INDIANAPOLIS — Through the first three quarters of Game 4 of the NBA Finals, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — the regular season MVP — was faltering in the highest-stakes moment of his career.
Though he had 20 points at the time, the Thunder were outscored by 16 with Gilgeous-Alexander on the floor. The offense looked discombobulated, and SGA was being hounded by Indiana Pacers guard (and childhood friend) Andrew Nembhard, unable to find space to operate.
Oklahoma City looked very much in danger of going down 3-1, a deficit only one team has ever overcome in the championship round. And SGA was being rendered ineffective, forced to play off the ball by Nembhard’s aggressive defense and failing to put his imprint on the game.
But the MVP saved his best for last, scoring 15 points in the final frame, a poised response in the midst of a hard-fought battle.
As a result, the Thunder out-clutched the most clutch team in the postseason with a 111-104 win — and now they’re back in the driver’s seat of the finals.
“I just tried to be aggressive,” Gilgeous-Alexander said of his performance down the stretch. “I knew what it would have looked like if we lost tonight. I didn’t want to go out not swinging. 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 … I guess it paid off.”
All of SGA’s fourth-quarter points came in the last four minutes and 38 seconds of the game, accounting for 15 of his team’s final 16 points.
“I didn’t know that, but that’s crazy,” Oklahoma City center Chet Holmgren said when told about that stat. “We’ve seen it before from him. We know that that’s the type of player he is. But it’s still impressive.”
“It’s unbelievable,” said Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault. “He really didn’t have it going a lot of the night. He was laboring. We had a hard time shaking him free. For him to be able to flip the switch like that and get the rhythm he got just speaks to how great of a player he is.”
It would have been easy for SGA to be frustrated.
Game 4 was a slog. It was a physical matchup with both teams being called for over 25 fouls. And Nembhard was seemingly attracted to Gilgeous-Alexander by a magnetic force, following him around every square inch of the court.
Instead, Gilgeous-Alexander remained at an even keel. When his team absolutely needed him to score, SGA found ways to evade Nembhard, often by drawing Indiana guard Aaron Nesmith into ball screens to force a switch, aggressively hunting a more favorable matchup.
SGA finished the fourth quarter 3 of 6 from the field and 8 of 8 from the free-throw line, and the Thunder outscored the Pacers by 16 points in the 11 minutes and 12 seconds he was on the floor.
It was the opposite of Gilgeous-Alexander’s Game 3 fourth-quarter performance, when he looked fatigued and scored only three points.
“You really wouldn’t know whether he’s up three, down three, up 30, down 30, eating dinner on a Wednesday. He’s pretty much the same guy,” Daigneault said of his star’s resolve.
“You wouldn’t know if it was a preseason game or it’s Game 4 of the NBA Finals down 2-1 with him,” Thunder guard Alex Caruso added. “No matter what’s going on, you look at him and he’s the same. Underneath that stoic personality or look on the court is a deep, deep-rooted competitiveness.”
Gilgeous-Alexander wouldn’t have been in position for his late heroics if not for OKC’s defense, it should be noted.
Indiana started the game on fire, scoring 20 points in the first four minutes and 48 seconds of the opening quarter. In the final five minutes and three seconds of the fourth, the Pacers scored only seven points.
The lockdown defense set the stage for SGA, and he took advantage, turning the finals into a best-of-three series and wrestling back homecourt for the Thunder.
“Winning, especially this time of the season, it comes down to the moments, it’s going to come down to late game,” the MVP said. “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.
“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.”
