Skip Bayless didn’t mince words when calling out the Oklahoma City Thunder’s disappointing performance in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. The longtime sports personality wrote that his hometown team was dominated across the board, claiming they were outhustled, outmuscled, and simply outplayed. He was expecting to embark on another raging tirade following Game 4, but once the fourth quarter began, the tides turned in the Thunder’s favor.
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Skip stated that he’s been covering the NBA since the 1970s, yet nothing has caught him more off-guard than OKC’s spirited comeback. After being dismantled in the final minutes of Game 3, Bayless clearly didn’t believe this young Thunder squad had a response in them once things weren’t going as planned.
Instead, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 15 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter, giving the Thunder the firepower they needed to stage a comeback. Jalen Williams also responded with his best performance of the series, dropping 27 points and 7 rebounds in an efficient effort. Through a team effort, OKC outscored Indiana by 14 in the final period, limiting the Pacers to just 17 points.
“There was no way, no way in heaven or hell, that I thought my hometown team, the Thunder, could survive down seven with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter in Caitlin Clark’s house with her in the front row. There’s just no way,” Bayless said adamantly on his show. “Not with Hali running the point. Not with the Pacers playing with brazen, fearless confidence.”
Despite OKC’s status as the clear favorite in this series, Bayless claimed that it looked like Indiana had their number. He credited Andrew Nembhard, who knows SGA’s game inside and out from their time together in Canada, for getting into the three-time All-Star’s head. Everything in the first 36 minutes was signaling that Indiana would leave the building with an insurmountable 3-1 lead.
“And [Friday], [the Thunder] were six-and-a-half point favorites … And after three quarters I’m saying how? Why? Because clearly, Indiana had proven through three quarters it was the better team,” Skip continued, acknowledging the staggering three-point discrepancy between the two squads. OKC became the first team all season to win a game with just three made three-pointers.
“They won 31-17 [in the fourth] because SGA finally snapped out of it, and said, ‘H*ll with you, Nembhard, my Canada teammate. I’m just gonna take this game over,” Bayless stated. “I gave up. I admit it. I said, ‘There is no way.’ And down the stretch, the Thunder go on a 12-1 closing run. 12-1 because SGA scored 11 of those 12 points.”
After the Thunder fell 2-1 in the series, many, including Bayless, began to question whether the newly crowned MVP was capable of piloting a championship run. The jury is still out, but rather than heading back to Oklahoma City in a win-or-go-home scenario, Shai’s Thunder will have a chance to take full control of the series in Game 5.
