Player grades: SGA has legacy moment in Thunder's 111-104 Game 4 win over Pacers

USA Today

14 hours ago

Player grades: SGA has legacy moment in Thunder's 111-104 Game 4 win over Pacers
INDIANAPOLIS — Driving left, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander bumped Aaron Nesmith off him. The Indiana defender fell backward and Andrew Nembhard tried to contest late on the help. Didn't matter. The MVP winner sank a signature baseline jumper for the biggest bucket of his career.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are right back in this thing. It looked dire at times, but they survived the Indiana Pacers in a 111-104 Game 4 win. They evened the 2025 NBA Finals at 2-2 apiece and have reacquired homecourt advantage.
Whew. A lot to unpack from this one. The Thunder looked dead in the water for most of the night. Behind a loud crowd, the Pacers buried them on the scoreboard. They quickly had a 20-12 lead. Nothing could go right for OKC. Then a quick timeout calmed everybody down. The Thunder managed to escape the first quarter with just a 35-34 deficit.
Easy to get over. You take that any day of the week. Both teams went back and forth in the second frame. Things got a little feisty from both sides. Obi Toppin and Lu Dort each received a flagrant foul. We've reached the point in the series where both sides are sick of each other. Multiply that by tenfold with a championship on the line.
The Thunder scored 23 points as both offenses were muddied down. The Pacers held a 60-57 halftime lead. Expect another tight finish. Likely similar to Game 1. If you're OKC, you have to feel decent about your odds, considering how unnoteworthy Gilgeous-Alexander was to start. Surely he'd be due.
Out of the break, the Pacers flustered the Thunder. They made one of the greatest teams ever look like a JV squad. Everything that made them special was taken away. The Pacers scored just 27 points in the third frame, but the way they did it demoralized everybody in OKC.
Toppin looked on the cusp of being another role player who'll forever haunt Thunder fans' dreams. Back-to-back 3-pointers put the Pacers up by 80-72 with a little over four minutes left in the frame. A 24-second shot-clock violation and an eight-second backcourt violation within seconds of each other made everything boil over for OKC.
The Thunder exited the third quarter in an 87-80 deficit. It was now or never. Have a monster fourth quarter and bring life back to your championship aspirations. Lose a rare second straight game and be on the verge of an all-time upset. No big deal. Just all of the high-pressure stakes you could imagine fall on their shoulders.
It didn't take the Thunder long to prove to the rest of the world the moment wasn't too big for them. Chet Holmgren converted on two straight buckets off second-chance looks. Alex Caruso then tied the game up at 89 points apiece with a little over eight minutes left.
Brand new ball game. While 48 other states absolutely loved to see an NBA Finals game come down to the wire, Oklahoma and Indiana residents likely reached dangerous levels of heartbeats per second with their anxiety levels through the roof. Heck, they likely couldn't even feel their fingertips.
After the Pacers took a 101-97 lead with a little under four minutes left, that's when Gilgeous-Alexander stamped his biggest legacy moment of his career. Battling through full-court presses and ball-denials, the MVP winner took the Pacers to work.
Gilgeous-Alexander drove to the basket. Received the whistle. Next possession, nailed a stepback 3-pointer. Then he drilled his patented baseline jumper. All of the MVP's best scoring moves were fully displayed. Countless hours spent in the gym finally paid off at the biggest stage.
Fighting pseudo-elimination, Gilgeous-Alexander shushed the Pacers' crowd. He scored 15 points in the fourth quarter alone. The Thunder finished the final three minutes in a 12-1 run. After struggling to contain Indiana, their league-best defense shut them down in the season's biggest moment.
All the Pacers could do was hope they'd enjoy more unreal shot-making late. Nope. Tyrese Haliburton's scoring limitations were exposed. The Pacers tried to hunt out Holmgren at the perimeter but were denied each time. Pascal Siakam couldn't do much. Indiana's role players regressed.
As Pacers fans filed out, the Thunder won the fourth quarter with a 31-17 scoring advantage. Holy crap. Talk about a moment. They saved their championship aspirations and are back behind the driver's wheel. They needed to gut out this Game 4 win and did despite several moments where it didn't look like it'd happen.
The Thunder shot 47% from the field and went 3-of-16 (18.8%) from 3. They shot 34-of-38 on free throws. They had 11 assists on 37 baskets. Four Thunder players scored double-digit points.
Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with an efficient 35 points. Williams once again stepped up with 27 points. Holmgren had a 14-point double-double. Caruso scored 20 points off the bench again.
Meanwhile, the Pacers shot 43% from the field and went 11-of-36 (30.6%) from 3. They shot 25-of-33 on free throws. They had 21 assists on 34 baskets. Five Pacers players scored double-digit points.
Haliburton was held to 18 points and seven assists. Siakam had 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Toppin went off for 17 points and seven rebounds. Myles Turner had 12 points and Nembhard tallied 10 points.
It wasn't the prettiest win, but you never apologize for them. Especially in the NBA Finals. Gilgeous-Alexander showed once again why he's one of the greatest scorers ever. He stepped up when the Thunder needed him to. Williams and Holmgren also excelled in their roles in this must-win scenario. Now the series heads back to OKC with all the momentum on its side.
Let's look at Thunder player grades:
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: A-plus
On a step-back 3-pointer and baseline mid-range jumper, Gilgeous-Alexander somehow put the Thunder ahead of the Pacers for the final time. It's only right he used two of his best weapons in a now-or-never situation. Like Batman's Batarang, the MVP winner went to his favorites in the two biggest possessions of his basketball life.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 35 points on 12-of-24 shooting and three rebounds. He shot 1-of-4 from 3 and went 10-of-10 on free throws. He also had three steals and one block.
The Pacers may need to go back to the drawing board. Their full-court press gimmick had a short shelf life. Gilgeous-Alexander swatted away every Pacers defender thrown at him. The MVP winner got to his sweet spots in the mid-range. When he didn't, he drove to the basket and went to the free-throw line.
After an awful 12-point first half, Gilgeous-Alexander turned it up in the latter two quarters. He scored 23 points and 15 in the fourth quarter. The Pacers could only shake their head in frustration. The raucous Indiana crowd slowly quieted before they were muted.
An endless amount of digital ink will be spilled over Gilgeous-Alexander's Game 4 performance. Down 2-1 on the road, he joins all-time basketball pantheons like LeBron James and Stephen Curry for this backs-against-the-wall scenario. He showed once again why he could be well on his way to being viewed as those future Hall-of-Famers.
For now, though, if the Thunder win the championship, this Game 4 performance will likely be remembered as the pivot point. 26 years of hard work and raw talent led to this point. Two more wins and Gilgeous-Alexander will be the consensus greatest player in the OKC franchise history.
Fourth quarter battling 😤 pic.twitter.com/SFoniHZgba — OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) June 14, 2025
DID YOU SEE THIS ⁉️ pic.twitter.com/yXZ8ajkfXW — OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) June 14, 2025
Jalen Williams: A-plus
After the Thunder turned it over on an inconsequential inbound pass, Williams launched off the court and prevented Bennedict Mathurin from making the final seconds more interesting. The 24-year-old jumped too high, too quickly. He broke his fall by hanging on the rim, but still fell to his side.
The foul showed how badly Williams wanted this one. The box score also showed that. He finished with 27 points on 8-of-18 shooting, seven rebounds and three assists. He shot 0-of-3 from 3 and went 11-of-11 on free throws.
As Gilgeous-Alexander needed some time to figure out Indiana, Williams kept the Thunder afloat. He scored 16 points in the first half. The 24-year-old sliced through the Pacers' defense. He was relentless on his drives and went to the free-throw line plenty of times once again.
That was always the next step in Williams' progression as a scorer. He could hit on difficult mid-range jumpers, but a steady stream of free throws was a more stable source of points income. At the NBA's biggest stage, he's mastered the art of drawing contact. Such a unique career trajectory that gets overshadowed by Gilgeous-Alexander's improbable ascension.
The Thunder have seen Williams blossom in front of their eyes. Last year's playoff woes feel like a distant memory. The All-NBA talent has proven time and time again throughout these playoffs that he could step up when needed. No better example than Game 4 as Gilgeous-Alexander finally took over in the fourth quarter.
Smooth with it 🕺 pic.twitter.com/dY98m50Ya8 — OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) June 14, 2025
Keep stacking, keep working 💼 pic.twitter.com/EzT7PIY5y4 — OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) June 14, 2025
Right to the rim 💨 pic.twitter.com/t4M3R7zpWC — OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) June 14, 2025
Chet Holmgren: A-plus
Matched up against Haliburton, Holmgren wouldn't budge. Go right. He went right. Go left. He shifted his feet left. After a couple of dribble moves failed to create separation, Indiana's best player settled for a rush fadeaway 3-pointer that was airballed.
Holmgren did his best 2016 Kevin Love impersonation. The Pacers hunted the switch but couldn't capitalize. They learned their lesson the hard way that you can't simply expect the seven-footer to not be agile enough to dance with perimeter scorers.
Holmgren finished with 14 points on 4-of-9 shooting, 15 rebounds and one assist. He shot 0-of-1 from 3 and 6-of-6 on free throws. He also had one block and one steal.
Everybody who stepped on the floor played a role in the Thunder's season-saving fourth quarter. For Holmgren, it was two big-time second-chance buckets off Gilgeous-Alexander's outside misses. They helped OKC stay within striking distance.
And then obviously, the defense speaks for itself. It's what made him one of the best defensive prospects ever. He's an all-time rim protector. Being pushed up as the power forward after Isaiah Hartenstein re-entered the starting lineup didn't mess with his mojo.
But several perimeter defensive stops highlighted some of Holmgren's biggest career plays. The Thunder played their best stretch of defense and the 23-year-old anchored it. That's all you can ask for from him. Even if the scoring and shooting numbers can be off.
Blocked by Chet 🚫
Assist by Caso 🤝
Bucket by KRich 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/XPE6hshod3 — OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) June 14, 2025
Alex Caruso: A-plus
After another stellar performance that added to his playoff riser mythos, Caruso was asked which superhero he relates to. He answered Robin because, of course, he did. The future head coach already has the media cliches down to a tee. Maybe Dick Grayson, though. Or The Incredible Hulk.
Caruso finished with 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting and three rebounds. He shot 1-of-2 from 3 and went 5-of-7 on free throws. He also had five steals.
After failing to score 20 points once in the regular season, Caruso has done it twice in the NBA Finals. In the season's biggest fourth quarter, the Thunder trusted the 31-year-old to close as the fifth player. The move paid off as it was OKC's turn to have a 20-point bench scorer.
But with Caruso, everybody knows his bread and butter is on defense. He was a beast on that end of the floor. Made any comparisons to TJ McConnell look silly. He's a fine ball player, but the 31-year-old can impact the game beyond three anomaly inbound steals.
This is why the Thunder traded for Caruso. He was a step ahead of the Pacers' passes. Their pass-happy offense hurt them against him. He had five steals by being a millisecond ahead of Indiana's next move. He continues to add chapters to his legendary playoff run.
AC ON BOTH ENDS 🔋 pic.twitter.com/hGHSI4mGPk — OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) June 14, 2025
Force the turnover AND score 🗣️@OGandE Power Play of the Game pic.twitter.com/pf8F09gP9M — OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) June 14, 2025
Tough shot, tough finish 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/zDhok3po7d — OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) June 14, 2025
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