Oklahoma City has avoided a 3-1 deficit.
The Thunder took down the Indiana Pacers 111-104 in Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Friday to tie the series at 2-2 going back to Oklahoma City.
Both teams stayed neck-and-neck for most of the first three quarters, though Indiana built a 10-point lead at one stage. However, Oklahoma City used a 31-17 point differential in the fourth quarter to pull away, mainly due to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s shotmaking in clutch time.
The league MVP ended the game with 35 points on 12 of 24 shooting and 10 of 10 free throws to go with three rebounds, three steals and a block. But he did not record a single assist. Jalen Williams supported Gilgeous-Alexander with 27 points on 8 of 18 shooting and 11 of 11 free throws.
Game 3 saw Bennedict Mathurin come off the bench for Indiana and light it up with 27 points on 9 of 12 shooting. But he came back to earth in this one, logging just eight points in 14 minutes with five foul-line makes. However, his three misses proved costly late on.
Oklahoma City needed someone to produce a Mathurin-esque game off the bench and got it through Alex Caruso. The star defender posted 20 points in 30 minutes on 7 of 9 shooting to go with five steals, three rebounds and a block. No other bench player had more than five points.
Indiana’s two main stars weren’t at their best from a scoring standpoint. Tyrese Haliburton scored 18 points on 7 of 15 shooting with seven assists while Pascal Siakam led the team with 20 points, eight rebounds, five assists and five steals on a 6 of 15 field-goal clip.
Though Mathurin didn’t produce like he did last time out, Obi Toppin did step up off the bench and record 17 points on 7 of 12 shooting and seven rebounds, but it didn’t move the needle enough.
Oklahoma City somehow won the game making just three 3-pointers to Indiana’s 11. The Thunder attempted 17 to Indiana’s 36, but capitalized on nine more foul-line makes and a 50-36 points-in-the-paint advantage.
Whoever takes the next game will be a win away from their franchise’s first ever championship. If Oklahoma City wins, Indiana will need to defend home court to force the two best words in sports. But if Indiana upsets the Thunder, it can win the title in front of its fans.
Game 5 in Oklahoma City is set for Monday at 8:30 p.m. ET, 5:30 p.m. PT.
Here are five things to know about NBA star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
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