The NBA Finals has been reduced to a best-of-three series as the Oklahoma City Thunder outlasted the Indiana Pacers 111-104, to even the series at 2 wins apiece. With their backs against the wall, the Thunder finally solved the Pacers’ endgame pressure, relying on the twin-tower formula that had sustained them well in the regular season. This time, there was no over-thinking the game for Thunder coach Mark Daigneault. Just plain good, old-fashioned talent; and the Thunder would produce a late surge to snatch back the homecourt advantage. The series returns to Oklahoma, where the Thunder expect their crowd to boost their chances even more.
The Indiana Pacers still led 103-99 with barely 3 minutes left. This time around, it was the Thunder defense which held fast, stifling the Pacers with blocks and turnovers, limiting them to a mere 5 points for the remainder of the game. Newly-crowned season MVP, Shai Gilgeous Alexander, presided over the offensive end, dropping 35 points in the winning effort, most of which came in the searing rally in those critical last minutes. With this, as the championship series goes back to Oklahoma, the Thunder have now been reinstated as series favorites owing to that crucial homecourt advantage.
Perhaps the most significant adjustment OKC coach Mark Daigneault made was to go back to his old, battle-tested twin-tower line-up. This would result to Isaiah Hartentstein and Chet Holmgren finally winning the rebound battle for the Thunder. This was particularly evident in the last 2 minutes when their shadows loomed large in the shaded lane. Unlike Game 1 when coach Mark tried to surprise the Pacers by starting off with a speedier small-ball line-up, this time he relied on his traditionally taller first five. While the Thunder did trail the Pacers for a majority of the game, the taller line-up would pay dividends in the endgame. With the Pacers leading, they would abandon their fast-paced attack; inadvertently leading to the Thunder’s taking advantage with their taller frontcourt.
But aside from SGA and their twin towers in Hartenstein and Holmgren, there would be many unsung heroes in the Thunder line-up. Credit the veteran in the team, Alex Caruso, for providing the poise and the pesky D. Credit Jalen Williams, who along with Caruso, provided much of the offensive ammo in the early going, as SGA got shackled by the Pacer defense. Credit Lou Dort for pestering Tyrese Haliburton for the majority of the game. Credit coach Mark for finally trusting his old reliable line-up to bring the win home. Of course, it had to be this year’s league MVP, Shai Gilgeous Alexander who would take over in the final minutes.
Having reclaimed the homecourt advantage, with the momentum back with OKC, this now puts the Pacers in a very difficult situation. They will need to win 2 games, at least 1 in Thunder territory. And that should be doubly difficult now. This Game 4 was theirs for the taking. They had the momentum, they had the crowd and the psychological advantage. Having given up this won game, we are now back to square 1, with only 3 games to go. And it looks like the Thunder have finally been able to cast aside the spell that had mesmerized them in that catastrophic Game 1.
Cover photo courtesy of the USA Today.
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