{"id":144638,"date":"2025-06-14T07:58:21","date_gmt":"2025-06-14T11:58:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=144638"},"modified":"2025-06-14T07:58:21","modified_gmt":"2025-06-14T11:58:21","slug":"okc-thunder-regain-finals-advantage-after-season-long-push","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/06\/14\/okc-thunder-regain-finals-advantage-after-season-long-push\/","title":{"rendered":"OKC Thunder Regain Finals Advantage After Season-Long Push"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>INDIANAPOLIS<\/strong> \u2013 The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/category\/thunder\/\" target=\"_self\">Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> evened their playoff series 2-2 with a gutsy 111-104 victory at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Critics had questioned their poise after a lopsided Game 3 loss, citing their youth and inexperience. But with their season teetering, the Thunder responded. They erased a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit and surged ahead at the buzzer. The comeback wasn\u2019t just symbolic for the OKC Thunder \u2014it restored home-court advantage, which they fought for all season.<\/p>\n<h2>OKC Thunder Regain Finals Advantage After Season-Long Push<\/h2>\n<h3>Pacers Miss Critical Chance<\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_144680\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-144680\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-144680\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/USATSI_26443596_168415934_lowres-1024x674.jpg\" alt=\"The thunder subdued Haliburton helped them reclaim home advantage at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse \" width=\"640\" height=\"421\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/USATSI_26443596_168415934_lowres-1024x674.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/USATSI_26443596_168415934_lowres-300x198.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/USATSI_26443596_168415934_lowres-768x506.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/USATSI_26443596_168415934_lowres-1536x1011.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/USATSI_26443596_168415934_lowres-2048x1349.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-144680\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jun 13, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) passes past Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort (5) and center Isaiah Hartenstein (55) during the second quarter of game four of the 2025 NBA Finals at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/category\/pacers\/\" target=\"_self\">Indiana Pacers<\/a> squandered an opportunity to take a commanding 3-1 lead. That cushion, in most playoff scenarios, proves insurmountable. Teams are 13-272 when down 3-1. They had stunned the Thunder in Game 1, winning despite leading for just three-tenths of a second. After dominating Game 3, Indiana\u2019s fans expected a repeat performance in Game 4.<\/p>\n<p>Oklahoma City had other plans.<\/p>\n<p>The Thunder halted Indiana\u2019s momentum with a timely and emphatic response.<\/p>\n<h3>MVP Shines When It Counts<\/h3>\n<p><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gilgesh01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a>, the NBA\u2019s Most Valuable Player, led the charge.<\/p>\n<p>He scored 15 points in the final 4 minutes and 38 seconds, including a clutch three-pointer that trimmed a late deficit to one. That shot marked just Oklahoma City\u2019s third make from beyond the arc all game.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I just tried to be aggressive,&#8221; Gilgeous-Alexander said. &#8220;I knew what it would&#8217;ve looked like if we lost tonight&#8230;I didn\u2019t want to go down not swinging.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Shai on his 4Q takeover in Game 4\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dA-M-NPVnCM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>He finished with 35 points and three steals. <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/willija06.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jalen Williams<\/a>, his All-Star teammate, added 27 points.<\/p>\n<h3>Thunder Close on a Tear<\/h3>\n<p>Indiana tied the game four times in the fourth quarter. Still, they couldn\u2019t seize control. Gilgeous-Alexander took over in the final minutes. Oklahoma City closed on a 12-1 run, and Gilgeous-Alexander scored 15 of the team\u2019s final 16 points.<\/p>\n<p>His scoring barrage overwhelmed Indiana\u2019s defense, and the Thunder never looked back.<\/p>\n<h3>Eyes on the Paycom Center<\/h3>\n<p>Game 5 will tip off Monday in Oklahoma City. With home-court advantage restored, the Thunder now need only to win their two home games to reach the NBA Finals.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s no small edge.<\/p>\n<p>Oklahoma City posted a 36-6 record at the Paycom Center during the regular season. Against Eastern Conference teams, they went 29-1. Even in defeat, the Thunder led Games 1 and 2 for all but three combined minutes.<\/p>\n<p>That kind of control matters.<\/p>\n<p>With the series tied, momentum shifting, and MVP-caliber leadership emerging, the Thunder\u2019s title dreams feel less like hype\u2014and more like reality.<\/p>\n<p><label>Credit: <\/label>\u00a9 Kyle Terada-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>INDIANAPOLIS \u2013 The Oklahoma City Thunder evened their playoff series 2-2 with a gutsy 111-104 victory at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Critics had questioned their poise after a lopsided Game 3 loss, citing their youth and inexperience. But with their season teetering, the Thunder responded. They erased a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit and surged ahead at the buzzer. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5018,"featured_media":144671,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,1608,3,22],"tags":[50160,4609,407,1489],"class_list":["post-144638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-basketball","category-news","category-thunder","tag-2025-nba-finals","tag-jalen-williams","tag-nba-finals","tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander"],"modified_by":"Frederick Okocha","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5018"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144638"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144638\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":144682,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144638\/revisions\/144682"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}