Pacers, like Panthers, might have big regrets about blowing Game 4 of finals

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Just like the Florida Panthers, the Indiana Pacers might end up deeply regretting wasting a chance to take a stranglehold on a championship series.

If the Edmonton Oilers or Oklahoma City Thunder eventually win it all, the Panthers and Pacers will long be thinking about the one that got away.

While Indiana was never as comfortably ahead Friday as Florida was in its Game 4 (up 3-0 after a period), only leading by as many as 10 points in the game, they had the double digit edge late in the third quarter and should have beaten a Thunder team playing nowhere close to its regular level.

Oklahoma City only hit three three-pointers, handed out just 11 assists — both season-lows — their bench got outscored and their decision to go back to the double-big man starting lineup failed early, plus Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was again being hounded and hadn’t dominated and the crowd in Indianapolis was going berserk. And yet, the Thunder, the NBA’s best team this year proved it once again, rallying to regain control of what has been a damn good NBA Finals so far.

We’ve seen the Pacers pull off one of the biggest late shockers ever in Game 1; The Thunder respond by looking like a well-oiled machine; Indiana showing they belonged here too with a tremendous Game 3 and then Friday OKC sent the message once again that while they might bend, it’s hard to break them.

DONE IT BEFORE

This wasn’t a new thing for the Thunder in these playoffs.

In the West semifinal against Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and the Denver Nuggets, the Thunder lost the opener at home by two points.

Instead of being shook, they won the next one by 43 points.

They then fell behind again with an overtime loss, only to win two straight.

And when the Nuggets rallied to force Game 7, with Gilgeous-Alexander looking out of gas, Oklahoma City cruised to a decisive victory.

They don’t seem to get rattled and always maintain belief in their capabilities, even if things aren’t working.

Clearly the Pacers have something special going on too, but it’s not going to be easy for Indiana to re-take momentum in the series.

JALEN’S WORLD

Gilgeous-Alexander will get most of the attention for his late flourish, but Jalen Williams was just as good in this one.

Williams and Alex Caruso consistently kept the Thunder within range of the Pacers when nothing else was working. He got into the paint at will and got to the line (11 attempts, a new high), while playing with an aggressiveness and purpose that few others on the court matched.

Williams made All-NBA for a reason, but he’s still one of the more underrated second-level stars in the league. Without his 12 points in the first Game 4 might have been an early rout. And he just kept coming.

Plus, with Andrew Nembhard and the Pacers swarming Gilgeous-Alexander as soon as he touched the ball, trying to exhaust him, which worked earlier in the series, Williams showed off his varied skillset. Not many people his size 6-foot-6, 220 pounds) can capably handle the ball and play guard, but sometimes that’s what’s asked of Williams. On Friday he brought the ball up a lot, allowing Gilgeous-Alexander to breathe. And while the OKC offence was stagnant, partly as a result, Williams was able to get his points pretty easily.

FOUL MOOD

Many Pacers fans are furious with the whistle they got in Game 4. While that’s often the case for the losing fanbase after losses like this (the Thunder kept drawing fouls late and the officials appeared to miss a Gilgeous-Alexander travel and a Michael Jordan-esque push-off), we’ll say again that Indiana should have finished off the Thunder long before the referees became part of the story.

Pundits definitely enjoyed playing up the angle:

“There were a number of missed travels in this game, no doubt about it,” ESPN’s Tim Legler said after the game, per The Indianapolis Star.

“I’m glad to be here for the most Scott Foster game ever,” said The Ringer’s Bill Simmons on X.

Foster, of course, has a reputation as “The Extender” for the odd calls that seem to follow him and sometimes end up prolonging a playoff series.

STATS PACK

Some of our top stats picks from another great NBA Finals game:

SGA’s 14th game of at least 30 points is the most in a single playoffs since Kawhi in 2019.

His 15 points were the most in the final five minutes of a Finals game ever, per CBS Sports.

Indiana missed 12-of-16 shots to finish the game.

Oklahoma City’s 11 assists were the fifth-fewest since 1999-2000 and the least by a winning Finals team since 1948.

AROUND THE RIM

The Thunder abandoned the Chet Holmgren/Isaiah Hartenstein giant lineup — which was barely used in the first three games — in just under four minutes. Overall, the game featured one of the worst defensive starts all season for the Thunder … SGA had zero free throw attempts through one half, which almost never happens, and only a pair through three. But in the fourth he took and made eight, helping turn the game … Pascal Siakam matched his playoff career high of four steals in the first quarter alone. He was tremendous and the key reason the Pacers started so well … The Pacers led after a quarter for the first time all series.

@WolstatSun