OKC Thunder Inch Closer To NBA Championship With Series-Altering Win

The most significant moment in Oklahoma City Thunder history occurred on Friday night, as the franchise sought to come closest to potentially winning an NBA Championship. In a pivotal Game 4 contest on the road against the Indiana Pacers, the Thunder defied the odds, pulling out an improbable win to tie the NBA Finals at 2-2.

It was not a typical performance for Oklahoma City, who looked rattled in the early parts of the second half. The Thunder wasn’t generating many 3-point attempts and was missing nearly every time one was taken. The ball was movement lacking for OKC, as the team was blockisting at the lowest rate all season. But somehow, down the stretch, the Thunder found a way to keep the game close into the fourth quarter and ultimately won by a final score of 111-104.

It wasn’t a pretty win. In fact, it was a win that seemed so unlikely until the final minutes. What ultimately got the Thunder over the hump was the injection of a lethal two-man game with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams. That star duo began to play off of one another late in Game 4, which generated enough points to hold off Indiana late.

“We’ve worked on that over the course of the last couple years. Both of us can do multiple things with the basketball: shoot, pblock, handle,” said Gilgeous-Alexander of the two-man action. “We try to just play off our instincts and play off each other, be aggressive, make the right basketball play. If we do so, we usually end up with a pretty good shot because of the players we are. But yeah, we worked on that over the course of time. It showed up big tonight, for sure.”

Gilgeous-Alexander scored 15 points in the last five minutes of the game, which marked the most by any player in an NBA Finals game over the last 50 years. He got to his spots, scored from all three levels, and found ways to get to the line for the highest-quality shot in all of basketball. The Thunder defense also clamped down, holding Indiana to just one field goal made in the final five minutes and a total of one point scored in the final 3:20 of the game.

“We got stagnant. Their second shots were a big problem. When you’re unable to rebound, it’s hard to continue to play with pace and tempo,” said Pacers coach Rick Carlisle postgame. “But give them credit. They kept attacking, kept attacking, and their defense was great down the stretch.”

The NBA Finals is now a three-game mini-series, with Oklahoma City regaining home-court advantage. If this goes the distance, two of the final three contests will be played at Paycom Center.

Game 5 will be a significant opportunity for the Thunder to take control of this series for the first time, but it won’t be easy. The Pacers — like OKC — still haven’t lost back-to-back games the entire postseason and have been brilliant coming off losses. It’s going to be a physical series the rest of the way, as each game to this point has seemingly become more chippy and aggressive on the defensive end for both teams.

“It was a physical game, for sure, on both sides. They played physical; we played physical. Every time a game is like that,” said Thunder guard Lu Dort after Game 4. “We were out there competing. Both teams are physical, for sure.”

At this point, Gilgeous-Alexander has proven that he’s unstoppable on the offensive end. The only way to slow him down is to sell out on defense and dare his supporting cast to beat you. That strategy has become increasingly difficult to deploy as Williams emerges more prominently in the postseason. In these first four NBA Finals games, he’s averaged 22.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.3 blockists per contest.

Just a third-year player, Williams stepping up in the biggest moment has been paramount in Oklahoma City making it this far. Despite being the youngest team in the entire playoffs thus far, the Thunder’s ability to stay poised and prepared for the moment has been key.

“I think my biggest thing is just stepping into the moment, success or fail, just kind of living with the results. I put a lot of work into my game, so I just go out there and play,” said Williams of his great performance in Game 4. “I just don’t want to ever play a game and look back where I wasn’t aggressive, afraid to do a move, whatever the case may be. That’s how I look at it.”

Just two wins away from hoisting the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy, the Thunder is the closest it’s been since relocating to OKC almost 20 years ago. Every game the rest of the way will be the new, most important game in history for Oklahoma City, meaning the pressure will be as high as it’s ever been. Even then, the Thunder is prepared for that pressure and is ready to carve out its place as having one of the most dominant campaigns in the history of the NBA when looking at regular season and playoff success.

“That’s what it’s all about,” said Gilgeous-Alexander after Game 4 when asked about playing on the biggest stage. “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.”

Nothing that has happened up to this point matters. As great as both the Thunder and Pacers have been in the postseason thus far, everything comes down to these last two or three games.

Game 5 will tip off at 7:30 p.m. CST on Monday at Paycom Center. Whichever team wins that game will have the significant edge heading into Indianapolis for Game 6.