The Indiana Pacers did what they've done best all postseason, and came back with seconds left to defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder 111-110 in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. The Pacers were down for the entire game, but they made sure to make it interesting late in the fourth quarter to steal a game on the road.
For Tyrese Haliburton, he was quiet through the first three and a half quarters, but when the team needed the go-ahead basket, he delivered and helped them get the win. Chandler Parsons spoke about Haliburton's performance on the Run It Back show.
“I don't think anybody in Indiana woke up and was mad at Tyrese Haliburton (for) how he played for 3 and a half quarters,” Parsons said. “They took the ball out of his hands, they gave it to [Andrew] Nembhard. They were finding other ways to be successful offensively, and Nembhard had it going. He was kind of picking the defense apart.”
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With the Pacers down the entire game, many people were criticizing Haliburton for not picking up his game, and he only finished with 14 points. Nonetheless, he showed when it mattered the most, and now the Pacers are leading the series 1-0.
Pacers continue to make magic happen in postseason
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The Pacers were down by as much as 15 points in the second half, and in the first half, they committed 19 turnovers. That didn't stop them from continuing to fight, and it was a big part of why they were able to come back and win. After the game, Haliburton spoke about how the team never lost their belief during the game.
“When I got on the bus, when I put on my shoes,” Haliburton said. “There was never a disbelief as a group honestly. You have a half like that where you’re just throwing the ball to the other team… That was just chaos, ugly… As a group, we never think the game is over. Ever. Honestly speaking, ever. That never creeps in.”
Throughout the postseason, the Pacers have been down late in games and have come back to win. The one thing is that they never stop fighting, and once a few shots go down for them, that's all they need. That's what happened against the Thunder in Game 1, as players such as Myles Turner and Nembhard hit some big shots late to cut down their deficit.
That's when Haliburton came in at the end and hit the dagger.