The Oklahoma City Thunder aren’t panicking.
The Indiana Pacers aren’t taking anything for granted.
Heading into Friday’s Game 4 of the NBA Finals in Indianapolis, the teams say they’re not changing much about the approaches that have worked for them.
The Pacers lead the best-of-seven series 2-1 — an edge they’ve held in each of their four series this postseason.
“That’s the challenge before us right now, is to maintain,” Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said. “It’s got to be a killer edge to beat these guys. We’re going to be an underdog in every game in this series. … It’s a daunting challenge. Anything less than a total grit mindset, we just don’t have a chance.”
The Pacers have thrived in that underdog role, something that guard Tyrese Haliburton said after their Game 1 win has driven him and the rest of the team since last season.
For the Thunder, it’s the second time they’ve faced such a deficit. They were down after three games in the Western Conference second-round series against Denver before eventually winning in seven.
Oklahoma City lost back-to-back games just twice during the regular season and has yet to drop consecutive games in the playoffs.
“Being down 2-1 in a series, it can have emotions associated with it, but dragging those into the next experience isn’t going to help anybody,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said Thursday. “Them being up 2-1, dragging that in isn’t going to help them, either. You have to compete when the ball goes up in the air. We’ve made a habit of that. We have to double down again on that tomorrow.”
Oklahoma City guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the league’s MVP, said that while it was difficult to compare the situations directly from the series against the Nuggets, there were lessons to be learned in how the team responded there.
“We have to be who we are and who we’ve been all season,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I think we got back to that in that series. If we want to give ourselves a chance in this series, it has to be the same thing.”
Haliburton said he has struggled to sleep much during the Finals, thanks to a mixture of excitement and stress.
The fifth-year guard is coming off his best game in the series, with 22 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds in Indiana’s 116-107 home win in Game 3.
“I think the biggest thing with right now is this is like a really exciting time. To play against these guys is an honor,” Haliburton said. “It’s a lot of fun. This is a 68-win team, historically one of the best defenses ever. This is a really good team. They have the MVP. They have a bunch of dudes who are going to be in this league for a long time having a lot of success. …
“As competitors, you want to compete against the best and these guys are the best.”
For the Thunder, getting back to their defensive identity is at the forefront after the Pacers shot 51.8 percent (44 of 85) from the field in Game 3.
“We’ve kind of strayed away from it a little bit,” forward Jalen Williams said. “I think when you’re scoring at a good rate, sometimes it can drop off a little bit. That’s something that we’ve looked at.
“There will be some game-plan adjustments, for sure,” he continued. “A lot of that is just competing. I don’t want to say ‘competing’ because that sounds like you’re out there not trying. Defensively locking in on a lot of the little things, not let them get comfortable and make those bigger runs late in the game.”
The Pacers have outscored the Thunder 67-43 in the fourth quarter in their two wins in the series.
Indiana’s Myles Turner continues to battle an illness, though he had a critical block and rebound late in Wednesday’s win.
Carlisle said Turner was with the team during their film session Thursday before heading home to recuperate.
“Hopefully, he’ll feel better tomorrow,” Carlisle said. “We’ll see.”
–Field Level Media
