Game on the line. Season hanging in the balance. The Oklahoma City Thunder needed a hero—and the NBA’s MVP answered the call. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander took over late in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, scoring 15 of his 35 points in the final 4:38 as the Thunder rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit to defeat the Indiana Pacers 111-104 on Friday night and knot the best-of-seven series at two games apiece.
It was all SGA when it mattered most. With the Thunder trailing late, Gilgeous-Alexander hit clutch shot after clutch shot, including a go-ahead step-back jumper with 2:23 left that gave Oklahoma City a 104-103 lead—their first of the second half. From there, he outdueled the Pacers single-handedly, scoring or assisting on all but one of the Thunder’s final 16 points.
The Thunder closed the game on a 16-7 run. Gilgeous-Alexander was responsible for 15 of those points—an astonishing solo stretch to save Oklahoma City’s season. He finished with 35 points despite recording zero assists for the first time all year.
“We know who we are. We know who he is,” Thunder guard Jalen Williams said. “And in that moment, we were going to ride with our guy.”
Williams added 27 points of his own, Alex Caruso poured in a surprising 20, and rookie Chet Holmgren tallied a double-double with 14 points and 15 rebounds. Despite hitting a season-low three 3-pointers as a team, the Thunder found a way.
And perhaps most importantly—they reclaimed home-court advantage. The series now essentially becomes a best-of-three, with Game 5 set for Monday night in Oklahoma City.
Pacers Start Fast, Fade Late. For a while, it looked like Indiana would take control of the series. The Pacers scored 20 points in the first 4:59—just the second time all season OKC allowed that many so quickly—and led by as many as nine in the first half. Obi Toppin’s thunderous baseline dunk late in the third quarter gave Indiana an 86-76 advantage, their first double-digit lead of the series.
Pascal Siakam led Indiana with 20 points, while Tyrese Haliburton added 18 and Toppin finished with 17. Still, the Pacers faltered when it mattered most. They went scoreless for more than two minutes after Gilgeous-Alexander’s go-ahead bucket and committed crucial turnovers down the stretch.
“That’s a game we should have closed,” Haliburton admitted. “We let it slip, and now the series is back to square one.”
For the first time in the Finals, tempers flared. Toppin was assessed a Flagrant 1 foul for a hard hit on Caruso midway through the second quarter. Not long after, Lu Dort returned the favor, getting whistled for a Flagrant 1 on Toppin right before halftime.
The Pacers led 60-57 at the break, but the momentum swings were just getting started.
In the fourth quarter, the teams traded blows—figuratively—through a series of ties: 89, 91, 95, and 97. It set the stage for Gilgeous-Alexander’s closing act, where he outscored Indiana by himself over the final minutes.
With the series tied 2-2, the stakes rise for Game 5 in Oklahoma City. The Thunder now have a renewed grip on the Finals, avoiding the historically insurmountable 3-1 deficit. Teams up 3-1 in the NBA Finals have gone on to win the championship 37 out of 38 times. The Pacers were on the verge of being the 39th—until SGA flipped the script.
Momentum has shifted. Oklahoma City is surging. And with their MVP in takeover mode, the Thunder are just two wins away from their first NBA championship since 1979.
Game 5 is Monday night. Buckle up.
