Oklahoma City Thunder hit back in NBA Finals as gritty Game 4 win over Indiana Pacers levels series

It was almost all against the Thunder on Friday night.

The fans, who serenaded their Pacers hero Obi Toppin with chants of his own name after he flagrantly fouled Alex Caruso and shoved an angry Isaiah Hartenstein.

The bounces, as the visitors shot a putrid 3-of-17 from three.

And certainly history, as teams trailing 2-1 in the Finals have won just 13 out of 63 series.

Ultimately, all of it – the suffocating noise from the crowd, the ball movement from this selfless Pacers squad and another clunky offensive showing – proved no match in the end for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s last gasp heroics as the Thunder won 111-104.

The MVP – following an anonymous showing late in Game 3 – scored 11 points in the final 3:34 of this game to snatch a vital victory for the Thunder.

It was a both a vintage and uncharacteristic performance from the 26-year-old playmaker. He produced zero assists, and seemed passive at points, with the visitors’ relying on Jalen Williams for stretches in the fourth.

But as the Pacers continue to repeat their mantra of state basketball pride – ‘But this is Indiana’ – Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder had a retort of their own as they completely swung the pendulum of the series.

The first quarter began in the same explosive fashion that Game 3 ended with.

Indiana looked the more dynamic and more fluid of the two teams following the quick turnaround, and made seven of their first 10 shots.

For a period, the fans in Gainbridge seemed to get get a decibel louder after every make – their volume almost mirroring their growing confidence that their heroes could, actually, pull this off. 

An Andrew Nembhard three soon gave the Pacers a 20-12 lead and forced the Thunder to call timeout as the sea of yellow in the crowd went berserk.

OKC’s Jalen Williams spoke the day prior about keeping his headphones constantly to ‘literally block out the noise,’ referring the constant chatter and hubbub around the team. Either way, they wouldn’t have muted much after Nembhard’s make.

The Thunder – facing the possibility of a truly treacherous 3-1 deficit – showed signs of life, but also carried over some worrying trends from Game 3.

12 first-quarter points from Williams were a positive, sloppiness and some bad transition turnovers ( there were five total giveaways in the first period) were not. Somehow, OKC still found themselves down just one at the end of the quarter.

And they looked a slightly better outfit in the second. The Pacers’ open looks dried open and the ball stopped sticking as much for the visitors, who played too much clunky, iso-heavy ball in the period before.

But – in keeping in theme with the fourth quarter of Game 3 – Gilgeous-Alexander was at times too quiet for an MVP. It wasn’t that he was missing, but rather that there were several possessions towards the end of the end of the quarter where he didn’t even touch the ball.

There was nothing quiet about Gainbridge, though. A handful of calls earned the stadium-wide scorn of the fans (some reactions were typical homer-ism, while the fans had a point when a Alex Caruso grabbed Tyrese Haliburton and escaped a foul call after he poked the ball free).

Either way, Toppin’s ability to rile up the crowd was a constant. The ex-Knick, who finished the game, seemingly produced a show-stopping dunk (he finished with three on the night) or momentum-swinging every time he scored the ball.

The crowd also needed no invitation to chant his name after his scuffle with Hartenstein, while he drew a flagrant foul later in the first half when Lu Dort caught him with a wind-up of his arm. 

The play provided a mini-boost for the hosts to end the half, as Toppin split a pair of free throws and the Pacers ended the period on an 8-2 run.

That sequence, if somewhat belatedly set the tone for the third quarter, where the ball started flying again for this selfless Pacers team.

Another possession of crisp ball movement finished with Myles Turner assisting Pascal Siakam for a wide-open three, and the Pacers lead stretched to 71-64 with 7:06 remaining in the period.

Toppin’s penchant for timely moments soon reared its head again when he hit threes on consecutive possessions to give the hosts an 80-72 advantage.

At the same time, the OKC offense was flagging and suffering from severe spacing issues. But Gilgeous-Alexander dug in his heels to make some tough looks and keep his team within single digits heading into the fourth. 

They’d soon tie the game back up in the next period thanks to a Chet Holmgren putback dunk which quieted the crowd, and a one-for-two trip to the line for Alex Caruso.

It was painfully tight from there as both teams traded buckets. Williams – who really served as OKC’s go-to option over Gilgeous-Alexander for a period- kept the visitors alive with a couple of big drives. Haliburton, quiet for much of the game, began hurting the visitors inside.

But Gilgeous-Alexander finished strong to deliver a crushing loss to Indiana and an enormous lifeline for OKC.

More to follow