NBA Finals Game 5: Daigneault, Carlisle adjusting strategies

So far, the 2025 NBA Finals has been an intriguing chess match between two tremendous head coaches.

It’s been a back-and-forth four games, with each team winning two.

Toby Rowland breaks down how the coaches are making tweaks game to game to gain the advantage.

It’s the beauty of the NBA playoffs. Newton referred to it as his third law of motion: "Every action has an equal and opposite reaction." The coaching adjustments from game to game have been pivotal in this series.

NBA Finals strategy for Games 1 and 2

Let’s go back to Games 1 and 2 at Paycom.

The OKC defense was smothering, Indiana couldn’t breathe, the Pacers committed 39 turnovers, and SGA scored at will, totaling 72 points, setting an all-time record for a player in his first two games of the NBA Finals.

It looked like he would be able to do anything he wanted against the Indiana defense.

NBA Finals Game 3

In Game 3, the series shifted to Indianapolis, and Rick Carlisle shifted strategy.

The objective? Wear down SGA by any means necessary.

They pressed him 94 feet, they put him in every pick-and-roll, they double-teamed him and got extremely physical.

The result?

He was exhausted by the fourth quarter, and the Pacers took a 2-1 series lead.

NBA Finals Game 4

Now, Game 4. Time for Daigneault to answer.

And he did, by taking SGA off the ball. Let someone else bring the ball up the floor.

He also gave him a couple of extra breaks early in the game to keep him fresh.

And sure enough, when it came time to win in the fourth quarter, SGA delivered what may have been the best five-minute stretch of basketball in his career.

The series is now tied at two games apiece.

Making the Adjustments for Game 5

So, who will make the winning adjustment in Game 5?

Daigneault:

“There’s nothing comfortable about these games. It’s a challenging opponent that is really testing us. Again, we just need to approach those challenges as opportunities. That’s what our guys do. They do a great job of it. We have to be better. We did not control that [last] game. We won it, fortunately, but we did not control that game. We have to almost approach this like a loss in terms of really needing to go look in the mirror and make some critical adjustments if we want to give ourselves a better chance to control Game 5 and not just hope to win it.”

Carlisle:

“The problems that hindered us in the fourth quarter were an inability to rebound the ball, unnecessary fouls. Those things have us taking the ball out of bounds after they score or having to take it out after a free throw, and then they can really set their defense. Then the game becomes slower. Doing better in those two areas, the rebounding and the fouls, will help us. But it’s a challenge. They put a lot of pressure on you in the fourth quarter.”

What levers are yet to be pulled? What buttons haven’t these two great coaches pushed yet?

Rest assured, there will be adjustments in Game 5.