INDIANAPOLIS — As the doors swung open to the media inside the Oklahoma City Thunder's locker room, a stark contrast was evident. On one end, veterans Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein sat dejected, their faces reflecting the weight of the moment. On the other, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams engaged in a jovial, non-basketball-related conversation, as if the loss had never happened. But it had. In Game 6 of the 2026 NBA Finals on Thursday, the Thunder's second close-out chance of the series, they submitted arguably their worst performance of the season, losing 110-95 to the Indiana Pacers. Was this the immaturity of youth? After all, Oklahoma City — led by the 27-year-old Gilgeous-Alexander and 25-year-old Williams — is the youngest finalist since 1977. Or was it the right mindset to let go of this game almost as soon as it happened? Impossible to know. Only the Thunder could explain their mental approach. "I can't speak for my whole team," said Williams, who finished a game-worst minus-45. "The human element didn't creep in for me until we got blown out. I didn't start thinking about Game 7 until we walked off the floor — really, like, when the game was really out of reach. I think we had the right mindset coming into it." Gilgeous-Alexander, on the other hand, felt comfortable speaking on behalf of the Thunder. "Definitely in the back of our minds, for sure," he said, of the weight of the chance to clinch a title. "We didn't play like it at all. That's why the night went the way it did. We got exactly what we deserved, what we earned. We have to own that."
That they did. Oklahoma City failed to eclipse 100 points in a game just four times during the regular season — and never scored fewer than 98. In the playoffs, the Thunder had been held below 100 points only once, in a 93-89 victory in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Boston Celtics.
In other words, it is incredibly difficult to throw the Thunder off their game. But that is precisely what the Pacers did. The Thunder scored 88 points per 100 meaningful possessions, according to Cleaning the Glass. Their previous low this season was 94.9 (in that aforementioned Boston game). This was quite literally their worst offensive effort of the year. And the other end was no better.
"Our defense wasn't very good," Williams conceded. "I don't feel like we competed at our usual level."
