OKLAHOMA CITY — Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton’s game-winning shot topped a critical 12-3 run against head coach Mark Daigneault and the Oklahoma City Thunder. With 0.3 seconds left, Haliburton sealed a 111-110 victory in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Before Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander revealed a lesson he learned from the Thunder’s fourth-quarter collapse, Daigneault looks at Thursday’s loss as a teachable moment.
Trailing the Pacers 1-0 on the NBA’s brightest stage, it’s on to the next one for Daigneault and the Thunder, as he looks to put the loss behind him and focus on Game 2.
“The biggest experience we’ve had is understanding that every game is a new game,” Daigneault said. “The most important game in the series is always the next one, regardless of the outcome. We would have liked to win tonight, but tonight was a starting point, not an end point.”
After coercing the Pacers to commit 24 turnovers, Indiana responded with an array of threes, including a pair from Obi Toppin, Myles Turner, and Aaron Nesmith in the final frame. Indiana erased a 15-point deficit. Haliburton’s go-ahead three gave the Pacers their first lead of the night.
Siakam’s 19 points led six Pacers in double figures, including Toppin connecting on 5-of-8 from behind the three-point arc to finish with 17 points, and Haliburton’s double-double (14 points, 10 rebounds).
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander reveals lesson after Thunder lose Game 1
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Pacers forward Pascal Siakam (43) blocks the shot of Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) during the fourth quarter in game one of the 2025 NBA Finals at Paycom Center
Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
After Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault shared his take on the one-point loss in their series opener, All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander addressed his team’s shortcomings in Game 1, reminding reporters how thin the margin of error is in the NBA Finals. Closing out a win in the postseason is crucial, a lesson the Pacers taught to Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder, per ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.
“It is a 48-minute game,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “[The Pacers] teach you that lesson more than anybody else in the league the hard way.”
The Thunder will host the Pacers in Game 2 on Sunday.
a]:text-link [&_>a]:underline">Josue Pavon is an Associate Editor and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat writer for ClutchPoints. Josue got his start as a credentialed media member writing about the Boston Celtics for WEEI.com. He grew into a local on-camera NBA reporter and podcast host for CLNS Media, where he is the co-host of the Cedric Maxwell podcast.