Charles Barkley makes bold declaration about NBA Finals after Thunder win Game 4
The post Charles Barkley makes bold declaration about NBA Finals after Thunder win Game 4 appeared first on ClutchPoints.
INDIANAPOLIS — After tying their NBA Finals' series, 2-2, in a 111-104 win in Game 4 against the Indiana Pacers, are the Oklahoma City Thunder a lock to becoming champions? NBA analyst Charles Barkley believes so. Scoring 15 of his 35 points in the last five minutes, Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's historic performance led his team to an improbable win.
For Barkley, the Pacers' missed opportunity to grab a 3-1 lead in Game 4 will come back and haunt them due to their inability to close out Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder down the stretch in the fourth quarter, Barkley said, per NBATV.
'I think they're in trouble. When you have a team on the ropes, you gotta finish them off. If you go up 3-1, you're in great shape,' Barkley said. 'But now, you go back, you know Oklahoma City, number one, they got a better team. Now, they're back to their original starting lineup, which will be better next game. Then, they realized, man, we gotta play our bench more. We're back to the thing that got us to the NBA Finals.
'We're gonna go back big, big. We can dominate them on the boards like we did. And they're going back to Oklahoma City. I think this series is a wrap. I thought tonight was a big deal for both teams,' Barkley concluded.
Hall of Fame forward Charles Barkley doesn't think the Pacers will win it all.
Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander made NBA Finals history in Game 4, securing a much-needed win, while joining Hall of Fame guard Jerry West in the process. Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 35 points, three rebounds, three steals, one block, and zero turnovers.
Gilgeous-Alexander joins West as the only two players in NBA Finals history to finish with 35 points and zero turnovers in a single game, per StatMuse.
The Thunder will look to grab a commanding 3-1 lead in Game 5 at the Paycom Center on Monday.
Related: Stephen A. Smith claps back at haters for Pacers-Thunder Game 4 Solitaire picture
Related: Thunder HC Mark Daigneault reveals why Isaiah Hartenstein started over Cason Wallace
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