INDIANAPOLIS — Oklahoma City did to Indiana what the Pacers have done to everyone else all playoffs and season long.
Indiana led by seven entering the fourth quarter in a game where it had largely been in control but it could never quite pull away, and it led by four with 3:20 remaining. Then, with its season hanging in the balance, Oklahoma City played at its peak. The Thunder defense held the Pacers to one bucket from the floor in the final five minutes of the game, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander took over and scored 15 points in the final four minutes of the game.
Down 7, facing a 3-1 series deficit...
— NBA (@NBA) June 14, 2025
OKC DELIVERED A MASTERCLASS IN THE 4TH QUARTER. pic.twitter.com/YViaRsKT2D
“We never wavered, never thought we might lose this game,” said Alex Caruso, who scored 20 points, added five steals and closed the game for the Thunder. “We were concentrating on trying to win it, on trying to solve the puzzle, figure out a way to make plays down the stretch to win the game.”
“We got stagnant, their second shots were a big problem,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said postgame, referencing the four offensive rebounds the Thunder had in the fourth quarter. “When you’re unable to rebound, it’s hard to continue to play with pace and tempo... They kept attacking, kept attacking, and their defense was great down the stretch.”
The result was only the second clutch game the Pacers lost this postseason, a 111-104 Thunder win that ties the series up at 2-2.
What has been a highly entertaining, well-played Finals will see Game 5 Monday night in Oklahoma City. It also feels like a series that is going to go seven games.
The Pacers have focused their defense this series on denying Gilgeous-Alexander the ball, then when he does get the rock and drives they make it hard for him to get his teammates involved and get their offense flowing. Indiana did that again in Game 4. The problem was that SGA took on the challenge and scored 35 on the night (with zero assists).
SGA COMES UP HUGE IN GAME 4 ⚡️🚨
— NBA (@NBA) June 14, 2025
35 points.
15 in the 4th.
3 steals.
THE #KiaMVP DELIVERS IN A MASSIVE MOMENT FOR OKC! pic.twitter.com/uPjnixOSID
“I just tried to be aggressive, I knew what it would look like if we didn’t win this game, I didn’t want to go out not swinging,” Gilgeous-Alexander said of his play in the final minutes of the game. “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 as much from me. The coaching staff deserves that much from me...
“I guess it paid off.”
What also paid off was coach Mark Daigneault calling for a lot of Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams pick-and-roll in the clutch, it proved something the Pacers could not slow. Williams finished the night with 27 points.
This is the loss Indiana will regret if it does not win the series. On the night, the Thunder were just 3-of-17 from beyond the arc (Indiana was 11-of-36, just 30.6%, but they still outscored OKC by 24 from beyond the arc). The Thunder shot 12-of-38 (31.7%) outside the paint for the game. While Pacers fans in the building (and online) want to complain about foul calls, the Thunder shot just five more free throws than the Pacers, and that was bolstered by some intentional fouling at the end.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault made the first big adjustment of the series, returning to the double-big starting lineup of Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein, which had been effective throughout the Western Conference postseason.
It didn’t work — for the first time this series it was Indiana getting off to the fast start leading 20-12 behind fast starts from Pascal Siakam and Myles Turner (the Thunder were even for the night in the minutes Holmgren and Hartenstein shared the court).
SIAKAM THROWDOWN!
— NBA (@NBA) June 14, 2025
He's got 10 points and FOUR steals in the 1st quarter 😲 pic.twitter.com/OiTzDdnQJg
For three quarters Indiana had the ball moving a step ahead of Oklahoma City’s rotations and it was getting solid looks (or, as good of looks are coming in what is a fantastic defensive series by both teams). Indiana was also knocking down its jumpers (only six of their first 24 points came in the paint).
Despite the hot start by the Pacers and some cold shooting from 3 by the Thunder, OKC was hanging around, and at the end of a high-scoring first quarter, the Pacers were only up one, 35-34.
Midway through the second quarter, Obi Toppin was given a flagrant foul on Alex Caruso for what was a non-basketball play (but might have been just a hard playoff foul in another era). Hartenstein had a few words for Toppin after that, but nothing came of it.
Obi Toppin was charged with a Flagrant 1 foul on this play.
— ESPN (@espn) June 14, 2025
Toppin and Isaiah Hartenstein received double technicals after review. pic.twitter.com/gxWlv4Xioo
Toppin drew a flagrant himself on Lu Dort later in the quarter.
Lu Dort received a flagrant 1 for this foul on Obi Toppin
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) June 14, 2025
(via @TSN_Sports)pic.twitter.com/y5PdCh2q2c
Indiana led 60-57 at the half and the difference was 3-point shooting: The Pacers were 7-of-19 from 3, while the Thunder were 1-of-10. The Thunder were 6-of-21 on shots outside the paint in the first half.
In the third quarter, the Pacers played like sharks smelling blood in the water — the crowd could sense it, Indiana’s defensive pressure seemed to ramp up and the shots kept falling. Still, they couldn’t pull away. Indiana led by 7 after three, but the Pacers seemed in control and fans were ready to celebrate being closer to an NBA title than the franchise had ever been.
Then came the Thunder’s clutch fourth quarter and this is now a best-of-three series.
