For the first 47 minutes, 40 seconds of Game 1 of the NBA Finals, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander thoroughly outplayed Tyrese Haliburton in a matchup of star point guards.
But as Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said after Indiana’s remarkable comeback to beat the New York Knicks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals: It’s a 48-minute game. And, in those final 20 seconds Thursday night, Haliburton and the Pacers changed the narrative … again.
First, it was Gilgeous-Alexander — who had 38 points but was 14-for-30 shooting — missing a clean midrange jumper, his specialty, that would’ve given the Thunder a three-point lead with 10 seconds left. And then, it was Haliburton again playing the role of road spoiler, hitting a circus shot that might not have been quite as spectacular as his high-bouncing miracle at Madison Square Garden on May 21. But, unlike that shot, this shot won the game for the Pacers in regulation.
As a result, Indiana — which never led until Haliburton’s shot from just inside the 3-point arc dropped through with 0.3 seconds left — somehow left the Paycom Center with a 111-110 victory over the heavily favored Thunder, and injected a massive amount of life into this series.
For much of Game 1, the Thunder were dictating the terms of engagement. They forced Indiana — typically great at taking care of the ball — into a team that was flinging the ball all over the place for 24 turnovers, compared to only six for Oklahoma City.
The Thunder took 16 more shots than the Pacers, but the Pacers hit 18 3-pointers — including 6-for-10 in the fourth quarter — and the Thunder, as they are prone to do, missed a whole bunch of them (11-for-30). That allowed Indiana — a team that has pulled off one remarkable comeback after another in these playoffs — to find itself in prime position again.
And, as he has so many times in these playoffs, Haliburton delivered.
There are still plenty of reasons to think Oklahoma City is the deserved favorite in this series. But the second half of Thursday’s game revealed a blueprint: The Pacers took far better care of the ball, and their high-octane offense took off. Oklahoma City, meanwhile, got into a rut offensively, and Gilgeous-Alexander had a couple of critical misses in the closing moments.
Because of it, as they did in both the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Eastern Conference finals in New York, the Pacers have claimed a Game 1 road victory.
And, as a result, we have ourselves a series. — Tim Bontemps
The Thunder need 48 minutes of their NBA-best defense, not 24
The first half displayed the Thunder’s defensive fury at its finest, forcing 19 turnovers while holding the Pacers to 45 points. But it didn’t hold up in the second half.
Maybe it just took the Pacers a couple of quarters to adjust to the Thunder’s defensive pressure, but Indiana looked comfortable after halftime, putting up 66 points in the second half — 35 in the fourth quarter, punctuated by Haliburton’s winning shot — to pull off the upset.
Indiana also had only six turnovers in the second half, playing their style of fast-paced, under-control offense. — Tim MacMahon
A new guide to another ridiculous Pacers comeback: cut the turnovers
If this postseason has taught us anything, it’s that the Pacers can never be counted out. After trailing by 15 points in the fourth quarter, Indiana stormed back to take Game 1 on yet another winning shot by Haliburton with 0.3 seconds remaining, the only lead the Pacers had.
It has become a series staple for the Pacers during this postseason run: a fourth-quarter comeback that has demoralized each of their previous three opponents.
Indiana’s comeback this time was fueled by its usual suspects, some clutch 3-point shots from Myles Turner, Obi Toppin and Aaron Nesmith, and taking better care of the ball after record-setting turnovers in the first half.
And then, of course, Haliburton hit another big shot to seal the deal. — Jamal Collier
What to watch for in Game 2
Game 2: Pacers at Thunder (Sunday, 8 p.m. ET, ABC)
Can Indiana do it again? This is the third consecutive series in which the Pacers have taken Game 1 on the road, and each of the past two times, they also won Game 2 to take a commanding 2-0 lead.
In general, teams that lose Game 1 at home are heavy favorites to even the series. Since 2021, higher seeds in that situation have gone 21-7 in Game 2 with a plus-12.1 point differential.
In these playoffs, teams that have lost Game 1 at home have outscored opponents by an average of 12 points in Game 2. There have been more than enough blowout wins (including Oklahoma City beating the Denver Nuggets by 43 in Game 2 this season) to outweigh only three Game 2s that have gone to road teams — Indiana twice and the Knicks over the Boston Celtics in the second round.
In part, it’s an inevitable product of human nature for the road team to have a letdown in Game 2. Those teams have already accomplished their goal by assuring a split of the first two games, giving them home-court advantage in the series.
Credit the Pacers for not being satisfied and taking leads that proved insurmountable. Doing so against a Thunder team that has lost consecutive games only twice all season will be the toughest test yet . — Kevin Pelton
