Five takeaways from Game 5 of the NBA Finals

After scoring 26 points in Game 3 and 27 points in Game 4, Williams took it up another level in Game 5. He shot 14-for-25 while getting to the line for 12 free throw attempts, scoring on leaners, bank shots and a trio of three-pointers with players flying at him.

It's been an incredible progression for Williams in his three NBA seasons. He was always a strong defender, but he's built himself into a fantastic second option next to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — or a first option if his team needs it. His coach from Santa Clara, Herb Sendek, revealed after the game that Williams never scored 20 points in his first two seasons of college ball, and had a lone 30-point game in the next one.

Now he's putting up 40 in a Finals game.

2. The Thunder defense smothered the Pacers in crunch time

The Indiana Pacers cut a big Thunder lead to two points when Pascal Siakam drilled a three-pointer to make it 95-93. Oklahoma City seemingly decided that the best way to keep the Pacers from making shots was to take the ball away from them before they could try.

On the next seven Pacers possessions, the Thunder stole the ball five times. Three of those steals went for easy twos, and the other two led to shooting fouls by the Pacers.

When the turnover carnage had settled, the Thunder had a 113-97 lead after an 18-4 run in 3:25 of game action. Cason Wallace and Alex Caruso each had four steals in the game, two of seven Thunder players with at least one takeaway.

It's hard to win any game when your team commits 22 turnovers, but it's especially impossible to make a fourth-quarter comeback after giving up four steals in a row.

3. The Pacers point guards couldn't jump

There have been a number of no-contact injuries in the NBA playoffs, but Haliburton's mysterious calf injury in Game 5 might have had the worst timing off all of them. He fell while driving early in the second quarter on a play where no Thunder defender touched him.

It's the same leg that Haliburton injured in Game 2, which the team called an ankle injury at the time. Shams Charania reported that Monday's injury was "right calf tightness," and Haliburton was wearing a heat wrap on the leg on the bench. But he appeared to have difficulty jumping off his right leg, taking only six shots and missing them all.

The Pacers did get a big effort out of backup T.J. McConnell. He scored or assisted on 18 of Indiana's 34 third-quarter points, and was Indiana's leading scorer through three quarters with 18 points.

The only thing he couldn't do Monday night was jump. After forcing a tie-up late in the third quarter, McConnell was whistled for a loose ball foul when he hit Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the arm on the subsequent jump ball. ESPN's Reggie Miller disputed that McConnell fouled him, explaining that the 33-year-old "just couldn't jump that high."

4. Chet Holmgren snuffed out a lot of Pacers' chances

In the first half, Chet Holmgren may not have been hitting his shots, but he was doing everything else. He finished the first 24 minutes with seven points, three blocks and a steal, grabbing four of his five rebounds on the offensive end.

In a pivotal second-quarter sequence, Holmgren blocked Pascal Siakam's layup attempt, grabbed the rebound, drove the length of the court and scored — after rebounding his own miss. Then he forced two misses at the hoop on the other end, helping get the OKC lead to 18 points.

He finished with nine points and 11 rebounds, along with three blocks, but his +12 plus/minus rating was a better sign of the huge impact the 23-year-old center had on Monday's game.

5. The Thunder missed a chance to knock out the Pacers early

In the first quarter, everything went the Thunder's way. They shot 4-for-6 from three-point range after only making three in all of Game 4. The Pacers committed seven turnovers, including a play where Obi Toppin demonstrated he didn't know the over-and-back rule. Seven different OKC players scored, it blocked two shots and Indiana HC Rick Carlisle got called for a technical foul.

OKC did take a lead, getting its lead up to 35-22 early in the second quarter and up to 18 points with 2:29 to go. But it still went into the locker room up just 14 points despite shooting 8-for-17 from distance and holding Haliburton scoreless, thanks to missing 18 shots in the paint. That let the Pacers make a game of it in the final quarter.

The Thunder managed to hold off the Pacers with tough defense and transition buckets in the fourth quarter. But against a team that's made a habit of double-digit, last-minute comebacks in the playoffs, the Thunder could rest a lot easier if they could truly land the knockout blow early.