The Thunder’s 111-104 Game 4 victory was an uphill climb. The Thunder led for just 9:21 of the game’s 48 minutes. But OKC persevered and evened the NBA Finals at 2-2, and the Thunder report card befits a hard-fought, hard-earned win.
NBA Finals Thunder Pacers Basketball
Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault argues a call with the referee during the second half of Game 4 of the NBA Finals basketball series against the Indiana Pacers, Friday, June 13, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy) Michael Conroy
Mark Daigneault: B. The Thunder coach pushed a lot of good buttons. He went back to his big starting lineup, and that didn’t really work. The lineup of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luguentz Dort, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein played nine minutes together and was outscored 25-23. Indiana opened a 20-12 lead to start the game, before Daigneault substituted. But Daigneault’s closing lineup (Alex Caruso instead of Hartenstein) was superb, playing all but 0.4 seconds of the final 4:19 and outscoring Indiana 14-5 in that stretch. Daigneault also adjusted from normal with a couple of things to keep Gilgeous-Alexander fresh. Williams often brought the ball upcourt, saving SGA from some of the peskiness of Pacer defender Andrew Nembhard. And Daigneault shuffled his rotations; SGA rested in parts of every quarter. His normal routine is playing the entire first and third periods. The result still was a 40-minute game for SGA, but he was energetic in the fourth quarter, scoring 15 points in the final 4½ minutes.
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NBA Finals Thunder Pacers Basketball
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander shoots as Indiana Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard, right, defends during the second half of Game 4 of the NBA Finals basketball series, Friday, June 13, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy) Michael Conroy
Three-point shooting: D. The Thunder made just three 3-pointers — a Dort rainbow in the first quarter, an Alex Caruso wing-3 in the third quarter and an SGA wing-3 when the Thunder trailed 103-99 with three minutes left in the game. The Thunder is the first team to make three or fewer 3-pointers in a Finals victory since the Celtics in 2010’s Game 5. The last team to make three or fewer long balls in a Finals game was the Thunder in 2012’s Game 4. The only saving grace? The Thunder took just 16, a stat straight out of 15 years ago. That’s the fewest attempts by a team in the Finals since 2013’s Game 4, when the Spurs tried 16 and the Heat tried 12.
NBA Finals Thunder Pacers Basketball
Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) shoots under Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander during the second half of Game 4 of the NBA Finals basketball series, Friday, June 13, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr) Abbie Parr
Second-chance offense: A. The Thunder outrebounded Indy 50-49, including 14-12 on offensive rebounds. That’s about even, considering the Pacers missed 49 shots and reboundable foul shots, to OKC’s 42. But the Thunder made more hay with its offensive rebounds, outscoring the Pacers 23-11 in second-chance points. Holmgren had 15 rebounds, including three offensive in the fourth quarter, two of which were back-to-back putbacks that cut the Pacer lead to 89-88 with 8:37 left in the game. How important was offensive rebounding? The Thunder made just 41.8% of its first shots of a possession (28 of 67). But OKC made nine of its 11 shots after offensive rebounds. Indiana made just three of its seven shots after offensive rebounds.
NBA Finals Thunder Pacers Basketball
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams (8) drives as Indiana Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith defends during the second half of Game 4 of the NBA Finals basketball series, Friday, June 13, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy) Michael Conroy
Ball movement: D. The Thunder’s offense continued to stagnate. OKC had more turnovers (13) than assists (10), and Gilgeous-Alexander had zero assists, for the time since the 2020 Orlando bubble, when his teammates included point guards Chris Paul and Dennis Schroder. SGA played just 13½ minutes in that 2020 regular-season finale. Indiana is determined to make the Thunder play one-on-one. Fortunately, Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams made enough plays to counter that strategy.
APTOPIX NBA Finals Thunder Pacers Basketball
Indiana Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin is fouled by Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams (8) during the second half of Game 4 of the NBA Finals basketball series, Friday, June 13, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr) Abbie Parr
Alex Caruso: A. Obi Toppin and T.J. McConnell are nice stories for the Pacers. Both again were productive in Game 5. But they are not Alex Caruso. The Thunder’s ultimate sixth man was sensational, with 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting, while also playing great defense. The Thunder outscored Indiana by 14 points in Caruso’s 30 minutes. Caruso also had five steals, making him the only player off the bench in a Finals game with at least 20 points and five steals since at least 1971. Caruso opened the fourth quarter with a highly-contested 15-foot jumper that got the Thunder within 87-82. He also hit that 3-pointer. But his five other baskets all were on attacks of the rim. Caruso now has scored 20 points in each of the last two Finals games and three times overall in this postseason. His regular-season high was 19.
NBA Finals Thunder Pacers Basketball
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort (5) shoots over Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner (33) during the second half of Game 4 of the NBA Finals basketball series, Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Indianapolis. (Maddie Meyer/Pool Photo via AP) Maddie Meyer
Fourth-quarter defense: A. Daigneault praised Dort for setting the fourth-quarter tone, and Holmgren’s defense down the stretch was what Sam Presti dreamed of when making Holmgren the second overall pick of 2022. But the entire OKC defense shined. Indy scored on just one of four possessions before Carlisle reinserted Haliburton and Daigneault countered with Dort, both at 9:28. Haliburton scored on three of four possessions midway through the quarter, all after the Pacers finagled switches to get Dort elsewhere. But after Haliburton beat Holmgren on a drive, Holmgren was great. He contested a Nembhard drive that resulted in a wild shot, induced a Haliburton air ball after the Pacer star settled from deep after trying to drive, contested a Nembhard 14-footer that bounced off and stayed with Haliburton as he used up much of the shot clock probing for a path before the Pacers settled for a Myles Turner 3-point launch that airballed.
NBA Finals Thunder Pacers Basketball
Indiana Pacers forward Pascal Siakam (43) shoots between Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams (8) and guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) during the first half of Game 4 of the NBA Finals basketball series, Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Indianapolis. (Maddie Meyer/Pool Photo via AP) Maddie Meyer
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