With minutes left before their title dreams faded, Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder's biggest stars stepped up
NDIANAPOLIS — "He never blinks, never shies away from the moment."
Alex Caruso's description of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is apt. This was the biggest moment in Gilgous-Alexander's young career, and there may not be a more crucial one in the future. The MVP-leader of Oklahoma City had been bottled up again by the physicality and pressure of Indiana's defense for three and a half quarters. Every possession was tough for him, the Thunder couldn't shake SGA free. He couldn't get his teammates going and had zero assists on the night.
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With 3:52 left in the game, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault leaned into his stars — he started asking for Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams pick-and-rolls. The goal was to force a switch and get Aaron Nesmith off SGA and get Andrew Nembhard on him — Gildgeous-Alexander shot 6-of-9 for the game with Nembhard as his primary defender.
It worked. This pick-and-roll threw off the Pacers' defense just enough to allow SGA to score 15 of the Thunder's final 16 points (eight from the free throw line) in the final four minutes of the game and secure the win and tie the NBA Finals 2-2 heading back to Oklahoma City.
" Winning, especially this time of the season, it comes down to the moments, it's going to come down to late game," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "Every team is good. There's rarely going to be a blowout. It comes down to the moments and who is willing to make winning plays on both ends of the floor.
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"I relish those moments, love the moments, good or bad. When I was a kid shooting at my driveway, I'd count down the clock for those moments. Now I get to live it."
Part of what keeps the Thunder calm and focused in those moments is Gilgous-Alexander's steady, focused, stoic demeanor.
"You really wouldn't know whether he's up three, down three, up 30, down 30, eating dinner on a Wednesday," Daigneault said. "He's pretty much the same guy."
"You wouldn't know if it was a preseason game or it's Game 4 of the NBA Finals down 2-1 with him," said OKC's Alex Caruso, who had 20 points and five steals of his own in the win. "That's why we have such a good mentality as a group. That's why we are able to find success in adversity. No matter what's going on, you look at him and he's the same. Underneath that stoic personality or (his) look on the court is a deep, deep-rooted competitiveness. That is sprinkled throughout the whole team."
Holmgren's defense
In those final minutes, the Pacers hunted another Thunder star, Chet Holmgren, getting him switched onto Tyrese Haliburton. That was the matchup Indiana wanted: Holmgren on an island against the Pacers' All-NBA guy.
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It didn't work.
"I had just given up two drives right before that. Just kind of trying to learn from those and play them better in those instances," Holmgren said of his play late. "I feel like I got a good contest. He was still able to get it off. He shoots a high-arcing shot. The whole time it's in the air, a lot's going through your mind. I'm just glad we were able to get those stops and close out the game."
"We don't [switch] a ton with him because he's just so impactful at the rim, but he can really switch," Daigneault said. "It's funny, when he was coming out of the draft, that was one of the things that they really recognized with him, is that he's very switchable. He's got great feet. We just found ourselves behind the ball in a lot of plays tonight. The switching was able to get that under control late. We can't do that unless he can do that. He was outstanding tonight."
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It feels like the Thunder snatched momentum in these NBA Finals with the win, tying the series 2-2 as they head home for Game 5.
Still, this was a game where the Pacers were the better team for 42 minutes, as their defense effectively bottled up SGA and the Thunder for much of the night. It's a game they could have won if not for their own shooting troubles in the final minutes — they scored one bucket in the final five minutes — in the face of more defensive pressure.
If the Thunder are going to win a critical Game 5 at home, they are going to need a lot more Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams and Holmgren.
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