After Game 1 stunner, Tyrese Haliburton understands Pacers stole win from Thunder

USA Today

15 hours ago

After Game 1 stunner, Tyrese Haliburton understands Pacers stole win from Thunder
They did it again. After their postgame interview, the Indiana Pacers raced off the court to their locker room. As if they were bank robbers hopping into the getaway vehicle with seconds to spare before being surrounded by police cars.
The Oklahoma City Thunder were left stunned. They suffered a 111-110 Game 1 loss to the Pacers. Indiana's lead only lasted 0.3 seconds, but the final score is what matters. For the first 47 minutes, it looked like the significant title favorite would do just enough to get a 1-0 series lead in the 2025 NBA Finals.
Nope. Not under Tyrese Haliburton's watch. He added to his legendary playoff run with another game-winner. After Shai Gilgeous-Alexander failed to bury the Pacers with a missed mid-range jumper, the Pacers raced to the other side in the final seconds.
Matched up against Cason Wallace, Haliburton buried the deep 2-pointer that gave the Pacers their first and only lead. After the final buzzer sounded, the OKC crowd filed out. You could feel the funeral vibes. Not only did the Thunder leave meat on the bone, they left a whole steak.
This is what the Pacers have done all playoffs. Improbable comebacks. Haliburton's heroics. They showed that just because they graduated from the Eastern Conference to one of the greatest teams ever, doesn't mean those late-game stunners would stop.
Minutes after they stole Game 1, Haliburton joked his shoes helped him complete the comeback. He only had 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. But he scored the two most important points of the game with his game-winner.
"All series that's what we have preached as a group is when we get down big, let's just find a way to incrementally get it down and we got it to 15 and we got it to eight pretty fast and that gave us confidence," Haliburton said. "We kept getting stops. Myles and Andrew made play after big play down the stretch."
The Thunder played with fire all game and were burned at the end. Throughout the first three quarters, the scoreboard never reflected the vibes. The Thunder dominated on the court. They created turnovers on every other possession, but their lead only hovered around 10 points.
After Shai Gilgeous-Alexander pushed OKC's lead to 108-99 with a little under three minutes left, it felt the Thunder did just enough to get a gross Game 1 win. Instead, the Pacers finished on a 12-2 run. Indiana's role players hit on big-time shots. Andrew Nembhard looked like prime Allen Iverson when he shook Gilgeous-Alexander off of him and nailed a step-back 3-pointer.
After being viewed as a heavy title favorite, the Thunder have work to do. They're in a 0-1 series hole and have lost homecourt advantage. They can recount their Denver Nuggets Round 2 series all they want, but the Pacers are a different threat. They're indestructible. Their best trait is their ability to stay within striking distance.
Even after his game-winner, Haliburton said they must play better. He quickly understood they stole Game 1. If you replayed the final three minutes, the Thunder likely would squeeze out a win in 99 out of 100 simulations. That doesn't make it sting any less for OKC, though. You don't win titles in hypotheticals.
"There's still a lot of work to be done. This is an exciting time. Again, another big comeback but there's a lot more work to do. That's just one game," Haliburton said. "And this is the best team in the NBA and like you said, they don't lose often. So we expect them to respond. We've got to be prepared for that. We got a couple days to watch film, see where we can get better."