Thunder, Pacers all tied up

MADDIE MEYER/ GETTY IMAGES - OKC’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) and 

Isaiah Hartenstein (55) celebrate during the fourth quarter of a 111-104 win against 

the Pacers in Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Friday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

SGA, OKC don’t flinch in legacy-defining Game 4

After Shai Gilgeous-Alexander delivered an “unreal” performance in Game 4, rallying the Thunder past the Pacer to tie up the NBA Finals coming back to OKC.

15 Jun 2025 - The Oklahoman USA TODAY NETWORK

Thunder Insider Joel Lorenzi 

INDIANAPOLIS — Twenty yards away from the narrow white brick hallway where Thunder players processed their Game 4 escape, their hoots and hollers stretched like shadows.

The youthful exuberance of rookie Dillon Jones filled the corridor. As did the conviction in Alex Caruso’s voice. The relief in Kenrich Williams’. A cushion felt by the nature of the Thunder’s Friday night paint job, brushing over three unruly quarters to scrape together a 111-104 win and even the NBA Finals at two games a piece.

Consider what this series asked of it in order to obtain this semblance of comfort.

With less than four minutes to play, the Thunder was seemingly cognizant of its dream season dangling in the balance. Aware it hadn’t won a fourth quarter all series, down three while facing a potential 3-1 deficit; 2016 LeBron James wouldn’t walk through the door.

Among OKC’s options were to seize the game then or “lose it,” All-Star Jalen Williams said, understanding of how fateful Friday’s final minutes felt.

“Our season is kind of on the line,” Williams considered during the timeout with 3:52 to play. “Get easy looks and make them work for everything at the end. Everything up until that point didn’t matter.”

Indiana won every quarter but one on Friday: the fourth. The one it’s monopolized. Those 12 minutes built Tyrese Haliburton’s unique legacy and Indiana’s chest-out confidence. The math, the momentum — there were no indicators that OKC could infringe on what looked like complete control.

Getting MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander the ball through three quarters looked as painful as it did two nights earlier. In that span, he scored 20 points on 18 shots, attempting just two free throws. Inbounding to him, with fellow Canadian Andrew Nembhard latched to his arm hairs like a bed bug, was taxing. Watching him attempt to cross halfcourt was as excruciating as ripping off a fingernail.

Indiana relentlessly played to its identity. OKC continued to play like a shell of its own. Its 11 assists were a season low. It volunteered rotations, and the Pacers’ 3point attempts seemed as bottomless as mimosas at brunch. Entering the fourth quarter, they attempted double the 3s OKC did.

The Thunder was 2 of 14 from deep then, finishing just 3 of 17 — the first team since the 2010 Celtics to win a Finals game while making three 3s or less.

Obi Toppin was spoon-fed those looks. Haliburton deflected an inbounds pass, forcing a shot clock violation that contributed to what seemed like as early a burial as possible midway through the third.

“They really had the wind to their back,” coach Mark Daigneault said. “We had some deflating plays. It was an easy game to give up on.”

A 15-point lead versus the Pacers creates suspense. The games begin then. A five-point deficit against them, with their ball pressure and ability to easily find shots from range, feels bound to multiply.

Gilgeous-Alexander sensed the moment as it unfolded. This tough-to-tuck feeling that neither his will nor unwavering confidence would be sharp enough to cut down a 3-1 deficit if he allowed it. That to let a second straight game slip in Indiana wouldn’t just mean wasting the efforts of his surrounding core to that point, often strained and at times stumped — it would be to waste a season, too.

“I knew what it would have looked like if we lost tonight,” SGA said. “I didn’t want to go out not swinging. I didn’t want to go out not doing everything I could do in my power, in my control to try to win the game.”

Jalen Williams’ force drew 11 free throws, continuing to knock on the door of an incessant Indiana defense before finishing with 27 points. Chet Holmgren saved possessions with momentous putbacks. Caruso, with 20 points and five steals, effectively told TJ McConnell this town was only big enough for one of them.

That left Gilgeous-Alexander to spark fire in this 12-minute wasteland.

He thought back to the sound of a tattered outdoor ball hitting his pavement. He thought of how he’d count down the seconds in his driveway when he wished for this moment.

Game 4s can define legacies. Birth legends. Mute narratives. Twenty-five years to the day before Gilgeous-Alexander’s status would come into question Friday, a young Laker named Kobe Bryant shattered Indiana’s title hopes with an overtime overhaul in the same building.

Of SGA’s 35 points in this Game 4 — his first game without an assist since 2020 – 15 came in the fourth. He scored 15 of the Thunder’s final 16 points, all inside the final five minutes. With switches, he drew Pacers wing Aaron Nesmith, who didn’t seem nearly as well versed in the School of Shai as Nembhard. Nesmith reached in the wrong places. He snoozed when Gilgeous-Alexander rose for a catch-and-shoot 3 with 2:58 to go. SGA floored him for the baseline jumper that gave OKC a 104-103 lead.

And despite any Game 3 concerns about the Thunder allowing its most valuable player to switch, to heave and huff through defensive assignments, he grazed one of Haliburton’s late 3s.

“That whole game, he was getting harassed by all their players,” Kenrich Williams told The Oklahoman. “… He showed tonight why he was the MVP.”

Haliburton searched for an on-ball match while the fourth quarter dwindled. He never did find Love Island. He washed ashore on Chet island, managing a late dribble drive for one of his several high-arcing lay-ins that smooched the glass. But Haliburton got greedy.

You can only take your essentials on Chet island, this 7-foot-stretch of thin landscape with astonishingly nimble feet. The oxygen leaves much to be desired. Getting fancy won’t suffice. A couple stepbacks are all that fit in that bindle Haliburton carries.

But Holmgren, a plus-14 while posting 14 points and 15 boards, didn’t even allow that. He watched Haliburton airball his signature stepback with just under two minutes, and with fewer than 24 seconds, he caught Haliburton’s drive and forced Myles Turner to shoot a sidestep.

In the final quarter, Indiana was 5 of 18 and 0 for 8 from deep. Bennedict Mathurin, better known as Benedict Arnold in Game 3, floundered by missing three free throws late. Pascal Siakam went scoreless.

Pacers coach Rick Carlisle has dressed his underdog like a contender. In fourth quarters, they’ve looked like favorites.

If the Denver series was an inflection point, OKC’s Friday night stare down of a 2-1 series was a boiling point.

The collective exhale in the Thunder’s retreat to the locker room had less to do with survival, with feeling like its sweaty backs are off the wall. It had far more to do with regaining ownership of these Finals in the quarter it always seemed destined to come down to.

***

TREVOR RUSZKOWSKI/IMAGN IMAGES VIA REUTERS CONNECT - Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) drives to the hoop past Indiana Pacers guard T.J. McConnell (9) during the third quarter of game four of the 2025 NBA Finals at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

NBA FINALS GAME 4: BY THE NUMBERS

15 Jun 2025 - The Oklahoman

The Oklahoma City Thunder pulled off a stunning comeback Friday, struggling for much of the way before batting back to beat the Indiana Pacers 111-104 in Game 4 of the NBA Finals in Indianapolis.

The victory ties the series 2-2 heading into Monday’s Game 5 at Paycom Center.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way for OKC, scoring 35 points to lead the way.

There are plenty of SGA-related numbers after Game 4 but there were plenty of other key numbers as well.

Here’s a look at some key numbers after the Thunder’s latest victory:

More big numbers, and one small, for SGA

15: Fourth-quarter points for SGA, all in the final 4:38. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 15 of the Thunder’s last 16 points.

10: Free throws made by SGA in 10 attempts in the victory.

0: Assists for Gilgeous-Alexander, the first time this season and the first time ever in the playoffs for the MVP to finish without an assist.

2: Players including SGA to have 35 or more points and no assists in an NBA Finals game. The other was Jerry West in 1962.

1,764: Days since SGA had a game without an assist. His last game without an assist came Aug. 14, 2020, against the Clippers in a COVID-bubble game.

Alex Caruso makes another statement

0: 20-point games for Alex Caruso in 54 regular-season games.

2: 20-point games in NBA Finals for

Alex Caruso. Caruso also had a 20-point game in Game 1 against Denver in the second round.

Thunder makes more history

.900: OKC’s winning percentage following a loss during the regular season and playoffs, tied with the 1986-87 Los Angeles Lakers for the best in NBA history.

6: Consecutive postseason wins for the Thunder following a loss. OKC has yet to lose back-to-back games in these playoffs.

12,205: Points scored by the Thunder combined in the regular season and playoffs, an NBA record. The 2018-19 Golden State Warriors previously held the record with 12,161.

OKC struggles from distance …

1: First-half 3-pointers for the Thunder on 10 attempts. Indiana made seven first-half shots from beyond the arc.

3: 3-pointers for OKC in the victory, its fewest this season in either the regular season or the playoffs.

7: Fewest 3-pointers by the Thunder during the regular season, which came Feb. 13 in a loss at Minnesota.

9: Fewest 3-pointers OKC had in the postseason before Friday’s victory.

15: Seasons since a team had won an NBA Finals game with three or fewer 3pointers. The 2010 Boston Celtics won Games 4 and 5 of their finals series over the Lakers with three 3-pointers but ultimately fell in seven games.

… But OKC wins the paint

50: Points in the paint for the Thunder, which went 25 of 40 from the field in the paint.

36: Points for the Pacers in the paint, who outscored OKC 50-48 in the paint in Game 3.

Thunder dominates the fourth

60%: Shooting for OKC in the fourth. The Thunder was 9 of 15 from the field in the final 12 minutes, also going 12 of 14 from the free-throw line.

27.8%: Shooting for the Pacers in the fourth. Indiana was just 5 of 18 from the floor, missing all eight of its 3-pointers in the final quarter.

1: Points in the final 3:20 for Indiana, as OKC finished with a 12-1 run. The Pacers missed their final five shots from the field.

Caitlin Clark’s luck runs out

9: Pacers playoff games attended by former Iowa and current Indiana Fever sensation Caitlin Clark.

1: Pacers’ losses with Clark in attendance during the playoffs. Clark was courtside Friday as the Thunder stormed back to tie the series.

Ryan Aber covers OU athletics for The Oklahoman. 

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