2025 NBA Finals Game 4 Observations
Game 4 is in the books, and the Oklahoma City Thunder won 111-107 in a comeback win that will unfortunately likely be more notable for the poor refereeing than the play on the court. These are my observations from the game.
After an initial rough stretch, OKC played elite defense
in the second half, especially in the 4th
During the first quarter, the defense for both teams was
really bad. I made several notes about
how bad the defense was, most notably about how OKC had two straight defensive
possessions where the on-ball defender was beat instantly, and both were great
defenders (first Alex Caruso, next Lu Dort).
OKC tried a variety of different schemes, but ultimately settled on the
perfect one to slow down Tyrese Haliburton in the fourth quarter: have Dort guard him. They were so aggressive in the second half of
the fourth quarter in the second half that I was surprised when Indiana was
able to create offense. There were
several plays where they couldn’t even approach the paint and couldn’t get
their offense going after doing that all game, which was what allowed OKC to
win the game.
How did OKC score 111 while going 3-17 from 3 and getting
only 10 assists?
In the modern era of the NBA, the best defensive teams often
try to minimize points at the rim, which is analytically the best shot for a
lot of players (especially a wide open dunk/layup). Indiana in particular has done a nice job with
Myles Turner at the center, as he is one of the most underrated rim protectors
in the game. However, OKC somehow went
34-61 (55.74%) from 2 despite only 10 assists and while not shooting 3’s
because they weren’t hitting them. While
offensive rebounds played a role with that (Holmgren had 4 of their 12 and had
a couple that he put back for dunks), I’m not sure how OKC was able to score as
easily as they did despite everything seemingly going wrong. The other thing to note is that they hit a
ton of free throws, as they went 34-38 (89.47%), while Indiana missed 8 of their
33.
Jalen Williams struggled when running the offense
While many will surely praise Williams’ offensive game (he
did a good job scoring overall) and will focus more on SGA’s lack of assists
(this was more due to the way the offense was designed for most of the game as
they had Williams initiating offense), the offense sputtered a bit when he was
trying to initiate the offense. A couple
minutes into the game, after Williams was fouled going for the basket, I noted
that he didn’t notice the open kickout pass and went strictly into double
coverage, making me wonder if he was going to continue trying to drive and look
for his own shot at the rim. That’s
exactly what happened; even while he scored a bunch, he kept doing that when he
was the primary creator (also worth noting that he almost consistently drove to
the left each time, which he typically favors).
Their offense sputtered when he was running the offense because there
wasn’t any sort of ball movement or creativity.
Williams got challenged right at the rim by Myles Turner each time or turned
the ball over a bunch, but he scored enough points to make him keep doing
it. That said, if they keep doing this,
I expect that they won’t be as successful.
Pascal Siakam’s first quarter was insane
When the broadcast said that Siakam had 4 steals in the
first quarter, I thought I misheard it and figured he had 2 and my hearing was
off. Nope, he had 4 steals in the first
quarter. While he wasn’t the most
efficient for the game (6-15), he still finished with 20 points and 5
steals. That said, he did quiet down
after the first quarter.
OKC’s double big lineup didn’t work as well as I thought
it would
In the regular season, OKC’s double big lineup that included
both Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein dominated, as they have prior to this
round in the playoffs. However, it has
been sparingly used in this series. In a
clear desperation move, OKC started both of them, and it really wasn’t that
great. The big issue with this is that
Hartenstein has not played well this series.
While it’s one thing to not take many shots or not be perfect defensively,
he has practically vanished throughout each game, most notably in this
game. As we got to the second half, I
forgot he had played at all. I thought
he would be an important counter to the small lineups with Obi Toppin at
center, but those have had some success because he has been nothing more than a
body out there at points in this series.
I think his struggles is a big part of why OKC has not blown Indiana, as
Indiana has had success exploiting his struggles.
This game was refereed so horribly
As soon as Toppin got called for a flagrant for a normal
basketball play foul that resulted in a “scuffle”, I knew we were in for a bad
game (unpopular opinion: Isaiah
Hartenstein should have gotten a tech for taking offense to that foul and Obi
Toppin should have gotten a tech for taking offense to being talked to, not
because the reason they got the techs).
My big issue is that they called the game differently than what had been
called all series and they were inconsistent with their calls throughout the
game (which is even worse). When they
called the Toppin foul as a flagrant but didn’t call anything when Lu Dort
pushed Tyrese Haliburton (Haliburton flopped after the push, but there was
still illegal contact during a dead ball) or when they called silly fouls bit
didn’t call a play that had contact to the head, I knew that these refs were
not having a good game. I think the fact
that we haven’t discussed the refs that much throughout the series goes to show
just how good of a job the refs have done throughout the series.
Myles Turner’s playoff career is almost eligible for NBA
awards
Turner has struggled throughout this series, and Game 4 was
no different. That said, I didn’t
realize just how many playoff games he had played in. Game 4 was his 63rd playoff game of
his career (and 37th of the last two years), which would mean that he
would be award eligible with 2 more games if these were regular season numbers. This year is his 10th season and
he has played in the playoffs in 7 years.
While he has always been a consistent presence for some good teams, it
didn’t occur to me just how many playoff games he had played in until they
showed a graphic with the stat last night.
Can we quit the Kornet Contest?
For those who aren’t familiar with the term, the Kornet
Contest is a move popularized by Celtics center Luke Kornet; when he isn’t
close to the defender who is shooting, instead of making an effort to play good
defense, he just jumps straight up in the air because apparently good shooters
get distracted when a player jumps up and down in the middle of the paint (the
claim is that it is to throw off the shooters, but still). Isaiah Hartenstein did the Kornet Contest a
few times. I find it so dumb since this
gets the defender out of position for a rebound and increases the chances of an
injury. Why are we still doing this and
pretending it is a great defensive strategy?
Anyone else see the Friday the 13th graphic?
During the first quarter, the game suddenly cut out and
showed a TV that said “Friday the 13th” on it. It then went right back to the game. Did anyone else see that? I still don’t know what happened.
1.
I’m not sure who will win this series
At this point, both teams have played well for stretches,
and while both teams have questions, their players and coaches have done an
excellent job of doing what is needed to remain in the series. We have seen so many interesting schemes and
adjustments from two excellent coaches. At
this point, not only do I have any idea who will win, but I don’t know what
will even happen in Game 5. All I know
at this point is that this has been a fun series to watch; I can’t wait to see
the remainder of the series!
What did you think of this game? Let me know in the comments!
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