Latest / Bleacher Report / Jalen Williams Talks Scoring 40 PTS in Game 5 vs. Pacers on GameTime _ 2025 NBA Finals

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Jalen Williams Talks Scoring 40 PTS in Game 5 vs. Pacers on GameTime _ 2025 NBA Finals · Bleacher Report

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  Speaker 1: We have JDub here now, man, and just an incredible
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  Speaker 1: runa spin for you. The J Dubb increased is scoring
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  Speaker 1: every single game here the NBA Finals. So I got
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  Speaker 1: to ask you, my friend, as you're getting miked up,
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  Speaker 1: can you hear us?
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  Speaker 2: Now?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah?
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  Speaker 4: I got you. What's up?
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  Speaker 1: So for you as the finals increase, I mean you're
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  Speaker 1: always so chill. Do you feel like you're getting more
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  Speaker 1: comfortable being in the NBA Finals game by game by game?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah?
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  Speaker 4: When I walked into it, I honestly was just trying
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  Speaker 4: to like my like, sorry, I'm tired, to be honest, Yeah,
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  Speaker 4: you wereked dog man. My mindset was just going into
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  Speaker 4: these games and not not kind of lightly stepping in
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  Speaker 4: and just jumping in. And I thought I've done a
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  Speaker 4: really good job of that, just living with the results,
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  Speaker 4: playing aggressive.
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  Speaker 2: You know, Jaylor, I've watched it. Just look like you
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  Speaker 2: study for detext and you were getting bs and B pluses.
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  Speaker 2: Right now. It sound like somebody gave you the answer
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  Speaker 2: to all the tees and you're getting a's where what
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  Speaker 2: clicked from game two for three, four and five in
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  Speaker 2: your mindset?
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  Speaker 4: To be honest, my approach for the first two games,
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  Speaker 4: I've thought was pretty good as well. It's just about
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  Speaker 4: making shots and getting somewhere comfortable every time, and I've
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  Speaker 4: been able to do that, and like I said, just
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  Speaker 4: playing my game, trying to impose my will. Like I said,
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  Speaker 4: you can't really like light footstep into these experiences, and
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  Speaker 4: the more I kind of go into them, the better
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  Speaker 4: I get during it.
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  Speaker 5: At first, we've got to say congrats, you are a
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  Speaker 5: one game away from a championship, So enjoy it tonight.
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  Speaker 5: Take care of your body. I know you've got to
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  Speaker 5: be exhausted, but is what needs to happen even more
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  Speaker 5: the next game for you guys to take it home.
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  Speaker 4: Obviously, on the road is a different animal. They're going
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  Speaker 4: to come in back against the wall. We got to
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  Speaker 4: understand our opponent first off. I think we've done a
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  Speaker 4: good job of that, understanding their mindset and how they're
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  Speaker 4: going to come in.
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  Speaker 3: They're going to be super.
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  Speaker 4: Confident, they're gonna have the juices fun, and we have
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  Speaker 4: to be able to match that and exceed it.
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  Speaker 3: For you tonight, I seemed like you got downhill anytime
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  Speaker 3: you wanted to. Was that something specifically that you wanted
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  Speaker 3: to focus on, or was it something that the coaches
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  Speaker 3: showed you on film.
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  Speaker 4: Probably a little bit of both. I'm gonna give too
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  Speaker 4: much into the game pan, but a lot of it
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  Speaker 4: is just me being aggressive, seeing what's open and taking
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  Speaker 4: those shots. And like I said, you know we can
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  Speaker 4: get some more comfortable and just try and do that
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  Speaker 4: over and over again. I think it just makes you
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  Speaker 4: a better player.
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  Speaker 1: You know, Chet said earlier in the season that team
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  Speaker 1: seem see ghosts when explaining your defense, and that even
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  Speaker 1: when guys are there, that they fill the presence on defense.
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  Speaker 1: Can you explain further wood he's talking about and how
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  Speaker 1: you guys take pride in that as a unit.
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  Speaker 4: Defensive everybody's just really aggressive. Everybody takes pride in it.
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  Speaker 4: And when you have five guys on the floor that
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  Speaker 4: are taking pride in their matchup, it makes your defense
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  Speaker 4: very special. So we're all willing to cover for each
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  Speaker 4: other and just make the right raid defensively, and when
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  Speaker 4: we mess up, we don't stop.
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  Speaker 5: My last question is you know that the pacer is
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  Speaker 5: always going to go on that run, whether it's a
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  Speaker 5: second quarter or a third quarter. How have you been able
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  Speaker 5: to adjust to that each game and get better and
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  Speaker 5: better at that defending it?
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, during the huddle, we were just talking about how
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  Speaker 4: this was around the same type of game for game one,
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  Speaker 4: and Mark is big on no matter if it's the
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  Speaker 4: finals or if you're playing and on a Tuesday in January,
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  Speaker 4: you always try and get better from any past experience,
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  Speaker 4: and we were able to kind of lock in on
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  Speaker 4: that and understands the game of runs the same way
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  Speaker 4: we feel when they make a run, they feel when
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  Speaker 4: we make a run. So it's just a game of
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  Speaker 4: runs and who can get more stops?
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  Speaker 2: Well, Jayln you know you and Sga obviously leads this team.
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  Speaker 2: But talk to me about Caseon Wallace, who hasn't been
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  Speaker 2: shooting it well and Aaron Wiggs. What those both those
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  Speaker 2: guys did off the bench today.
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  Speaker 4: Special players their role goes probably like a little unnoticed
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  Speaker 4: to like the rest of the world if you're not
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  Speaker 4: really watching, But for them to kind of be ready
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  Speaker 4: and be called at any point in the game and
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  Speaker 4: be ready to knock down shots on probably the biggest
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  Speaker 4: stage they'll play on is a huge testament to their
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  Speaker 4: character and just how ready they are to play. And
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  Speaker 4: big time players make big time players for sure.
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  Speaker 3: Well, we were talking about last year about what was
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  Speaker 3: going on in the series in Dallas was a little
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  Speaker 3: bit tougher series for you and the growth from that
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  Speaker 3: point until now. Can you walk us through the mindset
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  Speaker 3: of what you learn from last year's playoffs to where
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  Speaker 3: you are right now thriving in the finals.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, Dallas. I know a lot of people probably look
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  Speaker 4: at it as like something I struggle. I honestly looked
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  Speaker 4: at it as a place where I can get better
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  Speaker 4: and see what I can do. When you're playing against
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  Speaker 4: the playoffs, you're playing against a team so much that
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  Speaker 4: they're scouting everything you like to do. And learned a
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  Speaker 4: lot about myself then, And I think a lot of
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  Speaker 4: it too, is just confidence and the work that I
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  Speaker 4: put in the summer and be willing to do it
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  Speaker 4: out here.
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  Speaker 1: For this team, this city. If you guys can win
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  Speaker 1: one more game, it'll be the first championship in a
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  Speaker 1: franchise history. As being a key player on that, what
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  Speaker 1: does that mean to you when you.
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  Speaker 4: Hear that, it's a special privilege, something God given? For sure.
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  Speaker 4: I feel like the Pacers feel that way too. I
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  Speaker 4: don't think that they haven't won one either, correct, Nope,
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  Speaker 4: they have not. Yeah, So there, like I said, going
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  Speaker 4: in this next game. We got to understand that's how
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  Speaker 4: they feel as well, and both teams have a very
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  Speaker 4: special opportunity at him.
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  Speaker 3: Well, we gotta let you go because I know you
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  Speaker 3: tired man. Let that man get get to that ice.
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  Speaker 1: Bath Man, don't get shake your time, my friend, Coolpi fatigable,
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  Speaker 1: that's what you told us. One went away from winning
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  Speaker 1: the first championship in franchise history.