Tyrese Haliburton could not hide his frustration as he urged the Indiana Pacers to respond following their Game 4 defeat to the Oklahoma City Thunder that left the NBA Finals level.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 15 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter, and the Thunder rallied from a 10-point deficit in the second half to beat the Pacers 111-104 on Friday.

Game 5 of the series is at Oklahoma City on Monday, with the Thunder now having reclaimed home-court advantage.

Haliburton acknowledged his team have to fight back after being outscored 31-17 in the fourth quarter of Game 4 to level the series at two apiece.

"As a team, you have to be ready to respond," Haliburton said. "You've just got to be able to respond when your back is against the wall, and that's where we are right now.

"That's a frustrating loss, but as a group, I still have a lot of confidence in ourselves. We've got to be ready to go and fight for 48 minutes.

"It's going to be a challenge, but this group has been resilient all year. I wouldn't want to go to war with any other group."

GAME 4 FINAL SCORE

SGA drops 15 points in the 4th to lead the @okcthunder back and tie the series 2-2!

Jalen Williams: 27 PTS, 7 REB
Alex Caruso: 20 PTS, 7-9 FGM, 5 STL
Chet Holmgren: 14 PTS, 15 REB

Game 5: Monday, 8:30pm/et, ABC pic.twitter.com/3tyJuOQwe1

— NBA (@NBA) June 14, 2025

Pacers head coach Carlisle has repeatedly emphasised to his team that the Finals would be a seven-game series played over 18 days.

That could well be the case now, as, in theory, a best-of-three series awaits to crown the champions.

"It's long. It's arduous. But it's the greatest opportunity going," Carlisle said. "It's really hard, and it's supposed to be hard.

"This is where we're going to have to dig in and circle the wagons and come back stronger on Monday. This is a big disappointment, but there are three games left.

"This series is going to come down to the basics. This kind of challenge is going to have extreme highs and extreme lows. This is a low right now, and we're going to have to bounce back from it."

"More Haliburton heroics."

Tyrese Haliburton with the tough finish late in Q4. pic.twitter.com/Gj3BncUsey

— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) June 14, 2025

The Pacers led by as many as 10 points late in the third quarter, their first double-digit lead of the Finals, and entered the fourth quarter with a lead for the first time all series.

Gilgeous-Alexander was held without an assist but scored his 35 on 12-of-24 shooting and made all 10 of his free throws.

"We just did our job of being pests, playing hard, trying to mix different guys and just make it as tough as possible on him," Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard said. "He's the MVP."

Regardless of the defeat, Haliburton is already looking forward to contesting at the Thunder's home court.

"We've got to be ready to go Game 5, going into a hostile environment," Haliburton said. "We have to be ready to play. For us to win, we're going to have to win one down there.

"We've got a couple of days to sit on this, watch the film and see where we can get better. I'm excited about the challenge."