INDIANAPOLIS – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander looked exhausted.
Indiana’s T.J. McConnell drove baseline right past Gilgeous-Alexander for an easy layup in the first half.
“He really didn’t have it going a lot of the night,” Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault said. “He was laboring. We had a hard time shaking him free.”
In the first half, he had 12 quiet points and didn’t attempt a free throw. Even through three quarters, Gilgeous-Alexander had not had his typical impact on the game and a 3-1 series lead for the Pacers looked like a done deal.
But the Oklahoma City Thunder star is the 2024-25 NBA MVP.
And MVPs deliver.
That’s what he did in the fourth quarter as the Thunder defeated the Pacers 111-104 in Game 4 of the NBA Finals Friday, June 13, evening the series at 2-2.
Gilgeous-Alexander delivered and rescued the Thunder’s championship aspirations. He scored 15 of his 35 points in the fourth and those were 15 of Oklahoma City’s last 16 points in the final 4:38.
“I didn’t know that, but that’s crazy. That’s impressive,” Thunder center-forward Chet Holmgren said. “We’ve seen it before from him. We know that that’s the type of player he is. But it’s still impressive. That’s very impressive. I’m sure that’s going to be a very small category of players that he’s going to put himself in or has put himself in with a finish to the game like that.”
Holmgren’s hunch was correct. Gilgeous-Alexander’s 15 points are the most by a player in the last five minutes of a Finals game since 1971.
Here are those 15 points:
His basket at 4:38 tied the score 97-97; his two free throws cut a four-point deficit to 101-99; a 3-pointer trimmed the Pacers’ lead to 103-102; a 15-foot jump shot with 2:23 left gave the Thunder a 104-103 lead, their first since late in the second quarter; and he made six free throws in the final 44 seconds.
“I knew what it would have looked like if we lost tonight,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I didn’t want to go out not swinging. I didn’t want to go out not doing everything I could do in my power, in my control to try to win the game.
“The guys deserve that much from me. The coaching staff deserves that much from me. I just tried to be aggressive, but also let the game come to me, not try to force anything too crazy. I guess it paid off.”
Oddly, he didn’t have an assist. But this has been a series of anomalies. Through three mediocre quarters for him, he didn’t show frustration.
“Same demeanor as always,” Daigneault said. “You really wouldn’t know whether he’s up three, down three, up 30, down 30, eating dinner on a Wednesday. He’s pretty much the same guy. … He’s got a great temperament. He’s always been like that as long as he’s been here.’
Said Thunder reserve guard Alex Caruso: “No matter what’s going on, you look at him and he’s the same. Underneath that stoic personality or look on the court is a deep, deep-rooted competitiveness. That is sprinkled throughout the whole team.”
Caruso had 20 points. Holmgren had 14 points and 15 rebounds. Jalen Williams had 27 points, 16 in the first half when Gilgeous-Alexander struggled against Indiana’s aggressive defenders. Those four combined for 96 of the Thunder’s points.
They don’t win if Gilgeous-Alexander doesn’t find his offense.
Gilgeous-Alexander said he tries to focus on the competition and not let circumstances or nerves get to him. In this Finals, he’s averaging 32.8 points and shooting 48.4% from the field, 35.3% on 3-pointers and 91.7% on free throws, and he is the seventh player in NBA history to score 30 or more points in at least 14 playoff games in a single postseason.
“I just try to get lost in competing, lost in trying to figure out what I can do to help this basketball team win on any given possession,” he said. “Yeah, that’s what I try to get wrapped up in. That’s what I try to completely focus on. Now, it’s a little bit tough at times given the situation and what’s at stake.’
Gilgeous-Alexander fought through the mental and physical fatigue and delivered a performance befitting of an MVP.