Thunder vs. Pacers: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander takes his place in NBA Finals lore as he saves the series and OKC's season

Yahoo

14 hours ago

INDIANAPOLIS — The moment was here — everyone playing knew it, everyone in Gainbridge Fieldhouse knew it, and it couldn't be escaped.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said it as much: He knew what would happen if the Oklahoma City Thunder succumbed to these Indiana Pacers, if they fell behind three games to one.
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Maybe he's a steward of history, knowing what Game 4's have looked like in the more recent compelling NBA Finals.
Maybe he's not and just knew the score — nearly infinity to one in that 3-1 scenario and how unlikely it would be for this team to come back if they allowed the Pacers to keep growing in confidence after coming home for two games.
But he knew the moment was upon us of all, and most importantly, the moment was upon the newly crowned Most Valuable Player.
He was gassed, the Pacers' breakneck speed pushing the Thunder to the brink. The whispers of fraud were starting to bubble, and had he withered beneath this pressure and this moment, the bulk of the critique would be headed to him.
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander shoots as Indiana Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard, right, defends during the second half of Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Friday, June 13, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
'I knew what it would have looked like if we lost tonight,' Gilgeous-Alexander 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.'
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Nothing was easy. The ultimate rhythm player was off-key — hounded by fellow Canadian Andrew Nembhard. Gilgeous-Alexander could barely touch the ball without Pacers swiping, swinging and forcing him off his spots and into uncomfortable positions. Superman's cape was ripped, tugged and twisted for the better part of 40 minutes.
But Gilgeous-Alexander sensed the opening, especially after the Pacers couldn't completely close the door in the third quarter. He darted through the door of opportunity in the last four minutes.
Gilgeous-Alexander added his name to NBA Finals lore Friday night, scoring 15 of his game-high 35 points in the last 3:52 to lead the Thunder to a 111-104 victory to tie this unexpected NBA Finals at two games each.
Make that 15 of Oklahoma City's last 16 points, the most by a player in the last five minutes in the NBA Finals since 1971.
The Pacers will lament this loss, and should they lose the series, the pseudo-meltdown will be the thing they regret the most — the moment they lost control of a series that was seemingly there for the taking.
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Gilgeous-Alexander's catch-and-shoot 3 that looked true from the moment it left his fingertips — his only make from distance on the evening — cut a four-point lead to one. His step-back jumper once he was freed from the clutches of Nembhard gave the Thunder a 104-103 lead at 2:23 they wouldn't relinquish.
'I relish those moments, love the moments, good or bad,' Gilgeous-Alexander said. 'When I was a kid shooting at my driveway, I'd count down the clock for those moments. Now I get to live it. It's a blessing, it's fun, and I relish it.'
Game 4's in the last 15 years have produced performances that have validated premier stars — Stephen Curry, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Dirk Nowitzki stamped themselves in adverse circumstances.
Curry's 2022 showing at the Boston Garden shut up his critics and Celtics fans — buoying the Warriors to their last title.
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Antetokounmpo's defensive play the year before, blocking Deandre Ayton against improbable odds on a gimpy leg, was the catalyst for the Bucks to complete their comeback against Phoenix.
Nowitzki was saddled with the flu in the 2011 Finals, and being playfully mocked by Dwyane Wade and LeBron James wasn't received very kindly, and he battled through.
Each of those performances tied the series and pulled their teams from the brink. The Thunder were under no delusions, which of course is easier to say in the backdrop of a win.
'Our season is kind of on the line,' Thunder forward Jalen Williams said.
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The Thunder gathered themselves in the last four minutes, in that final quarter — doing just enough in the third to not get knocked out. Pascal Siakam was putting some touches on a Finals MVP performance, and the Pacers made every corner three available while the Thunder couldn't hit anything and weren't moving the ball like they'd been doing for the last eight months.
'I just thought we showed great will in the game. I thought we really hung in there in the third,' Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. 'I thought that was the key to the game. They really had the wind to their back. We had some deflating plays. It was an easy game to give up on. We kept it in striking distance, eight, 10, then able to close it in the fourth.'
When the moment is at hand, the stats don't matter as much, the details truly become hazy through time. All we knew was the Thunder were being tested in ways they weren't even in the second round against Nikola Jokić and the Denver Nuggets.
They advanced, but this series is a post-graduate course with Rick Carlisle on the other side, the master teacher who's taking away so many of the things that have become hallmarks of Oklahoma City's dominant campaign.
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Maybe the Thunder weren't ready. They've grown, but they hadn't had real, extensive playoff heartbreak. Denver had some disappointments before breaking through. Boston had more than its share, as well as Milwaukee.
That's been the path of recent champions, with very little exception.
That's how the Thunder looked — bewildered for the most part of the night and ready to break. Gilgeous-Alexander didn't look like an MVP but a bystander — although there's a beauty in watching Williams play de facto point guard because no one would let Gilgeous-Alexander out of sight, and Chet Holmgren elevating his game on both ends with timely offensive scores and critical stops when the Pacers tried to hunt him.
And Alex Caruso shined as the vet with a championship ring doing the little things. Championships are won in the margins, even before you get to the moment.
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"Just didn't quit. We haven't really had to show it a lot this year, with the success we had in the regular season,' Williams said. 'We've had a lot of ups and downs during the playoffs. We've just learned from those experiences. That is something Mark is really big on us, every game you should be able to learn, then the next game you should be able to apply something and get better at it. That's what we're trying to do every time.'
The Thunder still needed their closer to bring closure to this gam and reset the table for the rest of this series.
'When you're on the road like that, it's just you. That's your unit,' Daigneault said. 'Those guys did a great job staying in it because that was a hard game, a hard game for us. We could just not get a lot going, especially the third. Just to hang in there just kind of showed who we are.'
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And the MVP showed who he is. He fouled out Aaron Nesmith and had just enough breathing room to become breathtaking.
It feels like the NBA Finals have turned, almost violently in the last 48 hours.
'Winning, especially this time of the season, it comes down to the moments,' Gilgeous-Alexander said. 'It's going to come down to late game. Every team is good. There's rarely going to be a blowout. It comes down to the moments and who is willing to make winning plays on both ends of the floor.'
He made them, so they made them. More than winning, the Thunder survived — and advanced back home, back in control.