Thursday night’s matchup between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers delivered a double-overtime thriller, as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his squad pulled out a 141–135 road win.
A rematch of last season’s NBA Finals — despite both teams missing key players — picked up right where things left off in May 2025. Gilgeous-Alexander dropped a career-high 55 points, while Benedict Mathurin and Pascal Siakam combined for 68. Rookie guard Ajay Mitchell added 26 points off the bench in 38 minutes, continuing his strong start to the season.
But in classic Thunder fashion, the night wasn’t without controversy. With 22.5 seconds left in double overtime and the Pacers trailing 139–133, Obi Toppin stole the ball from an inbounding Chet Holmgren — only for officials to grant Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault a timeout before Holmgren could make the pass.
That single call immediately ignited NBA social media. Fans accused the Thunder of receiving favorable treatment from the officials, with one viral post reading:
“Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle went up to the refs and said, ‘That’s f***ing terrible!!’ No technical was given.”
Another fan, posting under the handle RoxFan247, broke down the moment frame by frame:
“In real time, the ref is calling that during the pass. This isn’t just a bad call — it’s disingenuous to say the timeout came before the steal. The ball was already mid-air before he could finish saying ‘time out,’ and you can’t call it if you don’t have possession.”
Adding to the frustration, one user joked that just 48 hours earlier, Oklahoma City wasn’t awarded free throws after referees missed Kevin Durant’s timeout call during their season opener against the Houston Rockets — suggesting the league “made up for it” with Thursday’s decision.
Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle was livid following the no-call, shouting at the officiating crew despite already having received a technical foul earlier in the game. When asked about the sequence postgame, Carlisle kept his comments brief:
“I’m not talking about the refs. If I talk about the refs, I’ll be fined an exorbitant amount of money.”
While it would’ve still been a four-point deficit for Indiana had they gained possession, the call could have changed the outcome of one of the season’s most intense early matchups.