Winning hard changes everything for Thunder
In the third quarter Friday, the Pacers led the Thunder 68-62, 71-64 and 82-73.
Then, somehow, Alex Caruso hit a 3-pointer, Oklahoma City was back within six, finally a second beyond-the-arc offering had fallen after just one the length of the first half.
It had to be a harbinger.
Had to be.
It wasn’t.
Though 3:21 remained in the frame, the Thunder scored exactly zero points their next five possessions.
Twice, Shai-Gilgeous Alexander created the 10-to-12-to-15 foot mid-range jumper he never seems to miss and both times missed.
Oklahoma City also suffered a shot-clock violation and once failed to advance the ball past half-court in the required 8 seconds, the kind of turnover even the most turnover-prone units never commit.
The only good news?
While the Thunder failed to score over their five-possession span, Indiana’s lead never ballooned past 10, though Obi Toppin had two free throws to make it 12 and missed both. Also, the last 32 seconds of the quarter, Jalen Williams made two free throws and a basket and the Pacers scored only a point, a free throw from Pascal Siakam, leaving the Thunder behind only seven rather than the 12 or 14 it should have been.
And still?
And still, as I considered how I might write about it, I knew it would begin exactly where this one’s begun, with the last 3:21 of the third quarter, because that would be where Oklahoma City lost the game, where it had its chance but couldn’t capitalize, where it took something it desperately needed — Caruso’s 3 — and laid an egg on top of it because, you know what, this team’s just not ready to win an NBA championship.
Then came the fourth quarter and if you didn’t turn it off, not only do you know that it happened, but you saw it happen.
A 111-104 Thunder victory, tying the NBA Finals 2-2, with the series coming back to Oklahoma City for Game 5 Monday night at Paycom Center, site of Game 7, too, should it be required.
On the one hand, it makes all kinds of sense, a 68-win regular-season team, one that entered the Finals a huge favorite, that already came back from the dead in similar fashion against Denver, would indeed be capable of a comeback against the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference.
On the other, to have watched it is to know differently.
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