Once again, many Indiana Pacers fans thought their team would lose on Thursday night.
And, once again, they were delighted with the final outcome.
The Pacers stole Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder, defeating them in a wild finish that will be talked about for a very long time.
It was quite the comeback, but it wasn’t the first one.
In fact, as pointed out by Keerthika Uthayakumar via Legion Hoops, the Pacers are now 5-3 when they are trailing by 15 or more points in the NBA playoffs.
That means if they are losing by a wide margin, they are more likely than not to win the game.
INSANE but true: the Pacers are 5-3 when trailing by 15 OR MORE points in these NBA Playoffs, h/t @keerthikau
Just bonkers. pic.twitter.com/kPWLdCFyEi
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) June 6, 2025
That is a positively ridiculous state that frankly isn’t seen that often.
This proves that the Pacers are never really the underdogs, no matter how bad the odds.
On Thursday, they were once again behind, and it appeared as if the Thunder were going to sail to an easy win.
Slowly but surely, they chipped away at the lead, and they stuck with it.
It’s this sort of resilience that makes them so hard to beat.
But it’s about more than that, too, because this is a deep team that has multiple players who can score from all over.
Of course, no one can do it better than Tyrese Haliburton.
He was the hero of the game on Thursday and left the Thunder stunned.
He wasn’t alone, and his final shot wouldn’t have made a difference if the rest of the team hadn’t contributed to the rally.
The Thunder were left speechless, and the Pacers were all smiles.
But they probably weren’t entirely surprised.
NEXT: Tyrese Haliburton Sends Strong Message About Pacers After Game 1