1 day Ago
Nevertheless, Indiana arose from the mat at the last possible moment with a game full of punches and counterpunches.
Oklahoma City, which has NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, appeared to be in control for much of the game. (Michael Conroy/AP) Gilgeous-Alexander led his teammates to a 7-0 lead within the first six minutes and finished the first half with 57-45 lead. The Thunder built a 15-point lead early in the fourth, and the Pacers were in trouble.
Haliburton hits big shot
But Indiana, as it has so often this postseason, fought back. They whittled the margin to 110-109 with less than a minute remaining. Then, with a single second remaining on the clock, Tyrese Haliburton had the game winner, making the score 111-110, with them leading with one.
The Pacers held the lead for 0.3 seconds — from the time it took Haliburton’s shot to leave his hands, before the buzzer sounded.
Hitting the game winning shot in crabs also sounds like his late game heroics in game 1 against the New York Knicks in the east finals.
Haliburton’s was the latest game-winner in an opener of an N.B.A. Finals since Michael Jordan’s buzzer-beater in 1997. It was also Indiana’s fifth postseason comeback from being down by at least 15 points in 2024, an NBA record. Before that, comeback victories were achieved with late-game heroics against Milwaukee, Cleveland and New York.
Carlisle’s Move Pays Off With Dean Blevins The Tactical Move That Turned The Tide In this game of strategic chess, Rick Carlisle made the first significant move that helped his team get even.
Indiana’s coach Rick Carlisle, who also guided Dallas to its 2011 Finals comeback against Miami, was instrumental. Fifteen down in the fourth quarter, he called timeout and replaced all five players on the court. The sequence sparked a 15-4 run over a three-and-a-half-minute stretch that cut the Thunder’s lead to 4 and served as a springboard for the final rally.
And while Gilgeous-Alexander’s debut was a standout one — his 38 points are second only to the first NBA Finals appearances of Allen Iverson (48) and George Mikan (42) — the Thunder couldn’t sustain it.
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series will be Sunday night in Oklahoma City, with both teams at no loss for emotional motivation after the dramatic high and low of the opener.
Haliburton thought of the victory, and simply muttered, “Man, basketball’s fun.” And few could argue on a night like that.
