In this YouTube breakdown, Draymond Green and host Mo dissect Game 4 of the NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder (OKC) and the Indiana Pacers, focusing on Shai Gilgeous‑Alexander’s (Shai) decisive late‑quarter performance. They argue that the Pacers’ defensive scheme—particularly the switch‑heavy Shay‑J‑Dub pick‑and‑roll—failed because it forced defender Nimhard to constantly switch onto Shai, creating mismatches that Shai exploited. The duo highlights how the Pacers’ inability to maintain consistent switching (contrary to their earlier games) allowed OKC to capitalize on every screen, especially in the fourth quarter when the game’s pace slowed, giving Shai space to operate at his preferred “flow.” They discuss the importance of matching Nimhard’s minutes with Shai, the impact of momentum swings, and specific moments such as missed free throws, bone‑head fouls, and a crucial missed shot by Nimhard. Coaching decisions are examined, including Rick Carlisle’s timeout usage and Mark Dagnall’s (presumably a typo for Mark Daigneault) strategic calls. The conversation also weaves in personal anecdotes—Draymond watching the game from a bar in Cabo with Paul George—adding a casual, behind‑the‑scenes flavor. Overall, the analysis posits that OKC’s ability to force the Pacers into a slower, more controlled pace, combined with superior defensive adjustments and Shai’s elite scoring, turned the tide in the final minutes, while the Pacers’ small‑scale errors and inconsistent defensive switches cost them the game.
Chapters
I'm gonna tell you something that I thought down the stretch that I noticed. And if I'm the Pacers, I'm going to watch this film. And this is what I noticed. A, they took Shay off the ball. We all know that. That's clear as day. They took Shay off the ball. They got J-Dub handling the ball more. But down the stretch, what did they go to? They went to a Shay-J-Dub pick and roll. Switch. Now you got Neesmith on Shea, as opposed to Nimhard on Shea. And they kept switching it and he just threw it to Shea. And now Shea got Neesmith on him. And if you watch the beginning, for anyone who watched the beginning of this series, Shea got what he wanted on Neesmith. I think Neesmith's a very good defender. For instance, he guarded Jalen Brunson better than anybody. But it's matchup to matchup when it comes to this, to this point in the playoffs. The guy who guards one guy the best may not be the same guy to guard that guy the best in the next series. And so what we've seen is Nimhard is the guy to guard Shea in this series. Every possession down the stretch, they went to the 1-2 pick and roll, get the switch, Shea got Nimhard— Shea got Neesmith on him now, and Shea goes to work and gets to all the buckets that he was getting to. And so As a guard defender, as just as a guard, as a coach, someone with pride, a champion, at what point does the player, Nimhard, just say, oh, I see they trying to get that switch.
They ain't switching.
I'm gonna make him, if J Dub wanna shoot a pick and pop 3.
Yeah.
Different 3 than a catch and shoot 3.
Yeah.
He ain't used to shooting pick and pop 3. Like, at what point do we expect the player to be like, yeah, I'm not switching, I'm getting through this, it is what it is? Because I think down the stretch, that's what cost them the game.
And you know what's crazy? We go back to little stuff, everything, losing, all the little shit loses games. Look at game 3. Go look at their defensive possession. They weren't switching nothing. They weren't switching nothing. Game 3, they didn't switch nothing. They got through everything and they got beat at times because of that. They was able to get— that's why it was such a high-scoring first half because they was staying with they matchup, getting through everything. Turner was in that short little drop, that little short drop. I call it short drop. He right there on that short drop and he trying to stunt a little bit, get back in front. If you a little bit late, that's when they was turning that corner and they was reading it. But they stuck with it. They stuck with it game 3.
Yeah.
'Cause it kept the pace going. It kept OKC down here, make a miss, we out anyway. So the game is gonna be back and forth. But tonight they was in a lot of switches when they weren't in switches game 3.
Exactly. And I think OKC took full advantage of that. So now when I'm going ahead in this series, I'm saying no matter how much we get hurt, and not only am I saying that, but also I'm matching Nimhard's minutes with Shea. The only time you get a break is when he come off the floor. And the rest of the game, you getting through every screen, you're fighting through everything. We get into them because again, to your point, Moke, Even if Shai turned the corner and he got a little advantage, but Nimhard is fighting through it. If he don't have a crazy advantage, he gonna stop.
Exactly.
Because he get it at his pace. You know, he want to get it at, and at his pace, Nimhard has shown that he can guard him at his pace.
He confident, he know him.
Absolutely. They play on the Canadian national team. You know, they playing ones when they in camp.
You know him. All these things. And Shay respect him.
Absolutely.
He not going at him. That's the problem. Shay got too much respect for him.
Yes. Yeah. So, so as a scorer, say Nim Hard don't, 'cause I don't do this, this ain't my career, this is your career. If Nim Hard don't switch it, what happens next? If you Shay, You've been in that position.
He gotta get downhill. He get, and he got, he gotta get downhill and he gotta get it in advance every single time. And he gotta be ready to step because at some point he gotta fight through it. That may be over and under. If he under, you gotta have that trigger ready. If you knock, you knock a couple screens down when you got space, I mean shots down behind the screen where you got space. Now he getting over the top every time. And they ain't switching, now you got him on your hip. Now you got an advantage. Now you getting to the line more. Now he didn't start getting to the line till down the stretch when they were trying to keep the fucking game close.
Yeah.
You get what I'm saying? So that's the only time he started getting to the line, but throughout the game, he wasn't getting to the line like that because he wasn't really getting them on their hip. Everything was kind of getting to the elbow, kind of getting his feet set, trying to get some separation, trying to get that pull-up off. And if I'm Indiana, I'm forcing him into that mid-range pull-up at the free throw line, 'cause he willing to get there if you get to him every time.
Yeah.
You know, if he make it, he make it, he don't, he don't. It's still a 2 and you can get it out real quick and go. Now he ain't getting to the line. He get to that line and you start letting him get an angle and he start to get an angle on you and able to get them long stretchy layups and them floaters. And now when he get those, oh yeah, he finna knock a couple 3s down. And then if he get that 3-level going, you want to keep him at 2 levels and you want majority of them to be at the second level. And I know they trying to do that, but they really just playing off how he playing and how the defense set, wherever angle he coming from. But if they just following him into that mid-range, he gonna accept that every time.
You know what's crazy? I saw, I put on my Threads account at one point during the game, like, This was during the third quarter actually. OKC doesn't look like a team that believe. Like, final.
Mm-hmm.
Like they did not believe they could win. When I was watching, what it looked like to me was you watching a boxing match. We watching whoever you call it, Bud Crawford versus, Why am I drawing a blank right now? Uh, versus Earl Spence.
Mm-hmm.
When I went to that fight and I was there live in person, when they went into that fight in the first couple rounds or the first round, it looked like Bud trying to figure it out, didn't really know what to expect. And obviously we know Earl got crazy power. Like Earl has lived on, like his power is crazy. And you could see that in the fight. And then all of a sudden Earl caught Bud with his best shot.
Mm-hmm.
And Bud was like this. And from that point on, Bud pressed forward because he knew you already caught me with the best shot you can catch me with. And it didn't even daze me. It didn't stun, like, It didn't stun me. So for the rest of the fight, I can just press forward because even if you catch me with your best shot again, I can just walk through it.
You ain't gonna fall back. Yeah.
And for the first 3 quarters of that matchup, OKC looked like that where Indiana just kind of doing whatever they wanted to do when they want.
It's the pace, Draymond. It's the pace. I'm telling you, Indiana have an unbelievable pace. OKC was trying to play play at the same pace. They can't play that like that because it doesn't benefit Shai. He needs to play at his pace. It ain't slow, it ain't fast, it's his pace. He need to— he need to have a flow more than a pace. It just need to have a flow so he can get it, get in his spots, slow it down and get to his elbows. But Indiana get that [MASKED] out so quick and he— they're gone getting it up, up the court. Now the other thing OKC, they in a lot of iso situation. Now Indiana, you watch Indiana, they got a lot of action. That's a lot of movement. They creating a lot of movement. OKC defense is really good when Indiana gets stagnant and they able to load up, they able to get in them gaps. They ain't able to get in them gaps when they got all that movement and getting the ball up fast.
Mm-hmm.
But what happened was late in the fourth quarter when every basketball game in America slow down, it benefits Shayla. Now it goes into that guy, that guy, and that's when that guy came to work. So long as Indiana can keep that pace up, they, they had the advantage. But when the game slowed down, they in trouble.
Absolutely. By the way, I'm in Cabo, so for y'all that's like, yo, he's sweating, or he look crazy, the sun crazy. And I am sweating. I've been watching the games outside, having me a couple drinks.
You talk about it, you hot.
Yeah.
And outside, you need to be inside in the air conditioner, man.
No, no, I watch the game outside, man, at the bar. You gotta watch the game over here at the bar. Mo, you gotta come check it out, man. You go down here.
I'mma come out there now. I'mma come out there, get some dates and see what's going on.
I'm just telling you, come on down here, check it out, it's hot. But it's a good time, man. So I watched it at the bar, you know, so when I come in here sweating, I heard some of y'all saying crazy things last episode, like, yo, why is he sweating? So I'm telling y'all why I'm sweating. But I actually watched the game with PG. Me and PG was down there watching the game, and when it was 87 to 80, Or '89 to '86, one of those scores.
'89, '82.
And I said, either take the lead to 15 or it's going to zero.
Really? What you saw that made you feel like that?
Both teams was just hanging around. Like I had—
It was a punchin', yeah, they were gone.
Exactly, and so what I saw was Indiana really dominating them. They got them mentally, they got them physically. Dominating. But you look up, you up 7 at the end of the third. Now you should be up 13 at the end of the third, but let a couple plays here and there get away. You let the J-Dub get the joint at the end of the quarter, right? Like those things change a game at this level. Regular season, even first round of the playoffs, you can get away with those things. But this is the NBA Finals and those types of things change this. So right now y'all are really dominating this game, but you only up 7 points. And I think at that time, Shay got like 20 points, like 15, 20 points or something like that. You have to push that lead at that time. Obi Toppin's the one hitting the threes, right?
Yeah.
Like Obi Toppin's hitting the shots. It ain't even Pascal or Tyrese hitting the shot. So you got your other guys hitting the shots at that time. You gotta extend the lead at that time. And they didn't. And so for me, when you, if you leave the game, and while I'm watching that, and while I said that, if you lead a game within striking distance like that, then what it's gonna come down to at the end is who got the—
Let the game slow down.
You know what I'm saying? Who got the best score? And we obviously all know who got the best score in this series. And they allowed them to let it become their game. If you push it to 13, push it to 15, they can't slow the game down.
Exactly.
You gotta go, go, go.
And that's what it was.
And Draymond Green will tell you, I need to go because we ain't got that much time. We down 13, we down 15. It's the fourth quarter, I gotta go. We can't slow it.
You're absolutely right.
If we down 7 with 9 minutes to go, you like, yo, there's plenty of time left. One possession at a time.
Yes, sir. Let me get this thing at this elbow. Top of the key, space it out. Let me get to the line, get to this free throw line jumper. I'm finna cash this all day long. And the game slowed, man. The last 4 to 5 minutes, it just slowed down. They just running action, getting him into his ISO, getting him into his space. They stayed home, he went to work. That was the difference down the stretch.
Mm-hmm.
But Indiana, you think about the little stuff that they messed up on, the free throws, obviously. Them two bonehead ass fouls.
Yep.
Like those things, being in the finals, you understand every single possession matters.
Absolutely.
And I ain't just saying every single possession matters like some of 'em you ain't gotta worry about. I'm talking about every single possession, every single substitution, every single mistake that you make, how you make it, it means something. To the bottom line. And down the stretch, they made every mistake possible to get that game away.
1000%. I, I agree with that wholeheartedly. You look at— there's— so I thought for majority of the game and the majority of the series, to be honest, Rick Carlisle has outcoached Mark Dagnall. I think—
Without a doubt.
Outcoached him, no questions asked. Like when you look at, there were certain points in that game where J Dub come down, I think it was like 7 and a half minutes left and Chet, Chet leave the game limping. J Dub come down and, and this actually started with J Dub in the third quarter, 3 minutes to go in the third quarter, 3 and a half minutes to go in third quarter.
You talking about Draymond Green.
Take tough shots, right? Like.
Yeah.
Come to the free throw line.
Come on, behind the back, eh, then that one.
No, but at that point, they were, it was like a 10-point game and they couldn't get good shots at that point. And that was a time where you saw Mark Dagnall needed to take a, like, not take a timeout because it is what it is, but you need to call something.
You know what I'm saying? Yeah.
You don't have your best player on the floor, you need to call something. And they had like 3, 4 possessions in a row. And that's where Indiana needed to put the game away.
And they didn't capitalize.
They did not put the game away. So in turn, it ended up like being bad shot for bad shot, bad shot for bad shot, and the lead just kind of stayed where it was.
And Nimhard missed a big shot too.
Yes, he did.
Yes, he did. That was a huge shot. That was a huge shot.
Yep. He did. You know what, so I'm watching this, And it's inevitable what's about to happen.
