With the Indiana Pacers trying to win the NBA Finals in opposition to the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder, it is not going to be a simple problem as they’re going through the No. 1 seed within the Western Convention. Whereas there might be some X-factors for the Pacers that may harm the Thunder, there’s one facet that they must be warned about coming from Golden State Warriors star Draymond Inexperienced.
Talking concerning the championship sequence on his self-titled podcast, he would reply the query of who has the most effective protection between the 2 groups. Inexperienced would say with no hesitation that it is Oklahoma Metropolis and the way they’ve an immense quantity of choices to defend star level guard Tyrese Haliburton.
“The very best protection within the finals, I feel, is not any query, the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder,” Inexperienced mentioned. “They’re very effectively coached, which makes the crew protection nice, however they’ve a number of unimaginable particular person defenders, like, when you consider Tyrese Halliburton, he may face Lu Dort, he may face Alex Caruso, he may face Cason Wallace, he may face J-Dub, that is lots of guys to have the ability to throw out one man. They’ve that.”
“They [OKC] has the most effective protection on this Finals by a protracted shot.”
Former DPOY and 4x champion Draymond Inexperienced on what Tyrese Haliburton will likely be going through with the Thunder 🗣️
(through @DraymondShow)pic.twitter.com/dCi6j8IK1R
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) June 4, 2025
Draymond Inexperienced factors out an space the place Pacers can get the higher hand
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As some could argue, they belief the Pacers guard in Haliuburton over Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, there is no denying that the Thunder are the favorites to win all of it. Nonetheless, there’s a facet the place Indiana can harm Oklahoma Metropolis, as identified by Inexperienced, which is attacking their transition protection.
“And so they load up containers and elbows, they swarm to the ball,” Inexperienced mentioned. “The place Indiana may trigger some hassle is that if the offense is not clicking, as a result of I do not assume OKC was a brilliant sophisticated offense. So if the offense is not clicking, and Indiana’s getting off to the races, I do not know that OKC’s transition protection is that nice, and that is the place Indiana may trigger them some points. However who has the most effective protection? They’ve the most effective protection by a protracted shot on this NBA Finals.”
With the Pacers being a fast-paced crew, that may doubtless be a plan of assault going into the sequence, as Recreation 1 between the Pacers and the Thunder will happen on Thursday evening.