INDIANAPOLIS — After 45 minutes of climbing uphill in Friday’s Game 4 of the NBA Finals, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder felt like the most successful season in franchise history was on the line.
The Thunder trailed the Indiana Pacers by a two-possession margin, putting Oklahoma City in serious jeopardy of falling into a 3-1 series deficit, a hole that has been overcome only once in Finals history.
Gilgeous-Alexander, along with a top-ranked Thunder defense that lived up to that pedigree when desperately needed, didn’t allow that to happen. The series is even heading back to Oklahoma City after the MVP’s clutch scoring flurry carried the Thunder to a 111-104 comeback victory at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
“I knew what it would have looked like if we lost tonight,” said Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored 15 of his 35 points in the final 4:38. “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.
“The guys deserve that much from me. The coaching staff deserves that much from me. I just tried to be aggressive but also let the game come to me, not try to force anything too crazy. I guess it paid off.”
Gilgeous-Alexander hit the two biggest shots of the game — and of his career to this point — on consecutive possessions after Indiana superstar Tyrese Haliburton drove by him for a layup that put the Pacers up by four with 3:20 remaining.
The two-man game with Jalen Williams (27 points) produced a spot-up 3-pointer for Gilgeous-Alexander that pulled Oklahoma City within a point with 2:58 remaining. After Alex Caruso blocked Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard’s shot, Gilgeous-Alexander attacked in isolation from the left wing and delivered a bump that sent defender Aaron Nesmith to the seat of his pants in the paint, creating space to hit a 15-foot baseline step-back jumper that gave the Thunder the lead for good with 2:23 remaining.
As the Thunder strung together a series of stops, holding the Pacers to one point after Haliburton’s driving layup, Gilgeous-Alexander sealed the victory by hitting six free throws in the final 44 seconds.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 15 of the Thunder’s final 16 points, including 11 in the last 2:58. That is the most points by any player in the final three minutes of a Finals win in at least 50 years, according to ESPN Research.
“It’s unbelievable,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “He really didn’t have it going a lot of the night. He was laboring. We had a hard time shaking him free. For him to be able to flip the switch like that and get the rhythm he got just speaks to how great of a player he is.
“Again, it’s nothing we don’t know. But he definitely showed who he is tonight.”
The Thunder set an NBA record for point differential during a 68-win regular season, but they have also established themselves as a historically elite comeback team. That continued at a critical moment Friday night, as the Thunder rallied from a 10-point deficit late in the third quarter.
Oklahoma City is 22-12 in games when it has trailed by double digits during this regular-season and playoff run, the best record by any team in those situations since at least 1997-98, according to ESPN Research.
The Thunder’s confidence under such duress reflects the cool demeanor of the face of the franchise.
“You wouldn’t know if it was a preseason game or it’s Game 4 of the NBA Finals down 2-1 with [Gilgeous-Alexander],” said Caruso, who had his second 20-point performance of the series after having none in the regular season. “That’s why we have such a good mentality as a group. That’s why we are able to find success in adversity.
“No matter what’s going on, you look at him and he’s the same. Underneath that stoic personality or look on the court is a deep, deep-rooted competitiveness. That is sprinkled throughout the whole team.”
Gilgeous-Alexander, who was 12-of-24 shooting and didn’t record an assist, wouldn’t have had the opportunity to shine down the stretch unless the Oklahoma City defense responded to the challenge in the fourth quarter. The Thunder held the Pacers to 17 points on 5-of-18 shooting in the final frame, when Luguentz Dort set the tone with his smothering point-of-attack defense.
“We just got some big-time players that make big-time plays,” said Chet Holmgren, who finished with 14 points and 15 rebounds, highlighted by a pair of putbacks in the fourth quarter. “I think Shai’s shots were huge. Those are loud, obvious — everybody sees them. We had guys make plays that you could say were invisible, that led to a lot of good things happening for us.”
Gilgeous-Alexander responded with greatness when his team needed it the most, coming through with the sort of closing kick that is the stuff of legends. He had 15 points and was 8-of-8 from the line in the fourth quarter, which hadn’t been done since Michael Jordan in the clinching Game 6 of the 1998 Finals, his last dance in a Chicago Bulls uniform.
“That’s what it’s all about,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Winning, especially this time of the season, it comes down to the moments. 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.
“I relish those moments, love the moments, good or bad. 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.”
