15 points in the final quarter! SGA turns into Death! Thunder named the inner history to tear the Pacers

Alexander is only 26 years old and his total regular season score has exceeded 11,000 points, which makes him hope to join the ranks of rare scorers in history. His accumulated playoff scores also reached 1,105 points. This season, he led the league with 2484 points.

But not all scores are of equal value. If his Oklahoma City Thunder wins two more games in the next three games, Alexander scored 15 points in the last five minutes of the NBA Finals Game 4 and helped the Thunder defeat the Indiana Pacers 111-104, perhaps the iconic 15 points of his career, and perhaps even the most important personal scoring explosion in the history of the young team.

"I know what it would be like if we lost tonight," Alexander admitted after the match. "I don't want to sit and wait for death. I don't want to try to win the game without giving all my strength or controlling everything I can."

Alexander's words point more specifically to a timeout with 3 minutes and 52 seconds left when Aaron Nesmith was executing the free throw. Before and after the timeout, Nesmith made both free throws, extending the Pacers' lead to 95-91. In the fourth quarter of the first three games of the series, the Pacers had the upper hand. If they successfully end this game again, the Thunder will fall into a desperate abyss of 1-3 behind.

Before the timeout, Alexander found a slight rhythm with a sporadic breakthrough layup with 4 minutes and 37 seconds left to tie the score. After fighting for the next offensive rebound, he finally got rid of the difficult Nembhard and got a relatively rare opportunity to go out of the basket without defense. This is his first scoring since the middle of the third quarter, increasing his personal score to 22 points, which is just a mediocre number for the league's scoring champion.

The Pacers performed better in the next minute, establishing a 4-point lead, forcing Coach Mark Dagnott to call that key timeout. After the game, the coaching staff, Alexander and Jaylen Williams discussed the offensive strategy for the last few minutes during the suspension.

In short: Let Nembhard leave the defense against Alexander and force Nesmith to switch to him.

"For most of that time, they (SGA and Jaylen) played mainly in the cooperation of the two," Dagnott explained. "Jellen did a great job of organizing the offense and handing the ball to him (SGA)."

Degnott has long emphasized one of the abilities of Alexander's top coverers, and the team scored very efficiently every round when he was a screener in tactics. In the first offensive round after the timeout, Alexander set a high cover for Nesmith, who was defending Williams. Williams pretended to use the screen and successfully lured the opponent into the switch. Then he dribbled to the right wing, drove Nembuhadra out of place, and passed the ball to Alexander who had switched to Nesmith after facing Nesmith.

The camera switches to the scene where Alexander singles Nesmith after switching defense. Nesmith ventured to reach out and tried to steal. Alexander keenly noticed it and immediately pulled out a jump shot, causing a foul, winning two free throws.

Pacers are prepared for this tactic in the next round. The Thunder performed the same tactics, but when Alexander started the attack, Nembhard quickly stepped forward and double-teamed.

However, this is the critical moment when Williams comes into play. He is an important offensive threat in his own right, scoring 27 points before Alexander took over the game. So when Alexander passed the ball back to him, Nembhard had to fight back to defend desperately. This created an opportunity for Alexander, who slipped to the right, got rid of Nesmith, got an open chance and made the landmark 3-pointer that narrowed the gap to one point. The Thunder team made only 3 of 17 three-pointers that night, and this goal was one of them.

The next attack, Alexander didn't even need cover to face Nesmith. Caruso blocked Nembhard's layup near the basket, causing Nembhard to fall and trigger a fast break, which allowed Nembhard to directly face Alexander in the transition.

With 14 seconds left in the offensive time and Nembhard had no time to try a chaotic switch, Alexander dribbled the ball with his left hand to attack Inside Smith - a position that was difficult to double-team - and hit a flowing backward mid-range shot before Nembhard returned to the position in time. The goal gave the Thunder the first lead in the second half.

A few rounds later, Nesmith hit Alexander's wrist after a turn, giving him two more free throws. In two sideline serves at the last minute, the desperate and overly active Mathering knocked down Alexander twice before the ball was sent in, giving away a free throw each time (and retaining the ball rights). In the last 7 seconds, when the overall situation was decided, Nembhad made a foul on Alexander.

When asked about the two teams' total 71 free throw attempts, Degnott said: "There are piles of foul moves (on the court). That's why there are so many free throws. I think the referee did a good job tonight."

Thunders 38 free throws and the Pacers 33 free throws. But the sight of the free throw line is crucial, with the Thunder conceding only 4 goals, while the Pacers conceding eight goals, including two misses at critical moments. Alexander, Williams and Chet Holmgren made 27 free throws.

But Alexander turned the tide. He made all eight free throws in that decisive five minutes and 15 points in a row. Under the pressure of the team's life hanging by a thread in the dream season, he did not show any tension.

"He (SGA) is as calm as usual," Dagnott commented. "You can't tell whether he is leading by 3 points, 3 points, 30 points, 30 points, 30 points, or having dinner on a Wednesday. He's almost the same person. ”

"You can't tell whether this is a preseason game or his game in the fourth game of the NBA Finals, when the team was 1-2 behind," Caruso added. "That's why our team has such a good mentality. That's why we can succeed in adversity. No matter what happens, look at him, he is consistent. Beneath that calm appearance is a deeply rooted and extremely strong competitive heart. ”

These 15 points have a chance to be the iconic clip of Alexander's first MVP and championship season. But the championship has not yet been obtained. The Thunder must win two of the next three games, against a Pacers who suppressed them for most of the two games in Indianapolis.

"They are a very good team and have really found some ways to target us," Dagnott admitted.

What about?

"They won in a small-scale confrontation," Alexander analyzed. "They have the upper hand in physical confrontation. They won aggressively. They grabbed more 55 kickoffs. Tonight we performed well enough in a short period of time and finally won a victory. If we want to achieve our ultimate goal, we must handle these details and take the initiative. ”

(Text/Kong Yang)