The Indiana Pacers entered Friday’s Game 4 trying to put a stranglehold on the series. There have been 38 teams to face a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals. Only the 2016 LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers were able to do the improbable.
The Oklahoma City Thunder were the best team in the regular season, boasting the league’s best defense and MVP. OKC was a heavy favorite to win the championship and favored in every game so far against the Pacers, but that meant nothing as it was on the precipice of darkness.
As a result, we as fans were blessed with some high quality basketball on Friday.
Both teams came out playing like their lives depended on it in the first half. Indiana built a nine-point lead, but Oklahoma City battled back and the first quarter ended, 35-34, in favor of the home team. The second quarter was just as tight and hard-fought. Indiana once again came out on top and went into halftime with the 60-57 lead.
Both teams shot around 47% from the field. OKC made five more free throws but was only 1-of-10 from downtown while Indiana was 7-of-19. OKC did end up with six more points in the paint while Indiana had nine more assists. The rest of the counting stats were even.
Coming out of the locker room, the Pacers defense was stifling, limiting OKC to 23 points and lowering the Thunder’s overall field goal percentage by two percent for the game. Towards the end of the quarter, the Pacers were able to get the lead to double-digits for the first time, but the Thunder responded and went into the final period down by seven points, 87-80.
And they kept chugging along into the fourth quarter, eventually tying the game with 8:13 left in the game.
Then the two teams went Rocky vs. Drago, exchanging haymakers and taking blows with neither team able to separate.
With 2:21 left, SGA did this to finally put OKC on top:
Bennedict Mathurin, the hero of Game 3, missed two free throws in 23.4 seconds left and the Pacers down by four points.
Ball game. OKC 111. IND 104.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($13,800; 46.25 FPTS) scored a game-high 35 points on 12-of-24 from the field, 1-of-4 from downtown and 10-of-10 from the line. While he grabbed three rebounds, blocked a shot and racked up three steals, SGA did not dish out a dime.
Jalen Williams ($10,200; 38.25 FPTS) had 27 points, seven rebounds and three assists. He shot 8-of-18 from the field, 0-of-3 from downtown and drained all 11 free throw attempts.
Chet Holmgren ($8,200; 39.25 FPTS) was a monster on the glass, pulling down 15 rebounds to go along with 14 points, one assist, one block and one steal.
Alex Caruso ($6,400; 35.25 FPTS) was fantastic once again at both ends of the court, finishing with 20 points, three rebounds, one block and five steals. He shot 7-of-9 from the field, 1-of-2 from downtown and 5-of-7 from the line.
Indiana was led by Pascal Siakam ($9,800; 50 FPTS), who contributed 20 points, eight rebounds, five assists, one block and five steals. He shot 6-of-15 from the line, 2-of-6 from downtown and 6-of-8 from the line.
Tyrese Haliburton ($11,400; 33 FPTS) had 18 points, two rebounds, seven assists and two steals. He shot 7-of-15 from the field, only 1-of-7 from downtown and 3-of-3 from the line.
Obi Toppin ($5,000; 32.25 FPTS) stuffed the stat sheet with 17 points, seven rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block. He shot 7-of-12 from the field and 2-of-5 from downtown, but only hit one of four free throws and finished a -15 on the night.
Aaron Nesmith ($5,800; 24.75 FPTS) produced eight points, nine rebounds, two assists and one steal while Game 3 hero, Bennedict Mathurin ($4,000; 12.5 FPTS) had eight points, two rebounds and a block in 14 minutes.
OKC shot 47.4% from the field while Indiana was at 42.5%. Indiana shot 19 more three-pointers and drained eight more, but OKC converted nine more free throws and won the battle of the boards by 10. Indiana had 11 more assists, but OKC finished with 14 more points in the paint.
Game 5 is Monday in Oklahoma City with the series now tied at 2-2.
