Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Game 4 closing stretch could be one to remember for Thunder

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INDIANAPOLIS — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, at 26, has already surpassed 11,000 career regular-season points, putting him on track to enter rarified historical air. He has 1,105 on his growing playoff résumé. His 2,484 this season led the NBA.

But not all points are created equal. If his Oklahoma City Thunder can get two more wins in the next three games, the 15 points Gilgeous-Alexander scored in a five-minute stretch to close Game 4’s 111-104 Thunder win against the Indiana Pacers in the NBA Finals might be the signature 15 of his career and perhaps the largest individual scoring spurt in the organization’s young history.

“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.”

Gilgeous-Alexander was more specifically talking about his mindset around the time the Thunder called a timeout between Aaron Nesmith free throws with 3:52 left. Nesmith hit both on either side of the stoppage, which had the Pacers lead at 95-91. They’d dominated the fourth quarter of the previous three games. If they found a way to close, the Thunder would’ve been in a daunting 3-1 hole.

Before the timeout, Gilgeous-Alexander had generated an ounce of rhythm with this scattered layup at the 4:37 mark to tie it. After an offensive rebound, he was finally able to blow past the pesky Andrew Nembhard for a relatively rare uncontested look at the rim. It was his first make since the middle of the third quarter and gave him 22 for the night, a modest amount for the league’s scoring leader.

The Pacers outplayed them over the ensuing minute, grabbing that four-point lead and forcing that Mark Daigneault timeout, where it became clear postgame that the coaching staff, Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams discussed the offensive strategy for the final few minutes.

Put simply: Get Nembhard off Gilgeous-Alexander, and get Nesmith switched onto him.

“They just played that two-man game for the majority of the stretch,” Daigneault said. “Jalen did a great job of getting us organized and getting the ball to him.”

Daigneault has long discussed how Gilgeous-Alexander is one of the Thunder’s better screeners, and their points per possession is high when he is used as the screener in actions. On the Thunder’s first possession after the timeout, Gilgeous-Alexander set a high screen on Nesmith, defending Williams, who baited the switch and then dribbled to the right wing, dragging Nembhard away and entering it to Gilgeous-Alexander.

The clip picks up with Gilgeous-Alexander isolated against Nesmith after the switch. Nesmith reaches his hand into the danger zone. Gilgeous-Alexander senses it, rises into his jumper and draws the two free throws.

The Pacers were a bit more ready for the strategy on the next possession. The Thunder ran the same action, but when Gilgeous-Alexander began to attack, Nembhard shot over for a quick double-team, which is where the clip begins below.

But this is where Williams’ involvement is important. He is a major offensive threat who scored 27 of his own points before Gilgeous-Alexander took over late. So when Gilgeous-Alexander kicks the ball back to him, Nembhard must sprint back, reloading an opportunity for Gilgeous-Alexander to fade to the right wing, lose Nesmith and find himself open for this monumental 3 to pull the Thunder within one. They went 3-of-17 from 3 as a team on Friday. This was one of the three makes.

Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t need a screen to get Nesmith into action the next time down. Alex Caruso blocked Nembhard near the rim, sparking a fast break as Nembhard went tumbling. That left Nesmith on Gilgeous-Alexander to open the possession.

With 14 seconds left on the shot clock, before Nembhard could try to scramble switch, Gilgeous-Alexander attacked Nesmith with a lefty dribble toward the baseline — a difficult place to double — and poured in a midrange fadeaway before Nembhard could get over in time to help. This gave the Thunder their first second-half lead.

Nesmith would slap Gilgeous-Alexander on the wrist after a spin move a couple of possessions later, giving him two more free throws. A desperate and over-aggressive Bennedict Mathurin toppled over Gilgeous-Alexander twice during two late inbounds before the ball entered, gifting him a single free throw (and maintaining possession) both times. Nembhard fouled Gilgeous-Alexander with seven seconds left when his work was already done.

“There were a crap ton of fouls,” Daigneault said when asked about the teams’ 71 combined free-throw attempts. “That’s why there were a crap ton of free throws. I thought the refs did a good job tonight.”

The Thunder took 38 free throws. The Pacers took 33. But accuracy after the whistle matters. The Thunder only missed four free throws. The Pacers missed eight, including two in crunchtime. Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams and Chet Holmgren went a combined 27-of-27 at the line.

But it was Gilgeous-Alexander in the clutch. He made all eight of his free throws in that 15-point, five-minute surge, showing no signs of pressure with his team’s dream season on the brink.

“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.”

“You wouldn’t know if it was a preseason game or it’s Game 4 of the NBA Finals down 2-1 with him,” Caruso said. “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 is a deep, deep-rooted competitiveness.”

Those 15 points have the chance to become the signature segment of Gilgeous-Alexander’s first MVP and championship season. But a championship still needs to be won. The Thunder must win two of the next three games against a Pacers team that outplayed them for the majority of both games in Indianapolis.

“That’s a really good team that has really found some solutions against us,” Daigneault said.

Like what?

“They’re winning the small battles,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “They’re winning the physicality. They’re winning the aggressiveness battles. They’re winning the 50-50 plays. Now we strung together enough tonight in a short amount of time to come out with a W. If we want to do what we ultimately set our minds out to do, we got to take care of those things and throw the first punch.”

(Photo: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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