Game 5 of the NBA Finals saw the Oklahoma City Thunder defeat the Indiana Pacers 120–109, taking a 3–2 series lead and moving just one win away from an NBA championship. Looking back, regardless of how the rest of the series unfolds,

NBA coaches now are mostly interchangeable baby sitters, minute monitors and ego strokers. Carlisle is the last of a breed: An NBA coach who is a weapon in a game. Carlisle's exit

Indy's head coach benched his starters with four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter of Game 2 and the Pacers down by 14 points. A big enough deficit to believe the game was out of reach under normal circumstances,