The heavily-favored Oklahoma City Thunder are on the brink of falling behind 3-1 in the NBA Finals. As they prepare to take on the Indiana Pacers in Game 4 on Friday, here are three adjustments the team can make to get its championship quest back on track.
1. Rethink the starting lineup
The Thunder made a surprise change to their starting lineup for the Finals, sitting center Isaiah Hartenstein in favor of guard Cason Wallace. But while Wallace is better equipped to defend the guard-heavy, fast-moving Pacers, he hasn’t done much on offense. He has 17 points in three games and shot 0-for-6 from three-point range. In the Thunder’s Game 1 and Game 3 losses, Wallace was -13 and -10.
Hartenstein has been better but not as a scorer. After two strong rebounding games and a surprising four-assist performance in Game 2, Hartenstein had four points and only three rebounds in Game 3. Still, the usual double-big combination of Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren from the starting lineup has played together only 10 minutes in three games.
