The OKC Thunder pulled off a hard-fought 120-114 win over the Indiana Pacers on the road in the Gainbridge Field House, but this close contest had a major referee blooper to start the all-important fourth quarter.
OKC had to inbound the ball for the fourth quarter but the referees had them start the quarter from the wrong side of the court, which led to confused reactions from everyone when ball-handler Ajay Mitchell ran to his rim and laid the ball up as the referees called off the play.
Refs gave Thunder the ball on the wrong side of the floor to start 4Q 😅 pic.twitter.com/LKDOjMpVK1
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 27, 2024
The clock was reset and the quarter was started correctly, but this was a hilarious goof-up which even the coaches and players looked stunned by. Naturally, Mitchell’s layup didn’t count and the teams had to start the fourth quarter again, where the rookie still scored the first basket of the period with a layup.
The Pacers were in control of this game for most of the night but couldn’t stop the Thunder when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander dropped a career-high 45 points (15-22 FG) with seven rebounds and eight assists. He carried them offensively, as the only other player to score 20 points was Jalen Williams (8-22 FG) with four rebounds and five assists. No Thunder player off the bench scored in double-digits either.
Indiana was led by Andrew Nembhard‘s 23 points (9-17 FG), nine rebounds, and seven assists while Pascal Siakam had 22 points (7-14 FG) and 10 rebounds. Tyrese Haliburton had another shocking scoring night with just four points (2-6 FG) on a night they needed just a little more from their franchise point guard.
The Pacers led by one point heading into the fourth quarter, and the referee’s mistake thankfully didn’t cost them anything. However, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander put up an MVP-caliber performance by scoring 16 points in the final quarter alone, as compared to the Pacers’ superstar point guard scoring just four points for the entire game.
It’s hard to overcome individual performances of such magnitude, especially when it’s happening in the fourth quarter. The Pacers will feel like this was a lost opportunity considering how good they’ve looked recently, including tonight until the final quarter.
OKC continues running away with the West, improving their record to 24-5 with this win despite still missing Chet Holmgren from their roster. The Pacers were on a five-game win streak heading into this matchup which has now ended, bringing their record back under .500 to 15-16.
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