked in on the
game and not the antics, kind of like what we
saw versus Cleveland. And that even reminds me too, believe
it or not. Another key of mine for the Indiana
Pacers is the mental game. I've said it before. With
all well the challenges nowadays and not playing in the
NBA that's physical all year long. Too many players are

(53:06):
complaining the second a call doesn't go their way. It
happened versus the Timberwolves, it happened versus the Grizzlies. The
minute these teams get in their feelings about Okac's physicality,
that's when the leads go from twelve to twenty four
in the blink of an eye. Okayc don't care about
your feelings. They play ball check ball. The Pacers will
be able to weather OKC storms better if they don't

(53:29):
let their opponents see them sweat. Right, I kind of
saw that versus the New York Knicks a few times.
The Pacers and even the Cleveland Cavaliers, you know, when
they face the stiff for defense on a particular game,
they got a little in their feelings and it threw
them off up here. And this was the exact thing
that the Lakers had to learn in two thousand and eight, right,
most notably Kevin Garnett, Kendrick Perkins. They took Pyl Gasol's

(53:52):
lunch money. You know, they were similar to OKC KG Perk,
Leon Poe, Tony Allen. These dudes were dog man and
that team beat up the Lakers. That's why Kobe Powell,
Ariza d Fish, lamar Odom in company. They came back
a year later more mentally tough, which made them more
physically tough. You saw the difference in pol Gasol in

(54:15):
nine compared to eight. You saw how Kobe looked a
little extra locked in. No, he was not smiling. I
don't think Kobe, Brian and Powgasol smiled all of two
thousand and nine. Like the beast that we saw Kobe
and Powell become in two thousand and nine was because
they got their butt kicked in two thousand and eight.
The best thing about the Pacers is that they rarely
believe they are out of games, and that energy is

(54:38):
gonna have to come in handy in a series versus
this relentless OKC team. Even in the midst of not
getting calls and things of that nature, you gotta believe
that you can still win because that's what got you here.
So the Pacers gotta really be locked in up here
because so many teams lose against the OKC thunder because
they get in their feelings about the files now. Additionally,

(54:58):
I think Pascal Siakam should go all out this series.
He's done an excellent job playing within the offense, making
the impact on multiple areas of the game. But I
kind of see him the same way I see j
Doub for OKCE and aggressive. Pascal Siakam is my favorite
one to watch. He is the best version Game two,
in Game four, Siakam in Game six Siakam versus the

(55:20):
Knicks is the version I like to see, especially when
Okac goes small, he's got to take advantage because he'll
likely have Hartenstein on him. So with Hartenstein, he may
be able to get that jumper going because he won't
be able to be as aggressive going to the basket.
And when they go small, he can attack the paint.
I look for him to supplement his buckets in that way, right,

(55:42):
or maybe vice versa. Maybe you want to attack Hartenstein
and get him in foul trouble. Now they go small
and you can get the post Fay going, right, so
he can mix it up. But that's just how I
see it. I would like for him to not be
a guy that goes through the motions. The Pacers always
look more dangerous when he hits first offensively because he
is their half court guy. How Yokachas, Jamal Murray, you know,

(56:04):
even Shay you could say having j Dubb. I'm trying
to think of other examples, even you know Jannis having Dame. Right,
that's what Pascal Siakam is for this Pacers team. He
even though it's a different version, he is that guy
that they need to look at to get a bucket
when they need it the most. So his aggression is
everything to me. You know, and even then, I would

(56:25):
even say the same for Tyre's Halliburton. I've said it before.
The league is lucky that Tyree's Halliburton is more of
a floor general because he's actually a cold scorer too.
I've been watching him this playoffs, like, dude, you should
be shooting more and there are gonna be moments where
Indy needs his buckets. So again, as great of a
floor general as he is, I would like to see

(56:47):
him balance both scoring and playmaking the ways he did
in Game one and Game four versus the Knicks, because
that's imperative for him. He's such a cold scorer, He's
gonna they're gonna need that at times, you know, you
especially versus the OKC defense. You know, he can't always
rely on them role players. Tyree's gonna have to get
a bucket, and last, but certainly not the least, the

(57:09):
Pacers have to stay out of foul trouble and going
into a series versus a guy like Shay Gilges Alexander,
who can often get to the free throw line whenever
he wants. That's gonna be a lot easier said than done.
Out of the four Conference finals teams, they committed the
most files with twenty five, which is more than the
twenty three they've committed in the playoffs overall, which is
also the most among the sixteen teams that were involved

(57:31):
this year. So playing defense without filing is definitely not
a strength for this team. And again we saw that
versus the Knicks. The Pacers don't really have those big wings,
so guys like Nemhard, Nie Smith, McConnell, Mathering, He's a
little bit bigger, but like a lot of these guys,
try to get in a low stance and play physical
because they lack and height. And I love it and

(57:53):
I respect it, but it's not gonna go well versus
team like OKCE because when you're playing that physical defense,
you risk playing over aggressive. The Cavs saw early leads
versus the Pacers a few times. Because Tyree's got two
quick files, best believe Okac will try to do the same.
So in summary, Indie has to protect the pill. Ben
Matheren has to be the X factor, specifically with his

(58:15):
ability to get to the rim. They have to stay
level headed and withstand Okac's physicality. Both Pascal Siakam and
Tyrese Haliburton will have to go to work scoring the
basketball a little bit more often than they usually do,
and they absolutely have to watch the files. So with
all that said, who do I think is gonna win
this series? I could probably organize five different versions of

(58:37):
this episode trying to give different insights. I went through
so many ideas in my head of how this episode
could go. But at the end of the day, what
matters is what happens on the hardwood. So before I
wrap it up here, I have to give you my
finals prediction. Now. Before the season, I said Celtics over
thunder and six. I felt like OKAC was gonna have

(58:58):
to endure their finals defeat before they won, like most
great teams do. But now they are the favorite and
I'm right with them. I want to say thunder and
six because I believe the Pacers are definitely good enough
to get at least two games, but I think best case,
if you're the OKC Thunder, I would go as far
as saying thunder and five, there's gonna be at least

(59:21):
one game OKAC gets outplayed. It's happened at least once
in every series they played in. But I think Okac's
defense paired with the shot making of Shake Gidgers, Alexander
and potentially Jalen Williams may be too much for the
Pacers to handle, Like I think it at absolute best,
it's OKAC in five. You know, the Thunder don't present
the same defensive weaknesses as the Knicks. For example, with

(59:44):
the way Tyres Haliburton was able to expose guys like
cat and drop Coverage and Brunson with the Files, I
don't think it's gonna be the same thing with OKC
because like this, this is my thing, mismatch hunting. It
doesn't bother me too much in today's NBA because I
don't see it that much different than watching Shaq repeatedly
get the ball down lover. It's a guy like Matt Geiger, right,

(01:00:05):
or Alan Iverson get the Iverson cut over and over
and over again versus slower guard or forward even you know,
basketball has always been about attacking weaknesses. But what does
bother me about mismatch hunting is that when guys mismatch
hunt because they're ducking their one on one matchup. If
you rock with this podcast, you're probably like me and

(01:00:28):
come from that twenty tens, two thousands NBA and those
stars learn from the nineties and the eighty Stars that
it comes a point where you can't duck your matchup.
You have to be willing to go one on one. Admittedly,
I lose a little hoop respect for a player that
needs a pick to save them every time. It's just

(01:00:48):
like d Roh said on Out the Mud, it ain't
a matchup if you duck in your assignment. And Okac
has got the kind of defense where if you keep running,
picking rolls, fishing for the weak link, it's not gonna happen.
You're gonna get attached to another guy that can defend,
so you're gonna have to pick your poison. If you
want a mismatch hunt, it's not gonna work with Oka. See.

(01:01:09):
And on top of that, Okac has shown time and
time again that they can get buckets and will themselves
to victory, even in the ugly games they should have
lost before Game six versus the Knicks, that was my
fear with the Pacers when it gets ugly, can they
still find a way to win? And I'm not talking
about some miraculous comeback, right, I'm not talking about you know, crazy,

(01:01:31):
you know coming down from seven with fifteen seconds left,
I'm not talking about Aaron E. Smith knocking down six
straight threes, right, I'm not talking about when they're just
the beneficiary of a team that got cold from shooting.
I'm talking about when the game seems to be at
a stalemate and either team can win. Can the Pacers
find a way to win, even if it means demanding

(01:01:53):
your two best players, Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam go
to work offensively. I just think the Thunder are better
in those moments than the Pacers. I'm not saying the
Pacers are bad at that. I thought their game six
versus the Knicks showed a lot of grit. How even
if the game isn't all at their pace all forty
eight minutes, they can still win. I like that. There

(01:02:16):
have been a few moments where they showed that transition
isn't the whole story with them. You know, Pascal Siakam
single handedly led them to that game to win versus
the Knicks. He set the tone. I was very impressed.
But compared to what OKC has with Shay J. Dubb
and Chet, they don't have as much to work with
as far as guys who really got that instinct to

(01:02:38):
just hoop when it matters the most. You know, there
were some possessions, Like I said earlier, you know, there
was Ni Smith trying to muscle his way to the rim,
you know as a last resort. You know, TJ McConnell
running into walls at times. You know, Nemhard struggling to
find space to create off the dribble and it kind
of disrupted his rhythm. You know, a lot of that

(01:02:58):
made me cringe to the point where I was like,
if Indy can't score in the half court versus the Knicks,
imagine what this could look like versus the Thunder. So
I'll be nice and I'll say Thunder and six because,
like I said, the Pacers are a really great team.
But the Pacers will definitely, you know, give them a
hard battle because okay See has their share of role
players also that aren't great one on one offensive players either.

(01:03:21):
So that's that's what I'm watching. It'll be an extremely
competitive game and series, and I think a bit more
balanced series than some are expecting. But my final pick
is okay See Thunder four games to two versus the
Indiana Pacers. So with all that said, we've made it
to the end of a special Finals addition, Hip to

(01:03:42):
the Games episode from Impact Players, Strengths, Weaknesses, matchups, strategies
and predictions. I hope you enjoyed my version of an
NBA Finals preview, but as always, I've done enough talking.
It's time to hear from you. What strategies do you
see working best? Who might experience a rough series? Who
are the X factors? How can Rick Carlisle and Mark

(01:04:02):
dagnauld lead their teams to victory? Who you got winning
this series? As always, keep it respectful. I am with
the foolery. But you can tweet the show at Hip
to the Games or tag me directly on Twitter and
ig at Desmond Powell Underscore to share your thoughts on
all the topics discussed today, as I would love to
hear or read your thoughts. Keep them coming. Like I said,
it's the Finals, so I want to hear all of

(01:04:23):
it and even some things that I missed. You know,
and at the end of the day, I just want
to say thank you for listening to another episode of
H two d G. There's a lot of podcasts going
on with the playoffs in the NBA Finals, so if
you listen to me, man I appreciate that wholeheartedly and
thank you for listening for another episode all for the
love of the best combo there is. And of course

(01:04:44):
here's a huge shout out to you for being Hip
to the Games, peace out and God bless. I hope
you enjoyed this episode of Hip to the Games and
if you enjoyed this episode, be sure to hit up
the socials at Desmond Powle underscore at Hip to the
Games on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok so you don't miss
out on the fund and please follow or subscribe to
the show and leave a review on the podcast platform

(01:05:06):
you're on right now, as your support is greatly to
appreciate it.

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