Oklahoma City Not Fazed By Game 1 Loss To Indiana In NBA Finals

Forbes

a day ago

Oklahoma CIty has been here before — Jalen Williams reacts after the Thunder eliminate Denver in the ... More Western Semifinals despite a Game 1 home loss. (Photo by)
Oklahoma City may have been stunned in its a last-second 111-110 home loss to Indiana in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday, but the Thunder do not appear outwardly concerned.
Recent history supports their confidence.
'We have been here before,' Thunder forward Jalen Williams said.
The Thunder — the NBA's best team in the regular season at 68-14 — were in this exact position in the Western Conference semifinals against Denver a month ago before extending the run toward what could be the first title in franchise history.
The Nuggets won Game 1 of that series 121-119 in Oklahoma City on Aaron Gordon's late 3-pointer from the left wing, but the Thunder overcame that loss to win the series in seven games. They finished off the Nuggets with a decisive 125-93 victory in Game 7.
They are using that as a guide.
'We've lost Game 1 before,' said newly crowned NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 38 points and three steals against the Pacers. 'On the other side of that, we came out a better team. That's our goal.'
The Thunder beat Minnesota in five games in the Western Finals — their only loss a 42-point blowout in Minneapolis in Game 3— after beating Denver.
Oklahoma City held a 15-point lead with less then 10 minutes remaining against Indiana on Thursday before the Pacers recovered to win on Tyrese Haliburton's 21-footer from the right wing with three-tenths of a second left.
Haliburton's shot left gave the Pacers their first lead of the game and capped the biggest fourth quarter rally in a playoff game since the Dallas Mavericks overcame a similar deficit to beat the Miami Heat in Game 2 of the 2011 Finals in Miami.
The Mavericks won the 2011 Finals in six games without the home court advantage, but the Thunder do not consider that an omen as they prepare for Game 2 at home against the Pacers on Sunday night.
'The playoffs take you to the limit,' Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault told the media. 'They put your back against the wall -- in games, in series. If you make it this far, you have to endure to do that. It gives you rich experiences that you can draw on.
'The biggest experience we've had is understanding that every game's a new game. The most important game in the series is always the next one, regardless of the outcome. We would've liked to win tonight, but tonight was a starting point, not an end point."
Daigneault had the same message after the loss to Denver in Game 1 of the Western semis. Oklahoma City led the Nuggets by 13 points in the fourth quarter before Gordon's late three with 2.8 seconds remaining made the difference.
The Game 1 losses were similar in other respects. The Thunder shot 39.8 percent from the field against Indiana, their third-lowest percentage in the playoffs, and were out-rebounded 56-39. They shot 42 percent from the field and were out-rebounded 63-43 in the Game 1 loss to Denver.
Those types of numbers have proven to be outliers during the Thunder's 12-5 playoff run, and the Thunder will need that to continue against the athletic, make-the-right-pass Pacers.
The Thunder are not a particularly strong rebounding team — they were 17th in the regular season with a plus-minus of 0.0, They compensate with a defense that forces opponents into excessive turnovers and poor shots. They averaged a league-low 11.0 turnovers per game and were plus-5.2 in that category.
Indiana made 46.2 percent of its threes in Game 1, making 18 of 39, another playoff outlier against a perimeter defense that has given up 33.8 percent from distance. If that continues, the Thunder could find themselves in a fight.
Oklahoma City has lost five playoff games in their run to the 2025 Finals with the second-youngest roster in the league, and they are 4-0 after the previous four defeats, including a pair of road wins.
They swamped the Nuggets 149-106 at home in Game 2 of the Western semifinals before their big blowout win in Game 7. They won on the road in Denver and Minnesota in the Western Conference finals, and must do so again if they are to win their first league championship.
"The series isn't first to one. It's first to four," Gilgeous-Alexander said. 'We have four more games to get. They have three. That's just where we are. It's that simple. It's not rocket science. We lost Game 1. We have to be better.'
In these playoffs, they have been.