After tying up this NBA Finals at two wins apiece on Friday night, the OKC Thunder are officially two wins away from taking home the 2025 Larry O'Brien Trophy.
Heading into Game 5 out at Paycom Center, momentum is now seemingly shifting back in favor of Oklahoma City, and the oddsmakers are still overwhelmingly high on the franchise pulling out their first title since 1979.
However, considering they've been trading wins back-and-forth with every passing game and boast an average point differential of just +3.3 on the series, for them to come away from the 2024-25 campaign as NBA Champions, they must be fully aware of the fact that there's little to no room for error moving forward.
This means the Thunder must focus on several key areas of play, such as reducing their number of turnovers, getting their second unit back to its once-elite form, and, arguably, one of the most important tasks, continuing to have Myles Turner serve as a non-factor on offense.
Thunder can't afford to let Myles Turner get going with title so close
While Turner may certainly be playing a pivotal role in this series as Indiana's defensive anchor, especially when going up against Chet Holmgren where, in sets when he's the nearest defender, he's gone just 7-of-21 from the field and 2-of-12 from distance, he's essentially been MIA on the more glamorous side of the ball.
Well below his regular season averages of 15.6 points on 48.1 percent shooting from the floor and 39.6 percent shooting from deep, through four games played, the center finds himself dropping a mere 13.0 points a night while shooting a putrid 39.5 percent from the floor and 20.0 percent from deep.
What's most troubling for the Pacers and, subsequently, delightful for the Thunder is that Turner is producing at such lowly levels while hoisting up the third-most shots on his team (43 total attempts), 34.9 percent of which have been on wide-open looks.
Now, though this lackluster offensive efficiency has been a true sight for sore eyes among OKC players, personnel, and fans, it's important to realize that even with these struggles from such a prominent player, in the entire series, Oklahoma City has only managed to outscore Indiana by a minuscule 13 total points.
Had a few of these shots wound up receiving a more favorable roll at the rim, this series could realistically be looking a whole lot different than it currently does.
To give themselves their best shot of winning this year's NBA Finals, the Thunder mustn't allow the 29-year-old to find a way to snap out of his cold streak and back into his regular-season form.
They already have enough problems they need to worry about. Adding a rejuvenated Myles Turner into the mix just makes a title-run all the more challenging.