OKLAHOMA CITY — Shocked Thunder players had to be thinking, “How did this happen?”
Shocked Pacer players might have been thinking, “We just committed more turnovers than we committed in 87 previous games this season, and we found a way to win in the home gym of the team considered the NBA’s best.”
Undoubtedly, Pacer players also must have been thinking that if they clean up their ball-security issues, they can beat Oklahoma City three more times in this best-of-seven NBA Finals series.
Heavily favored to prevail in the series and favored in Game 1 by 9½ points, the Thunder had a 15-point, fourth-quarter cushion and led by nine points with less than three minutes remaining.
OKC never trailed until three-tenths of one second remained, when Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton swished a 21-foot shot that gave the Pacers a 111-110 victory.
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You have to tip your hat to the poise of a Pacer team for its consistently clutch responses to problems.
In five games during this postseason, Indiana had a deficit of at least 15 points.
NBA Finals Pacers Thunder Basketball
As Tyrese Haliburton converted on the game-winning shot with three-tenths of a second remaining, the Indiana Pacers prevailed 111-110 at Oklahoma City in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Julio Cortez, Associated Press
In all five of those games, Indiana emerged as the winner.
During the regular season, the Pacers averaged 13 turnovers per game. On Thursday, they committed 25 turnovers. In only one previous contest this season — a March win over Brooklyn — did the Pacers commit as many as 25 turnovers.
While the OKC defense had 14 steals (compared to Indiana’s onel), the Pacers were much better on the boards. As OKC coach Mark Daigneault had small lineups on the floor, Indiana wound up with a 56-39 rebound edge.
In Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals against the New York Knicks, Haliburton converted on a fantastic last-second heave that resulted in an overtime period and ultimately in an Indiana victory.
The momentum from that game carried the Pacers to the NBA Finals, and now — because the Thunder was so oddly lethargic offensively and got slaughtered on rebounds — Indiana has stolen homecourt advantage in the series.
Game 2 is scheduled for 7 p.m. Sunday at the Paycom Center. Obviously, it’s a must-win exercise for a Thunder team that absolutely blew what should have been a 20-point win in Game 1.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 38 points on Thursday, but the Most Valuable Player’s supporting cast picked a bad night to have a bad night.
Jalen Williams: 17 points on 19 shot attempts.
Chet Holmgren: six points on 2-of-9 shooting.
Lu Dort converted on five 3-point shots. His teammates finished with a combined total of six threes.
Oklahoma City shot 40% from the field overall and 11-of-30 on threes. During the first half, there were seven missed layups.
For most of the game, the Thunder played championship-level defense.
Except for a few minutes during the third period, OKC was not at a championship level at the offensive end of the court.
The Denver-OKC second-round series Game 1 was “eerily similar” to Thursday’s game, Thunder guard Alex Caruso said. In the Denver Game 1 on May 5, the Nuggets hadn’t led since the final minute of the first quarter before Aaron Gordon was good on a game-winning 3-pointer with 2.8 seconds left.
That series eventually was stretched to a seventh game.
NBA Finals Pacers Thunder Basketball
Indiana players celebrate their NBA Finals Game 1 victory over the OKC Thunder on Thursday night at the Paycom Center. Nate Billings, Associated Press
Before the start of the Finals, the most common guesses were whether OKC would prevail in four games, in five games or in six. The Game 1 outcome suggests that we might be in for seven games of drama.
With regard to noise and energy, the Paycom Center was remarkable on Thursday. The Thunder squandered that asset, also.
“Best crowd we’ve seen on the road (during) the playoffs,” said Haliburton. “They love basketball here.”
That was quite a statement by Haliburton, considering that he just played four times in New York’s Madison Square Garden.
Before Haliburton’s game-winner, he had a quiet 12 points and only 12 shot attempts. But because his final shot doomed OKC to defeat, it was Haliburton who got postgame SportsCenter face time with Scott Van Pelt on the Paycom Center court.
And while Haliburton starred on SportsCenter, his Thunder counterparts were trying to process how and why they shot so poorly on their home baskets.
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