Charles Barkley Calls out Indiana Pacers for ‘Giving Away’ Game 4 to OKC Thunder

NBA analyst Charles Barkley blasted the Pacers on Live TV for their absmyal 4th quarter performance against the Thunder in Game 4.

Charles Barkley Calls out Indiana Pacers for ‘Giving Away’ Game 4 to OKC Thunder

Charles Barkley (Image by FirstSportz)

Game 4 of the NBA Finals between the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder saw the former in cruise control throughout the first 3 quarters of the game. It was only up until the 4th quarter where things went haywire for the Pacers. The Pacers’ offense went cold and slow, and the Oklahoma City Thunder closed the game like the best team in the NBA.

The Thunder went on a 12-1 run to win 111-104 and return home with a split in Indianapolis and homecourt advantage. With a fumble like this, the Pacers were surely calling for immense criticism along their way, and so did they receive it. Notably, Charles Barkley did not hold back in his postgame commentary on NBA TV:

I thought you saw the difference between All-Stars guys and really good players and superstars. Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander) brought this thing home. Like, ‘Yo big fella, bring this home.’ And I have no idea what the Pacers were doing on the offensive end… It was so frustrating. Grant, we can say all we want to about Oklahoma City — the Pacers blew this game.

After struggling all game, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ignited a fourth-quarter comeback. Despite having a difficult game for the majority of it, SGA showed everybody why he was chosen as the 2025 NBA MVP in the fourth quarter. Gilgeous-Alexander finished the game with three rebounds, three steals, and a game-high 35 points.

He made all three of his free throw attempts and scored 12 of 24 points from the field. Of his 35 points, 15 came in the fourth quarter. On the other hand, the Pacers were awful during the 4th quarter, as if they had slept off. Not only did they allow the Thunder to dominate them completely, but they also did not provide anything offensively.

The Pacers scored just 3 points in the last 3 minutes of the 4th quarter, shocking, especially in a game where they could have had a much-needed advantage over the Thunder. Now, the pendulum slightly swings towards the Thunder with the upcoming Game 5 taking place in Oklahoma. It remains to be seen how this series unfolds going forward.

Ahead of Game 3, Charles Barkley sounded off on the Knicks’ decision to sack Tom Thibodeau

After the sacking of Tom Thibodeau, the Knicks spoke with several head coach applicants for the coaching position, but none showed interest. According to Shams Charania of ESPN, the team’s request to talk with four different coaches was flatly rejected. Before Game 3 of the NBA Finals, Charles Barkley talked about the Knicks’ saga and referred to them as the most foolish people in the world.

Charles Barkley 1
Charles Barkley (Credits: X)

The Knicks gonna be the stupidest damn people in the world. You don’t fire no good coach like that and don’t have a plan. Tim’s done a hell of a job, obviously something’s going on there, but you don’t have a plan? And now the three coaches turn you down, you gotta have a plan. I don’t know what the hell they’re gonna do.

Charles Barkley said

Tim Thibodeau led the Knicks to a 51-31 record this season and led the franchise to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2000; thus, the decision to remove him was unexpected. Now, with a replacement getting tougher to find as each day passes by, the Knicks’ management have a huge task ahead of them before they move to sign and trade players during the offseason.

Charles Barkley dropped the hammer on the Pacers-Thunder NBA Finals series

The Indiana Pacers had an 87-80 lead going into the last 12 minutes, but the OKC Thunder overcame the deficit to defeat Indiana 31-17 in the 4th, winning the game by 111-104. After witnessing this performance, Charles Barkley did not mince his words. Instead, he dropped the hammer on the NBA Finals series with 2(maybe 3) games remaining.

I think this series is a wrap.

Charles Barkley said

While Barkley calls this series a wrap, one should know the uncertainty about this particular series. The Pacers were never tipped to come this far in the first place, but they did. So ruling them out does not make sense, especially at this juncture of the series. Game 5 will surely be a spectacle for the casual NBA fans around the world.

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