Shai Gilgeous-Alexander urged the Oklahoma City Thunder to “throw the first punch” after his fourth-quarter heroics saw them tie the NBA Finals at 2-2 with an 111-104 win over the Indiana Pacers.
The Thunder trailed by 10 points late in the third quarter and went into the final 12 minutes still behind by seven. They faced a four-point deficit with under three minutes left, but NBA MVP Gilgeous-Alexander rescued Oklahoma City from going down 3-1 in the series by underlining his status as the best player in the game.
His 26-foot three-pointer pulled the Thunder within one, before a 14-foot jump shot gave the Thunder an advantage they did not relinquish.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 35 points to ensure Game 5 in Oklahoma City will not be an elimination game for the Thunder.
“I just tried to be aggressive,” Gilgeous-Alexander told a press conference.
“I knew what it would have looked like if we lost tonight. 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 as 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.”
However, Gilgeous-Alexander warned his teammates that performances must improve following a game that was largely dominated by the Pacers before he flipped the script.
“They’re winning the small battles. They’re winning the physicality. They’re winning the aggressiveness battles. They’re winning the 50/50 plays,” he added.
“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.
“For the most part of tonight, they were winning those battles, and that’s why they had control of the game.”
