Mark Daigneault praised the players’ defensive efforts after OKC Thunder’s Game 4 defeated the Indiana Pacers.
In a must-see game, the Indiana Pacers were in a comfortable position, but the OKC Thunder played an impressive fourth quarter to get a 111-104 victory on the road.
Shy Gilgaus Alexander picked up from where he left off in Game 3 as he added 35 points to the Thunder and Jalen Williams scored 27 points in the evening.
Alex Caruso, recently revealed by Rick Carlisle, may have been his player as part of the Dallas Mavericks, but he dropped 20 points off the bench.
After the third quarter, the Thunder needed a strong performance to turn things around and win the game, as the Pacers lead 87-80.
Mark Deenoo praised Gilgauss Alexander for his clutch ability as he scored 15 points in the fourth quarter.
The Pacers only scored 17 points in the fourth quarter, which was due to the Thunder’s resilient defense.
Lu Dort showed why he is one of the best defenders in the NBA and has a great outing against the Pacers.
Had a great game 3, Halliburton struggled to get into Game 4 as he only scored 18 points and turned the ball over five times.
He only had one assist throughout the fourth quarter, making things difficult for Pacers.
“Lu (Dort), in particular, defensively set an incredible tone in the fourth quarter,” said Daigneault, who is speaking about Dort. “It was contagious to his energy and he was just above it. It was very impressive. We got great performances from a lot of people, but he really rocked the game with his approach.”
It’s very important that the Thunder include him, as the Pacers’ record when Halliburton scores over 20 points and assists over 10 is phenomenal.
Dort has done it well in the series so far. He forced Haliburton to turn him into much more than he normally would.
Pacers Guard has already given up on 17 turnovers. That means he averages 4.2 spins per game in this series.
Halliburton averaged 2.4 spins in the playoffs and only 1.6 turnovers in the regular season.
Dort is not directly responsible for all of these sales, but has played an important role in limiting Haliburton.