“It comes down to the moments and who is willing to make winning plays…”: The Thunder broke the Pacers’ hearts in Game 4, tying the series at 2-2

The Thunder’s late defense intensified, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander the Great rescued his club in the fourth quarter on a spree of free throws and jumpers, taking Game 4 and tying the Finals at 2-2. He said after the game, “I knew what it would have looked like if we lost tonight, and I didn’t want to go out not swinging…”

The first change from the last match was Isaiah Hartenstein returning to the Thunder’s starting lineup after three on the bench behind Cason Wallace. The Pacers deployed double and triple full-court press plus hounded the ball and passing lanes. But Jalen Williams and Alex Caruso got loose, attacking the rim six times. Additionally, Pascal Siakam carved up OKC with four steals, a corner tray and a powerful dunk through the middle, but the Pacers were up only 35-34 at the end of the first quarter.  

SGA subsequently was his team’s main source of offense in the second quarter, nailing two pull-up jumpers and slicing into the lane for two layups as no teammate had more than a field goal. They briefly claimed a six-point lead, but the Pacers closed the period on a 15-6 run.

The Thunder were down 60-57 at halftime after six ties and five lead changes. They had one made 3-pointer to Indiana’s seven.

Then SGA, Williams and Caruso carried the Thunder in the third quarter with shots from short, mid and long range, but the Pacers, even with three missed freebies, pulled ahead by seven, downing four more triples and seven free throws. 

Next, the Thunder cranked up their defensive potency by 40° and tied the game four minutes into the fourth quarter. They prevented the Pacers any made 3-pointers in eight tries by challenging promptly and suffocating everyone minus Tyrese Haliburton. On top of that, SGA took over, scoring 15 points on free throws, a drive-by, and two pull-up jumpers, which included nine straight digits in the last four minutes. “When I was a kid, shooting on my driveway, I’d count down the clock for those moments, and now I get to live it,” SGA said.

The Pacers had a faint pulse, down four with 23.1 seconds left, but Bennedict Mathurin’s three consecutive missed free throws put the final nail in their coffin. 

The Thunder won 111-104 despite their half-court attack getting derailed to 86.7 points per 100 plays, good enough for the 22nd percentile, per Cleaning the Glass. They also outscored the Pacers in four key areas: paint points (50-36), fastbreak points (10-9), second chance points (23-11) and points off turnovers (25-23).

Game 5 is Monday in OKC.