OKC Thunder Restore Championship Hopes Through Unlikely Game 4 Victory Over Pacers

The Oklahoma City Thunder knotted up the 2025 NBA Finals with the Indiana Pacers despite trailing by seven points entering the fourth quarter of Game 4 Friday night. It shot 3-for-16 from downtown and recorded just 11 assists on 37 field goals — but registered 12 offensive rebounds and 34 made free throws on 38 attempts against an aggressive Pacers defense.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points on 12-for-24 shooting, including 15 points with under five minutes remaining. His clutch heroics contained a catch-and-shoot wing triple from Jalen Williams, a short-window driving layup past the pestering Andrew Nembhard and a difficult baseline jumper with no-calls for the shooter and defender's (Aaron Nesmith) contact.

Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams set seven screens for each other in the fourth quarter, blowing away their two-man frequency in prior Finals games and beyond. They allowed Gilgeous-Alexander to drive at Nesmith instead of Nembhard, as the latter had been effective bodying up the 2024-25 MVP in full-court defense, denying him the ball and playing him straight up. While Gilgeous-Alexander did not reveal the strategy switch explicitly, he affirmed the importance of Oklahoma City winning Game 4.

"It's a lot better feeling than 3-1 (down) going home," Gilgeous-Alexander told NBA TV's GameTime postgame. "But with that being said, there's so much work to do. We're still so far from the finish line. It's a really good team on the other end. Two wins against them is really hard, and we gotta focus on one win, one possession at a time, one quarter at a time."

The 2015-16 Cleveland Cavaliers made the only 3-1 comeback in Finals history, taking down the 73-win Golden State Warriors in unforgettable fashion. However, 10 Finals have been tied 2-2 since the turn of the century, with seven eventual winners holding home-court advantage. Three of four winners had the better record under the current 2-2-1-1-1 format, which was instituted in 2014. Needless to say, Oklahoma City's gut-wrenching Game 4 comeback put it back in the driver's seat.

The 2014-15 and 2021-22 Warriors each won three straight Finals games after trailing 2-1 as home favorites, which the Thunder is trying to match. The 2004-05 San Antonio Spurs, 2009-10 Los Angeles Lakers and 2012-13 Miami Heat won the three do-or-die Game 7s in the sample, all in their home arenas.

Oklahoma City must now hold serve at Paycom Center in Game 5 and a potential Game 7, where it has won nine of 11 playoff games and 44 of 52 total games this season. Both postseason losses came on last-second shots from the Denver Nuggets' Aaron Gordon and Indiana's Tyrese Haliburton.

Game 5 of the NBA Finals tips off this Monday, June 16 at 7:30 p.m. CST.