Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) shoots a three-pointer against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Cason Wallace (22) during the second half of Game 1 of the NBA Finals basketball series Thursday, June 5, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Tyrese Haliburton raced up the court, took a moment to survey the landscape in front of him, and calmly gave the Indiana Pacers their first lead of the NBA Finals opener with a last-second jumper over Oklahoma City Thunder guard Cason Wallace.
The Pacers, who have pulled off dramatic comebacks in all four rounds of their playoff run, erased a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit to steal a 111-110 victory over the Thunder in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday.
Haliburton’s shot, which provided a stunning end to an unusually sloppy night for the Pacers, silenced an Oklahoma City crowd that had expected to see a wire-to-wire victory. Pacers center Myles Turner deflected a lob pass on the Thunder’s final possession to seal the improbable win. Haliburton finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, while Pacers forward Pascal Siakam posted a team-high 19 points, including a clutch basket in the final minute, and 10 rebounds.
For much of the night, the Pacers looked like they might be the latest victims of the Paycom Center slaughterhouse: Oklahoma City entered Game 1 with an 8-1 home record and a whopping average winning margin of 24.6 points. The Pacers approached the challenging environment with eyes wide open and their typical unwavering confidence.
“We know we’re a pretty heavy underdog,” Pacers Coach Rick Carlisle said. “You’ve got to love a challenge like that.”
The Thunder started fast despite its seven-day break before the Finals, taking an early 7-0 lead and stretching its advantage to double digits before the end of the first quarter. Shortly before tip-off, the Thunder whipped its crowd into a frenzy by raising its Western Conference championship banner to the rafters alongside matching fabric from 2012.
That wasn’t Oklahoma City’s only ploy to get off on the right foot. Thunder Coach Mark Daigneault inserted defensive-mind guard Wallace into his starting lineup in place of center Isaiah Hartenstein, a shift aimed at making life as difficult as possible for Haliburton and the Pacers backcourt. The smaller look helped Oklahoma City match up more cleanly with Indiana’s spacing-oriented offense and helped the Thunder build a 57-45 halftime lead.
The Pacers, who had the third-lowest turnover rate during the regular season, had significant trouble adjusting to the Thunder’s nonstop defense. Indiana had just nine turnovers and eight baskets in the first quarter, and Haliburton struggled to generate open looks against a rotating cast of defenders that included Lu Dort, Wallace and Jalen Williams. By halftime, the Pacers had already committed 19 giveaways, one shy of their highest total during this postseason run.
Despite their early misadventures, the Pacers recovered to stun the Thunder thanks to an impressive display of outside shooting. Obi Toppin came off the bench to hit five three-pointers, and Turner banked in a three-pointer to cut Oklahoma City’s lead to four points with six minutes remaining.
Indiana pulled even closer when Andrew Nembhard hit another three-pointer to cut the Thunder’s lead to three points in the final two minutes. The Pacers then finished the game on a 6-0 run to complete their latest miracle.
Earlier this postseason, the Pacers erased a seven-point deficit in overtime to eliminate the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 5 of a first-round series. In a Game 2 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round series, Indiana pulled off another 8-0 closing run. Then, the Pacers rallied from 14 points down in the final three minutes of a Game 1 victory over the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference finals.
Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander attacked the heart of the Pacers’ defense to finish with a game-high 38 points, but he missed a jumper with 11 seconds left that would have given Oklahoma City a three-point cushion. Williams tallied 17 points on 19 shots during a cold-shooting night, while Dort added 15 points on five three-pointers for the Thunder.
Indiana’s second-half resolve provided a thrilling start to this small-market showdown, which features two teams that pride themselves on playing fast and going deep into their bench. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver hailed the matchup as an example of his league’s attempt to create “parity of opportunity” for its teams.
“[Former NBA Commissioner] David Stern used to joke that his job was to go back and forth between Boston and Los Angeles to hand out championship trophies,” Silver said during a pregame address. “We set out to create a system that allowed for more competition in the league, with the goal being to have 30 teams in position, if well managed, to compete for championships. That’s what we’re seeing here. The goal is that market size essentially becomes irrelevant.”