Game 4 Reaction 👀 OKC’s defense showed up when they needed it – Legler | SC with SVP

Game 4 Reaction 👀 OKC’s defense showed up when they needed it – Legler | SC with SVP

alongside Tim Leggler i’m Scott Vanpel and here Tim we take notes all game long and this was one of those nights that for the balance of this evening it felt like we were going to be talking about the home team ahead three games to one in this series they had a 10-point lead late in the third but Oklahoma City managed to stay in the fight and when push came to shove sometimes literally late they had more and won how I can’t really put into words how improbable it is that we’re going to a game five tied at two with the way that this game was controlled by Indiana for the most part look at Oklahoma City’s numbers tonight they had 10 assists as a team they made three threes including a huge one i think the biggest shot of the game by Shay Gilis Alexander when he cut that lead from four to one here’s what happened at the end of this game they showed up in a big way defensively uh Chad Homegrrew was sensational during a three or four possession stretch with his ability to use length to switch out and guard so their defense showed up the way that we saw it basically all year but had a very difficult time corelling Indiana all of game three most of game four when they needed it they tightened up defensively forced some really bad possessions out of Indiana and then Shay Gilis Alexander had enough juice in the tank to make big shots late yes he shuffled his feet on that baseline drive they missed a travel on that but there’s a number of travels missed throughout the game there’s no question about it but he had more balance and he had more energy at the end of this game to close the deal and let’s go back to why because early on as we’re sitting here watching you’re like “Wow they took the ball out of his hands after the defensive intensity and pressure we saw from the Pacers in game three it’s Williams handling the ball quite a bit.” And that was interesting and do you think that the fact that that uh Shade Gilis Alexander didn’t have to handle the ball all night allowed him to have more gas in the tank in those critical final few minutes there is no question about it he barely brought the ball up at all in the first quarter and and we’re kind of sitting there watching it and it looked strange he spent a lot of possessions off the ball with go to the corners come off stagger to get it later in the possession but definitely expended a lot less energy advancing the ball up the floor over the first three and a half quarters though he had more when he needed it late you know that three that he hit you talk about a guy being tired at the end of a game on a night when they could not make a three-point shot to keep them in it he hits the big three he hits a mid-range he gets to the line when he has to he played like an MVP offensively down the stretch and their defense gave them a chance i did think Indiana played with with some hesitation offensively you know you get that way sometimes when you feel a game slipping away a little bit there was a little bit of hesitancy out of that team offensively and OKC typically feasts off that if they see you back on your heels seakum didn’t touch the ball it felt like forever in the late game scenario and part of that is the defense of the Thunder certainly but you just have to wonder how he doesn’t at least get a touch from a guy that’s got a length advantage on a lot of people and has shown uh the capability to take and make big shots that felt like a miss definitely and he has again for their team i think Pascal Syakam has the most favorable matchups most trips up the floor because he gets smaller guys on him he can shoot over the top get something quality when he needs it again it felt very perimeterbased those last three or four possessions for Indiana they were trying to get switches and beat guys downhill but Chad Homegrren was keeping guards in front and using that length to deter anything in the paint [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause]

Tim Legler joins SportsCenter on Scott Van Pelt on the court in Indiana to react to the Oklahoma City Thunder’s comeback in Game 4 of the NBA Finals against the Pacers.

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