Indiana Pacers Collapse in Fourth Quarter, Now Tied 2-2 in NBA Finals - Page 7

Source: Maddie Meyer / Getty

(INDIANAPOLIS, IN) – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander puts the Oklahoma City Thunder on his back in the fourth quarter to defeat the Indiana Pacers 111-104/

1. First Quarter

For the twentieth consecutive playoff game, the Indiana Pacers starting lineup featured Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam, and Myles Turner. Oklahoma City went back to the starting five in their first fifteen playoff games – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Jalen Williams, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Chet Holmgren. The theme through three games has been OKC dominating the first half and then Indiana putting together strong second halves. Tonight was different. After Haliburton converted a logo three with 9:23 left in the quarter, Indiana was ahead 11-6 early. The Pacers would go up by as much as nine points when Toppin forced a turnover and then knocked down a free throw line jumper with 6:12 remaining. At the time it was 24-15 Indiana with seven of OKC’s points coming from the foul line. The Pacers offense hit a lull, allowing the Thunder to go on an extended run to tie the game at 24. Indiana would not surrender the lead though. After twelve minutes, the Pacers led Thunder 35-34. Williams was the leading scorer in the first quarter with 12 points. Indiana was paced by Siakam with 10 points followed by Turner with 6 points. The Pacers held SGA to 4 points on 2/5 shooting. Both teams shot 55% from the field, but the Pacers converted three more triples. OKC was 11/18 on two-point shots and 1/4 beyond the arc.

2. Second Quarter

After possessing the lead for most of the first quarter, the Indiana Pacers were looking to carry that success into the second quarter. Oklahoma City tied the game with an SGA layup a minute into the quarter. The Thunder wouldn’t take the lead until Alex Caruso cut to the basket for a layup with 8:17 left in the half. The Pacers would go down 51-45 after two foul shots from Williams with 5:17 remaining. Indiana would chip away at its deficit and would eventually tie the game with a Siakam fadeaway jumper. On the following possession for Indiana, Haliburton gave his team the lead with a reverse layup. The first half scoring concluded with a three-point play by Haliburton to break a 57-57 tie. Gilgeous-Alexander scored the most points in the quarter with 8. Indiana’s leading scorer in the period was Haliburton with five points. Leading all players at intermission with 16 points by Williams followed by 14 points from Siakam. Indiana held Oklahoma City to 1/10 shooting from downtown in the first half while shooting 7/19. The difference was the fact that OKC shot 16/17 from the foul line and 19/33 from two-point range. Indiana shot 11/13 from the free throw line and 14/25.

3. Third Quarter

Game three was the first time that OKC had one of their dominant quarters, but things went back to how they went in the first two games of the series tonight. Holmgren tied the game with a putback layup with 10:28 left in the quarter. Indiana would go on a 9-2 run to get back in control of the game. Indiana tied its game high lead of eight points when Nembhard splashed a three-pointer halfway through the period. The Pacers would extend their lead to double figures for the first time when Obi Toppin cut to the goal for a dunk with 2:08 left in the quarter. Things started going slowly downhill there for Indiana. Toppin missed two free throws. Siakam only converted one, and the Pacers missed all four shots they took. OKC only shaved three points off Indiana’s advantage, trailing 87-80 going to the fourth quarter. Toppin was electric in the quarter, scoring 8 points, leading the Pacers in scoring in the quarter. SGA scored 8 points in the quarter, Williams scored 7 points, and Caruso chipped in with 6 points for the Thunder in the quarter. Indiana held OKC to 40% from the field, but were -3 on the glass, and only converted two of its nine shots from inside the arc. Williams was leading all scorers with 23 points followed by SGA and Siakam with 20 points each. OKC was still struggling from downtown, only converting 2/13 attempts.  

4. Fourth Quarter

It felt Gilgeous-Alexander was having a under the radar 20 points through quarters because of what Williams and Caruso were doing to the Pacers. However, he put his team on his back in the final quarter when they needed it. The game was tied at 89 with 8:13 remaining in the game after a 9-2 run to open the quarter with two foul shots by Caruso. Haliburton gave the Pacers the lead back with a layup, but Williams countered with a layup on the ensuing possession. Indiana went ahead 95-91 when Turner connected on his two free throws. OKC would come back to tie the game, but still did not take the lead. Nesmith hauled in an offensive rebound with 3:52 left in the game and went to the line for two shots after being whacked by Dort on an attempted putback. He converted both, making it a 101-97 game. OKC called a timeout between attempts to regroup for the final stretch. SGA then completely took over. He scored eight of the final nine points of the game for OKC. Haliburton put Indiana on top 103-99 with a layup with 3:20 left in the game. The Pacers collapsed from this point on. They would miss all five shots, go 1/4 from the foul line, and commit two away from the play fouls. SGA drew the Thunder within one point with his first triple and then gave his team their first lead in the second half with a step back jumper. The Thunder would not look back as their defense harassed Indiana relentlessly down the stretch to steal game four with a 111-104 win. SGA scored 15 of OKC’s 31 points in the quarter.

5. Top Performers

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (35p, 3r, 0a, 3s), Jalen Williams (27p, 7r, 3a), Alex Caruso (20p, 5s, 3r), and Chet Holmgren (14p, 15r). For Indiana, Pascal Siakam (20p, 8r, 5a, 5s, 1b), Tyrese Haliburton (18p, 7a, 2r, 2s), Obi Toppin (17p, 7r), Myles Turner (12p, 2r, 2a), and Andrew Nembhard (10p, 2r, 2a, 2s, 1b). For tonight’s full box score, click here.

6. Notes

• Indiana is now 14-6 in the playoffs
  • Indiana is 0-6 when scoring under 110 points
• Indiana is 7-3 at home during the playoffs
• Oklahoma City is 14-6 in the playoffs
• Oklahoma City is 5-4 on the road during the playoffs
• Oklahoma City is now 31-3 against Eastern Conference teams
• Oklahoma City is averaging 122.1 points per game at home during the playoffs
• Oklahoma City is averaging 109 points per game on the road during the playoffs
• Oklahoma City’s 10 assists are the fewest in any game this season
  • Fewest in a game since recording 10 assists on 12/29/16 at Memphis
  • Fewest assists in a win in an NBA Finals game since 1948
• Oklahoma City’s 3 threes are the fewest in any game this season
  • Fewest in a game since making 2 on 3/5/17 at Dallas
• Oklahoma City’s 35 free throws are the most in an NBA Finals game since 1995
• Teams that split the road games and then split their home games win the playoff series 25% of the time
• Alex Caruso’s 20 points tied the most points in a game this season (Game 2 vs IND)
• Chet Holmgren has recorded a double-double in 8 playoff games
• Jalen Williams has scored 20+ points in 10 playoff games
• Myles Turner has recorded 4 rebounds or less in 11 playoff games
• Pascal Siakam has scored 20+ points in 10 games this postseason
• Pascal Siakam was scoreless in the fourth quarter and only took one shot
• Pascal Siakam’s 5 steals are a playoff career high
  • Tied most steals in a game in his career
• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has led his team in scoring in 17 of the 20 playoff games
  • Aaron Wiggins 21 points in game one versus Memphis
  • Jalen Williams 32 points in game three versus Denver
  • Jalen Williams 26 points in game three versus Indiana
• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has scored 30+ points in 14 games this postseason
• Tyrese Haliburton has turned the ball over 17 times in this series
  • Haliburton turned the ball over 10 times against New York in 6 games
  • Haliburton turned the ball over 10 times against Cleveland in 5 games
  • Haliburton turned the ball over 11 times against Milwaukee in 5 games
• Tyrese Haliburton has turned the ball over 4+ times in three consecutive games
  • Hadn’t happened since March 2024

7. Next Up

The two teams will have two days off with the series shifting to Oklahoma City for game five. Pregame coverage with Pat Boylan will start at 8pm and then Mark Boyle will have the play-by-play with Eddie Gill at 8:30pm on 93.5/107.5 The Fan.  

Here is the NBA Finals Schedule:

• Thursday, June 5 | Game 1 at Oklahoma City | Indiana 111 – Oklahoma City 110
• Sunday, June 8 | Game 2 at Oklahoma City | Oklahoma City 123 – Indiana 107
• Wednesday, June 11 | Game 3 in Indianapolis | Indiana 116 – Oklahoma City 107
• Friday, June 13 | Game 4 in Indianapolis | Oklahoma City 111 – Indiana 104
• Monday, June 16 | Game 5 at Oklahoma City – 8:30pm
• Thursday, June 19 | Game 6 in Indianapolis – 8:30pm
• Sunday, June 22 | Game 7 at Oklahoma City – 8pm