Draymond Green watched Game 4 of the NBA Finals with Paul George, and he predicted the Indiana Pacers’ fourth-quarter collapse to their former star.
The Indiana Pacers squandered a golden opportunity in Game 4. Despite leading the Oklahoma City Thunder for most of the game, the Pacers lost the game and now find themselves tied 2-2 in the NBA Finals.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was brilliant in the fourth quarter, scoring 15 points to help seal the comeback win. Mark Daigneault was highly impressed with the MVP’s performance.
But it’s hard not to look at this game as a Pacers loss rather than a Thunder win. At one point, the Pacers were leading by seven points in the third quarter.
From there, they should have gone on to win the game. One person who knew the Pacers were on the brink of collapse was Draymond Green, who told former Pacers star Paul George the same.
Photo by Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu via Getty ImagesDraymond Green and Paul George watched Indiana Pacers loss together
Draymond Green spoke on his show about Game 4 of the NBA Finals. The former NBA champion revealed he was watching the game with Paul George at a nearby establishment on vacation.
When the score was 89-82, Green told George that the Pacers hadn’t built up enough of a lead. And if they didn’t quickly expand the lead, they would squander it. And that is exactly what happened.
“I actually watched the game with PG… And when it was 89-82, I said ‘Either take the lead to 15 or it’s going to zero!’… Both teams were just hanging around.”
“What I saw was, Indiana really dominated them. They got them mentally and physically. But you look up and you’re up seven at the end of the third. You should be up 13…”
“But they had a couple of plays, here and there, get away… Those things change a game at this level… This is the NBA Finals! Right now, you’re really dominating this game, but you’re only up seven. You have to push that lead at that time!”
Indiana Pacers must do better to hold on to leads
It’s ironic that the same fate that the OKC Thunder met in Game 1 wound up meeting the Indiana Pacers in Game 4. And this lack of urgency has now cost both teams one home game each.
While Bennedict Mathurin earned rave reviews from fans in Game 3, his missed free throws down the stretch cost the Pacers a chance to win Game 4.
After the game, Tyrese Haliburton took the blame for the loss, and explained what went wrong for their team.
Each player on the Pacers deserves a share of the blame. But they don’t have too much time to harp on the loss.
Game 5 is in just three days, and if the Pacers want to give themselves the best chance to win the NBA championship, they must try and steal another win on the road.