The Pacers had Game 4 won. Up seven. Crowd roaring. All this noise suddenly faded, Then? They let it slip. And this Golden State Warrior saw it coming.

Those leads don’t mean a thing if you can’t finish. If you can’t squeeze the life out of the other team when it matters. And that’s what’s burning Indiana right now. Because one of the game’s sharpest minds, watching courtside with another all-time great, saw it coming a mile away.

Turns out, Draymond Green and Paul George were watching the game together when Dray called it out. The Pacers? Yeah, they had control. But Dray felt it in his gut; they weren’t stepping on the gas. “Either take the lead to 15 or it’s going to zero,” he told PG as the lead hovered at 87-80. George just nodded; he’s seen this movie before. That was the moment. That was the Finals. And Indiana let it slip.

See, the Pacers’ whole game lives on chaos. Speed, transition buckets, keeping the tempo high. That’s their bread and butter. But when OKC slowed it down, Indiana couldn’t adapt. Draymond spelled it out on his podcast with Mo Williams: when the game slows, the Pacers crumble. “They got them mentally, they got them physically dominating. But you look up, you only up seven.” That ain’t enough; not in June. Especially when you’re letting Shai Gilgeous-Alexander cook in crunch time.

Let’s talk facts. Indiana’s 10-point lead vanished in under four minutes; the exact window Green warned would decide the game. OKC ended the game on a 12-1 run. Indiana scored just 17 points in the fourth. Shai dropped 15 of his 35 during that stretch alone. The Thunder? They shot a season-worst 3-of-16 from deep and still won. Think about that. It wasn’t talent that lost the Pacers this one; it was focus. Execution. And like Mo Williams said: “Every. Single. Possession. Matters.” But it wasn’t just the players. There was more coming. For who you ask? Of-course for the coaches.

Rick Carlisle has outcoached Mark Daigneault—says Draymond Green

But it wasn’t just the players. Draymond didn’t hold back; he said Rick Carlisle outcoached Mark Daigneault for most of the series. Yep, called it. Yet in those final minutes, it was Mark’s subtle tweaks; moving SGA off-ball, forcing switches, that won the game. Meanwhile, Indiana missed its window. Didn’t capitalize. Didn’t call plays. Towards the end of the third quarter, the OKC couldn’t get make their shots and it went on for a few possessions in a row. That was the window for the Pacers. “That’s when Indiana needed to put the game away,” Dray noted.

Which brings us to the real breakdown. Indiana switched Aaron Nesmith onto SGA late instead of sticking with Andrew Nembhard. Nembhard had been giving Shai problems all series. Nesmith’s no slouch, and Dray feels Nembhard should’ve made the call of sticking with SGA instead of switching. Dray saw it: “Like, at what point, do we expect the player to be like, ‘Yeah, I’m not switching. I’m getting through this. It is what it is. Because, I think down the stretch, that’s what cost ‘em the game.” Defensive confusion, bad matchups, no rhythm. You can’t have that in the Finals.

So where does that leave Indy? Looking at Game 5 in OKC, tied 2–2, and wondering how they let go of what should’ve been a 3–1 lead. They’re still in it, no doubt. But the blueprint’s clear now; Draymond spelled it out in real time. And if the Pacers don’t fix this one thing? They’ll be watching the confetti fall from the wrong side of the court.

Green’s prescription? Two words: Kill fast.