Thunder Dig Deep, Outlast Pacers to Even NBA Finals
The Oklahoma City Thunder have made a season out of defying expectations — and Friday night in Indianapolis was no different.
Throughout the regular season, Oklahoma City was a model of consistency. The Thunder never lost more than two games in a row and suffered back-to-back losses just twice over eight months. For much of Game 4 of the NBA Finals, though, it looked like the Indiana Pacers were poised to hand them their third losing streak of the season — and take a commanding 3-1 series lead that only one team in NBA history has ever come back from.
Instead, the Thunder flipped the script.
With a gritty late-game surge, Oklahoma City rallied to beat the Pacers at their own game, stealing a 111–104 win to even the best-of-seven series at 2–2.
“That was just a great blood-and-guts win,” head coach Mark Daigneault said afterward.
Indiana, which entered the night with a near-perfect 9–1 postseason record in games decided by five points or fewer in the final five minutes, collapsed in crunch time. The Pacers managed only five points in the final four minutes and were outscored by 14 in the fourth quarter. They went 0-for-8 from beyond the arc and shot just 27.8% in the final period.
Pascal Siakam led Indiana with 20 points, while Tyrese Haliburton added 18 points and seven assists but also committed five turnovers.
Meanwhile, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander bounced back from a sluggish start — one in which he recorded zero assists for the first time since 2020 — to deliver a masterclass finish. The newly crowned MVP scored 35 points, including 15 of Oklahoma City’s final 16, and knocked down a critical three-pointer to give the Thunder their first second-half lead with two minutes left.
“He’s unreal,” Daigneault said.
Jalen Williams added 27 points, and rookie Chet Holmgren fought through ankle and shin injuries to finish with 14 points and 15 rebounds.
Despite making just three 3-pointers — their lowest total of the season — the Thunder clawed their way back by dominating the free-throw line, where they hit nine more shots than Indiana. The Pacers, previously 17–4 at home this season when making more threes than their opponent, couldn’t convert their typical formula into a win.
“Inability to get key rebounds, inability to get stops — we got stagnant,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “That was part of it.”
The tone of the game was set early. Oklahoma City shook up its starting lineup, bringing back center Isaiah Hartenstein in place of guard Cason Wallace, returning to the dual-big look with Holmgren that had been effective earlier in the playoffs. But the strategy was tested almost immediately when Holmgren rolled his ankle less than four minutes into the game. He stayed in briefly but was subbed out soon after, and the Pacers quickly built a nine-point lead.
The Thunder also made a subtle shift in how they managed Gilgeous-Alexander. Instead of his usual full first quarter, he played just seven minutes to preserve energy. During that stretch, he spent much of his time off the ball — a deliberate adjustment meant to keep him fresh for the fourth quarter.
By halftime, despite hitting only one three-pointer and trailing by 12 in Gilgeous-Alexander’s minutes, Oklahoma City was down just three. The bench was largely to thank — especially Alex Caruso, who delivered another unexpected scoring burst with 20 points. It marked his second 20-point game of the Finals after not hitting that mark once in the regular season.
Through most of the second half, Indiana clung to the lead. The Thunder missed 14 of their first 16 3-point attempts, and Gilgeous-Alexander continued to struggle against tight defense from Andrew Nembhard, a fellow Canadian whose familiarity seemed to frustrate the MVP.
But once Oklahoma City got Gilgeous-Alexander a new defender, he exploded — scoring seven quick points, including his lone 3-pointer, to swing the momentum and give the Thunder the lead for good.
Indiana never got it back.
“It’s a big disappointment,” Carlisle said. “But there’s three games left.”
Game 5 is set for Monday in Oklahoma City, where the Thunder will try to ride the wave of their comeback into a series lead.
