The Oklahoma City Thunder always respond. No team has been better after a loss this season, and that trend continued on Friday when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led his bunch on a fourth-quarter comeback to defeat the Indiana Pacers, 111-104, in Game 4 of the 2025 NBA Finals.
“We knew when we woke up this morning, 3-1 is a lot different than 2-2 going back home,” said Gilgeous-Alexander, who finished with 35 points to help OKC even the series. “We played with desperation to end the game and that’s why we won. We gotta try to maintain the same desperation going into Game 5, Game 6, whatever it may be.”
The Thunder are now 6-0 after a loss during the playoffs, including wins in Games 2 and 4 of the Finals. If you include the regular season, they are 18-2 following a defeat. That’s tied for the best record in such situations in a single season in NBA history.
Best record after a loss in NBA history (single season, including playoffs)
|
Thunder |
2024-25 |
18-2 |
.900 |
|
1986-87 |
18-2 |
.900 |
|
|
1949-50 |
17-2 |
.895 |
|
|
1974-75 |
25-3 |
.893 |
It’s worth noting that all three of the other teams on that list — the 1950 Lakers, 1975 Warriors and 1987 Lakers — won the championship that season. The Thunder are two wins away from doing the same, which would give them their first title since moving to Oklahoma City.
Here’s a quick look back at the Thunder’s results after a loss this postseason:
- Second round, Game 2 vs. Nuggets: Thunder win, 149-106
After blowing a late lead in Game 1 of their second-round series, the Thunder took out their frustration with a complete dismantling of the Nuggets. They led by double digits for the final 41 minutes of the game, and were up by as many as 49 along the way. Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 34 points, four rebounds and eight assists.
- Second round, Game 4 vs. Nuggets: Thunder win, 92-87
After cruising through the regular season and first round, Game 4 in Denver was the first real gut-check the Thunder faced during the playoffs. They could not afford to go down 3-1, which would have put them on the brink of a second consecutive second-round exit. Again, it was Gilgeous-Alexander who stepped up: 25 points, six rebounds and six assists in a gutsy performance that saw them come back from an early fourth-quarter deficit.
- Second round, Game 7 vs. Nuggets: Thunder win, 125-93
Nikola Jokić and the Nuggets pushed the Thunder to the brink, but they could not push them over the edge. They jumped ahead early on the road, and briefly built a double-digit lead, but the Thunder responded with an incredible defensive surge in the second quarter to take the lead, then ran away after the break. To little surprise, Gilgeous-Alexander was awesome: 35 points, three rebounds, four assists and three steals.
- Western Conference finals, Game 4 vs. Timberwolves: Thunder win, 128-126
Game 4 of the Western Conference finals was another huge moment for this Thunder team. After two comfortable wins at home in Games 1 and 2, the Timberwolves had blitzed them in Game 3 and had a chance to even the series in Game 4. The Timberwolves gave it their all, but fell just short after a wild ending. Gilgeous-Alexander iced the game at the free throw line to complete another monster performance: 40 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists.
- NBA Finals, Game 2 vs. Pacers: Thunder win, 123-107
The Thunder lost Game 1 of the Finals in unbelievable fashion on a Tyrese Haliburton game-winner with 0.3 seconds remaining. Heading into Game 2, nearly every single person outside of the Pacers locker room expected the Thunder to respond emphatically. That’s exactly what happened. After taking the lead late in the first quarter, the Thunder never trailed again. Gilgeous-Alexander continued his MVP campaign with 34 points, five rebounds and eight assists.
- NBA Finals, Game 4 vs. Pacers: Thunder win, 111-104
There was a moment late in the third quarter of Game 4 when it seemed like the Pacers were going to run the Thunder out of the building and take a 3-1 lead. Instead, OKC settled down and got the deficit under double digits heading into the fourth quarter. From there, Gilgeous-Alexander took them home with 15 fourth-quarter points; as a team, the Pacers scored 17 points in the final frame.
Gilgeous-Alexander shows why he’s the MVP
What stands out the most about the Thunder’s perfect record after a loss this postseason is that Gilgeous-Alexander has shown up every single time. Whenever the Thunder have needed him during this run, he’s delivered. That was especially true on Friday.
Gilgeous-Alexander had been struggling early in the game while trying to deal with the Pacers’ all-out pressure and physicality. But suddenly, late in the fourth, all of the shots he had been missing started to go in.
As the clock ticked under three minutes, the Pacers led by four and it seemed as though, for all of the Thunder’s hard work early in the frame, the home team would hang on for a narrow win. Gilgeous-Alexander had other ideas. He knocked down a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to one, and outscored the Pacers 11-1 over the final three minutes by himself.
In the Thunder’s six games after a loss this postseason, Gilgeous-Alexander scored at least 30 points five times, and never fewer than 25. Over those six games, he’s averaged 33.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, six assists and 2.2 steals on 53.2% from the field.
