Basketball Intelligence For 6/14/25
The day's best news and reporting
*FEATURES OF THE DAY*
At NBA Finals, Oscar Robertson a reminder of Indiana’s basketball heritage, racial history
Willliam C. Rhoden, Andscape
Indiana Pacers forward Pascal Siakam has eyes of Africa on him during NBA Finals
Marc J. Spears, Andscape
THE FINALS
4 stats explaining the Finals
Mike Shearer, Basketball Poetry
Carlson: NBA Finals being altered by 'self-made guys' Alex Caruso, T.J. McConnell
Jenni Carlson, The Oklahoman
Three Things I Noticed in Game 4
Jared Dubin, Last Night, In Basketball
Game 4 Observations from the NBA Finals: Thunder vs. Pacers
Iztok Franco, Diggin Basketball
Then in the fourth quarter, it all flipped. The Thunder played much more aggressively, made the hustle plays, grabbed huge offensive rebounds, and found a clutch formula for scoring (more on that in the next points). Meanwhile, the Pacers, a team that had been dominating these tight moments throughout the playoffs, looked like the moment was finally too big. The movement and pace were gone, replaced by late isolation heroics and a string of airballs or short shots. Pascal Siakam, who torched mismatches for three quarters, was forgotten or lost. The hero of Game 3, and an 87 percent free-throw shooter in the playoffs, Bennedict Mathurin, missed three key free throws in the final minute.
The Statistical Favorites: Bigs
Jacob Sutton, JSutt Hoops
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Takes Over to Rally Thunder, Even NBA Finals at 2–2
Chris Mannix, SI.com
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Game 4 closing stretch could be one to remember for Thunder
Anthony Slater, The Athletic
Game 4: Gilgeous-Alexander goes wild in the 4th, Thunder rally to top Pacers 111-104 and tie Finals
Tim Reynolds, The Minnesota Star tribune
SGA steals Game 4 with 4th quarter explosion
Samson Folk, Basketball, She Wrote
With its season in balance, Thunder prove more clutch than Pacers to take Game 4 111-104, even series 2-2 - NBC Sports
Kurt Helin, NBC Sports
Inside the closets of NBA Finals superstars SGA and Tyrese Haliburton
Ohm Youngmisuk, ESPN
2025 NBA Finals: Biggest takeaways from Thunder-Pacers Game 4
NBA Insiders, ESPN
OKC is its own script
Kelly Dwyer, Kelly Dwyer On Hoops
The visitors did not have the home club on a string in Game 4, this was not a long con, Indiana did not play with wool over its eyes before Oklahoma City's comeback. Barely a comeback, anyway, more of a shift. The Thunder saw the way the family (in its eighth day together) was posed in the photo and decided to re-arrange things for a win, the Pacers barely had to move, or stop smiling.
After Game 4 letdown, Pacers look to 'dig in' with Finals 2-2
Jamal Collier, ESPN
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 'flips the switch' in historic fourth quarter as OKC wins Game 4 the hard way
James Herbert, CBS Sports
At the Buzzer: R4G4 — Thunder 111, Pacers 104 | Win Slips From Indiana's Grasp
Scott Agness, Fieldhouse Files With Scott Agness
Thunder vs. Pacers: How OKC's collective team effort gave Shai Gilgeous-Alexander the juice to close out Game 4
Dan Devine, Yahoo! Sports
Mussatto: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 'unreal' down stretch to save Thunder, tie up NBA Finals
Joe Mussatto, The Oklahoman
NBA Finals Game 4 winners and losers: Caruso's complete game; Mathurin's costly minute
Lorenzo Reyes, USA Today
Turning Point: Thunder put the defensive squeeze on Pacers in 4th quarter
Steve Aschburner, NBA.com
Thunder-Pacers: 5 takeaways as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander carries OKC to victory in Game 4
Shaun Powell, NBA.com
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