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MADDIE MEYER/GETTY IMAGES
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander reacts June 19 during the third quarter of Game 6 of the NBA Finals
at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Indiana Pacers won 108-91 to force a Game 7.
Thunder needs SGA to play like MVP again to win it all
21 giu 2025
Jenni Carlson Columnist
The Oklahoman USA TODAY NETWORK
INDIANAPOLIS — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sat on the bench almost unmoving. Occasionally, he’d lean forward and put his elbows on his knees, but after a few seconds, he’d return to neutral.
That was the extent of the Thunder superstar’s action in the fourth quarter.
In a potential close-out playoff game.
In the NBA Finals.
And as you well know, it wasn’t because Oklahoma City was blowing out Indiana. Pacers 108, Thunder 91.
A night that started with so much promise ended in disaster. The Thunder's chance to win an NBA championship was on life support at halftime and was not only merely dead but also really most sincerely dead halfway through the third quarter. When the fourth quarter started and the Pacers led by 30 points, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault had no choice but to turn the focus to Game 7 and pull his starters.
That gave Gilgeous-Alexander time to replay his night.
“Thinking about what I could have been better at tonight,” he said.
Good thing he had the entire fourth quarter because that list was uncharacteristically long. Poor shooting. Worse ball security. Marginal defense. Not enough aggressiveness. Not enough urgency.
Gilgeous-Alexander's struggles can be summed up this way: He had more turnovers (eight) than made baskets (seven). In a potential close-out playoff game. In the NBA Finals.
Daigneault was quick to credit the Pacers for what they did against Gilgeous-Alexander and everyone else in a Thunder uniform on Thursday, June 19.
“They outplayed us for most of the 48 minutes,” Daigneault said. “That's the story of the game. They went out there and attacked the game.
“From our standpoint, it was uncharacteristic. It was disappointing. It was collective. It wasn't one guy. Just we were not where we needed to be on either end of the floor for much of the game.”
No doubt about that. Game 6 was a collective mess, and it sets up a winner-take-all Game 7. Yes, it will be in Oklahoma City. Sure, the Thunder worked all season to give itself a chance to have the last game of the season at home.
But in a do-or-die game, anything can happen.
If the Thunder lose Game 7 and botch an opportunity as golden as the Larry O'Brien Trophy, there will be plenty of blame to go around — but there will be a super-sized helping for Gilgeous-Alexander because of the way he played in Game 6.
The MVP didn't play like one. And it began right out of the gate. On the Thunder's second possession, Myles Turner collapsed toward a driving Gilgeous-Alexander, helping Aaron Nembhard and adding an extra pair of hands swiping at the ball. It's not like SGA has never seen a double team, but this one turned him over.
A couple of possessions later, Gilgeous-Alexander again got loose with the ball and Nembhard again came up with a steal.
The Pacers weren't picking up Gilgeous-Alexander as high on the court, so no doubt that felt different. But again, this is a guy who's seen every defense under the sun, but in Game 6, he had more turnovers than he'd ever had in a playoff game and as many as he'd ever had in a single game in his NBA career.
In a potential close-out playoff game. In the NBA Finals.
“Some of them, I think, were carelessness,” he said of the turnovers. “Not being as focused. Not being engaged. They played harder than us tonight, as well; when a team plays harder, they turn the other team over.
“It's probably a combination of many things.”
The early turnovers seem to unsettle Gilgeous-Alexander. He never looked comfortable with the ball in his hands, which impacted his shots. Some came quicker than normal. Others seemed a bit wild.
Even though he led the Thunder with 21 points, Gilgeous-Alexander was largely absent when the Pacers were pulling away. When they turned a 10-point lead late in the second quarter into a 22-point halftime lead, he had only two points. When the Thunder bowed up at the start of the third quarter, held the Pacers scoreless for nearly four minutes and gave itself to get back into the game, he had no shots, no points and one turnover.
He had a six-point flurry in less than a minute later in the third, but by then, the Pacers were cruising.
“It just got sticky, I feel like,” Jalen Williams said of the Thunder offense. “Our defense wasn't very good. When you're constantly taking the ball out and you're playing against a set defense over and over again, that's part of it.
“Other part, we didn't do a good job trusting each other to make the next play like we did Game 5. … Good news is we have another game to figure it out.”
These are the games when legacies are built, the moments when players go from superstars to legends. Gilgeous-Alexander still has lots of years left in the NBA, but trips to the Finals aren't guaranteed. Neither are opportunities to win titles.
SGA and OKC gave away one of those in Game 6.
What will they do with the one they have in Game 7?
“I don't feel like I have to do anything other than just be the best version of myself,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I think that goes for everyone else in the room. We just have to bring what we bring to the table, what we've brought to the table all year, bring our best come Sunday.” Does he have to wear a cape? Gilgeous-Alexander insists he doesn't, and it's true that he doesn't have to play like a superhero.
But he does have to play like the MVP.
Jenni Carlson: Jenni can be reached at jcarlson@oklahoman.com.
Like her at facebook.com/JenniCarlsonOK, follow her at @jennicarlsonok.bsky.social and twitter.com/jennicarlson_ok, and support her work by purchasing a digital subscription today.
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KYLE TERADA/IMAGN IMAGES
TWO-MINUTE DRILL
NBA FINALS - GAME 6: REPORT CARD
INDIANAPOLIS – A closeout game that wasn’t close.Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) loses control of the ball against the Pacers during Game 6 of the NBA Finals.
The Pacers delayed a Thunder parade, routing OKC 108-91 on Thursday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Game 7 here we come.
Before that, though, let’s get to the Game 6 grades.
Ball security: F
The Thunder got beat at its own game. OKC committed 21 turnovers to Indiana’s 10. The Thunder lost the possession game, attempting 18 fewer field goals.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander almost had as many turnovers (eight) as the Pacers did as a team.
Indiana outscored OKC 19-13 in points off turnovers. Could’ve been worse. Too many live-ball turnovers for the Thunder led to too many fast-break buckets for the Pacers. Indiana doubled up OKC 22-11 in fast-break points. “I thought that’s what ignited them,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. — Joe Mussatto, columnist
Defensive intensity: D
The Thunder defense just wasn’t anywhere close to as locked in as it needed to be. Through three quarters — the game was decided then — the Thunder had forced only seven turnovers (to Oklahoma City’s 16) while giving up 12 second-chance points (to OKC’s four) and 19 fast-break points (to OKC’s five).
The Thunder didn’t force the issue defensively, and the Pacers made it pay.
OKC wasn’t good collectively as a defense or individually. Its best one-onone defenders — Lu Dort, Alex Caruso and Cason Wallace — were pedestrian. They combined for steal through three quarters and had a combined plusminus of minus-66.
This team has won on bad offensive nights because its defense is so good, but Game 6 is proof that when the defense is bad, winning is nearly impossible.
—Jenni Carlson, columnist
Jalen Williams: C
The -40 for Williams in the plus/minus column is jarring.
Williams wasn’t good Thursday, but he wasn’t nearly as bad as that makes it seem.
He had 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting with three rebounds, one assist and three turnovers.
Williams had the worst plus/minus on the team followed by Alex Caruso (of all people) who was a -33. Lu Dort was a -28 in his 21 minutes.
— Joe Mussatto, columnist
3-point shooting: D
Rough shooting nights on the road have become the norm for the Thunder in this playoff run.
The Thunder shot 3-of-20 from 3-point range in Quarters 1 through 3. OKC then shot 5-of-10 from deep in the fourth quarter, but the game was over by then.
Indiana has done a terrific job all series of capping the Thunder’s volume of 3-point attempts. Generating threes has been tough for OKC. Making them, even tougher.
Aaron Wiggins was responsible for the Thunder’s only made 3-pointer in the first half.
The Thunder’s starters combined to shoot 1-of-13 from three.
“I thought the low volume and the accuracy was reflective of the way they guarded us and our inability to create a rhythm against that the way we’ve been able to do in some of the other games,” Daigneault said. “We’ll look at it, learn from it. We obviously have to be a lot better on Sunday if we want to win the game.”
— Joe Mussatto, columnist
Capitalizing in the third quarter: D
The Thunder’s one good, sustained defensive stretch in Game 6 was at the start of the third quarter. It held the Pacers without a point on their first six possessions, forcing seven missed shots and one turnover.
It was Oklahoma City’s chance to get back into the game.
Yes, a 22-point halftime deficit was big, but score after four or five of those empty Pacer possessions, and the Thunder would’ve gotten the lead back to 12 or 14 points and been right back in the game.
Instead, the Thunder had its own drought, going eight possessions without scoring to start the second half. By the time it got on the board again, the Pacers had extended the lead to 28 points and any chance at a comeback was gone.
—Jenni Carlson, columnist
Tyrese Haliburton: A+
Haliburton wasn’t Indiana’s leading scorer — shoutout Obi Toppin — or Indiana’s leading assist man — take a bow T.J. McConnell — but Haliburton was a team-best plus 25 in his 23 minutes Thursday night.
Not bad for a guy whose availability was supposedly in jeopardy given his calf strain.
Haliburton tallied 14 points and five assists. He turned it over once.
I’m grading Haliburton on a curve given his health status, but this was a bigtime performance.
— Joe Mussatto, columnist
Reserves: C
The reserves get a passing grade only because the deep reserves — the thirdstringers, really — played admirably in the fourth quarter. Thunder coach Mark Daigneault sat his starters and most of the rotational players for the entire frame. That left the likes of Ajay Mitchell, Jaylin Williams and Dillon Jones with the task of finishing out the rout.
But even as Pacers coach Rick Carlisle continued playing many of his starters, the Thunder reserves actually cut the lead. They outscored the Pacers 31-18 in the fourth.
That would’ve gotten the reserves a higher grade if not for how poorly the rotational reserves played earlier in the game. No points from Alex Caruso or Cason Wallace in the first three quarters. Only three apiece from Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe. Through three quarters, the Pacers’ bench outscored the Thunder’s 31-6.
—Jenni Carlson, columnist
Thunder fans in Indy: A+
A giant tip of the cap to the hundreds of Thunder fans who made their way to Indianapolis for Game 6. Estimating just how many were inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse was difficult, but it was at least 500 and maybe as many as 1,000. It wasn’t a cheap trip on short notice or a cheap ticket in a place that loves its team.
Then for the Pacers to take control of the game so early? That couldn’t have been any fun.
But Thunder fans, you were seen.
—Jenni Carlson, columnist
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