{"id":100285,"date":"2025-06-15T12:22:21","date_gmt":"2025-06-15T12:22:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/100285\/"},"modified":"2025-06-15T12:22:21","modified_gmt":"2025-06-15T12:22:21","slug":"thunders-rally-vs-pacers-in-nba-finals-game-4-explained-in-8-plays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/100285\/","title":{"rendered":"Thunder’s rally vs Pacers in NBA Finals Game 4 explained in 8 plays"},"content":{"rendered":"

INDIANAPOLIS \u2014\u00a0Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a>\u2019s shotmaking was absurd and the Thunder<\/a>\u2019s defense was impeccable in the fourth quarter of Game 4’s 111-104 comeback win<\/a> \u2014\u00a0a 12-minute frame that will live on in Thunder lore should Oklahoma City win two more games and claim the NBA title.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Thunder, after losing each of the first three quarters, outscored the Pacers 31-17 in the fourth Friday night to even these NBA Finals 2-2.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not like Indiana got buried beneath one of those classic Thunder avalanches that happen in a snap. No, OKC\u2019s comeback was methodical.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had guys make plays that you could say were invisible, that led to a lot of good things happening for us,\u201d Chet Holmgren said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here are all the little plays that fueled the Thunder\u2019s unlikely Game 4 win:\u00a0<\/p>\n

More: OKC Thunder wills its way to Game 4 win vs Pacers, evens NBA Finals | 5 takeaways<\/a><\/p>\n

Maybe we should\u2019ve known a comeback was in store after the Thunder\u2019s first basket of the fourth quarter<\/a>. Isolated at the top of the arc with five seconds left on the shot clock, Alex Caruso had to play hero ball at the end of a jumbled possession.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Caruso dribbled between his legs before going left against Pacers wing Aaron Nesmith. Caruso got into Nesmith\u2019s chest before spinning off Nesmith into a fadeaway 14-footer with less than two seconds on the shot clock.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Caruso swished it, hushing the Indiana crowd for at least a moment, and drawing the Thunder back within five.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pacers guard T.J. McConnell threw a skip pass to Pascal Siakam for a catch-and-shoot 3-point attempt over Kenrich Williams, who closed out well for the tough contest.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Siakam\u2019s shot bounced hard off the rim toward the corner of the court near the Thunder\u2019s bench.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, Chet!\u201d Mark Daigneault yelled as Holmgren, in a foot race with McConnell, bounded after it<\/a>. Holmgren got there first, but his momentum would\u2019ve taken him out of bounds had he tried to maintain possession. Holmgren instinctively threw the ball off McConnell to secure the Thunder rebound.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Holmgren made good on his effort by driving into the lane and drawing a foul on the Thunder\u2019s ensuing possession. He made both free throws to cut Indiana\u2019s lead to five.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mussatto: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ‘unreal’ down stretch to save Thunder, tie up NBA Finals<\/a><\/p>\n

Holmgren had a pair of monster putbacks off SGA 3-point misses early in the fourth quarter. This was the first<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Holmgren\u2019s feet weren\u2019t even in the paint when SGA\u2019s step-back 3 hit the back iron, but no Pacer got a body on the Thunder center. Holmgren skied for the rebound and laid in the putback to draw the Thunder within three. Timeout, Pacers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Another SGA missed 3. Another free lane to a rebound for Holmgren. Holmgren timed his jump and slammed the putback<\/a>. The Thunder trailed by one.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey’re winning the small battles,\u201d SGA said after the game. \u201cThey’re winning the physicality. They’re winning the aggressiveness battles. They’re winning the 50\/50 plays. Now, we strung together enough tonight in a short amount of time to come out with a W. If we want to do what we ultimately set our minds out to do, we got to take care of those things and throw the first punch.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Isaiah Hartenstein, back in the starting five, had a blah game. He played only 21 minutes, including just three in the fourth quarter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a sequence you won\u2019t find in the box score, Hartenstein was key in how he cleared a path for Jalen Williams on a game-tying layup<\/a>. Hartenstein screened Nesmith, which allowed J-Dub an advantage. As Williams snaked to the rim, Hartenstein, like a pulling guard, sealed off Myles Turner to set up an easy finish for Williams.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hartenstein scored his only bucket of the game a little more than a minute later. SGA drove and found Hartenstein with a slick dump-off pass, but Andrew Nembhard stripped Hartenstein on Hartenstein\u2019s way up.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hartenstein immediately got the ball back and banked in a tough layup over Turner to make it a two-point game. A big-time second effort by Hartenstein<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Carlson: Alex Caruso goes from cult hero to superhero as Thunder scores biggest win ever<\/a><\/p>\n

This time, Holmgren and Hartenstein combined on a hustle play that tied the game<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jalen Williams\u2019 tough, pull-up jumper from the foul line was off. Turner did an excellent job boxing Hartenstein out, but Hartenstein tipped the ball out before Turner could secure the rebound. The tap went right to Holmgren, who redirected it to SGA, who made good on the second and third efforts with a nifty layup to tie the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tyrese Haliburton was hoping for the kill shot. The Pacers star danced with SGA from behind the arc before pulling from 30 feet \u2014\u00a0a 3-pointer that would\u2019ve extended Indiana\u2019s lead to five. And Gilgeous-Alexander blocked it<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Granted, Nesmith outworked Lu Dort for the rebound, which led to a Dort foul and two free throws for Nesmith, but SGA\u2019s block deserves some love.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gilgeous-Alexander drained a clutch 3-pointer a minute later to cut the Pacers\u2019 lead to one.\u00a0<\/p>\n

More: How dominant was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in fourth? Inside stats of Thunder’s Game 4 win<\/a><\/p>\n

Dort, superglued to Haliburton\u2019s hip, blew up a dribble-handoff between Turner and Haliburton<\/a>. Dort chased after the ball with no Pacer between him and the basket. He drove to the rim where he was fouled hard by Turner.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dort made one of two free throws to give the Thunder a two-point lead. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 15 of the Thunder\u2019s last 16 points \u2014\u00a0with Dort\u2019s free throw accounting for the other.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Thunder held the Pacers to one point in the final three minutes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at\u00a0jmussatto@oklahoman.com<\/a>. Support Joe’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a\u00a0digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"INDIANAPOLIS \u2014\u00a0Shai Gilgeous-Alexander\u2019s shotmaking was absurd and the Thunder\u2019s defense was impeccable in the fourth quarter of Game…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":100286,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3774],"tags":[260,280,2126,407,328,7,408,618,366,311,2127,1501,623,948,2125,619,113,126,3866,947,949,12645,5760,54,79,636,367,70,85,6,1220,261,62,67,310,179,61,81,114,65,622,209,66,83,55,2128,64,312,63,82,637,833],"class_list":{"0":"post-100285","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-indiana-pacers","8":"tag-aaron","9":"tag-aaron-nesmith","10":"tag-ai","11":"tag-alex","12":"tag-alex-caruso","13":"tag-basketball","14":"tag-caruso","15":"tag-chet","16":"tag-chet-holmgren","17":"tag-city","18":"tag-enabled","19":"tag-finals","20":"tag-gilgeous-alexander","21":"tag-hartenstein","22":"tag-highlights","23":"tag-holmgren","24":"tag-indiana","25":"tag-indiana-pacers","26":"tag-indianapacers","27":"tag-isaiah","28":"tag-isaiah-hartenstein","29":"tag-kenrich","30":"tag-kenrich-williams","31":"tag-modular","32":"tag-modular-story","33":"tag-myles","34":"tag-myles-turner","35":"tag-national","36":"tag-national-sports","37":"tag-nba","38":"tag-nba-finals","39":"tag-nesmith","40":"tag-neutral","41":"tag-news","42":"tag-oklahoma","43":"tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","44":"tag-overall","45":"tag-overall-neutral","46":"tag-pacers","47":"tag-point","48":"tag-shai","49":"tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander","50":"tag-sports","51":"tag-sports-news","52":"tag-story","53":"tag-story-highlights-ai-enabled","54":"tag-the","55":"tag-thunder","56":"tag-to","57":"tag-to-the-point","58":"tag-turner","59":"tag-williams"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100285\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}