The Indiana Pacers pulled off yet another unbelievable fourth quarter comeback in Game 1 of the 2025 NBA Finals. Indiana trailed the Oklahoma City Thunder by 15 in the fourth quarter, but continued to rally back in the final minutes, leading to Tyrese Haliburton's game-winning basket to steal a 1-0 lead in the series.
The Pacers have now executed a comeback victory against the odds in each of their series this postseason, and their seemingly miraculous wins are no coincidence. Indiana has intentionally utilizes a fast-paced style of play that tires out their opponents while also making them play the Pacers' preferred style of ball.
"In the fourth quarter, when you get picked up full court or you get worn down a bit, the shots are a lot harder to hit. Those threes that you’ve been hitting all game are a little bit different in the last three minutes when you’re a little more tired," Myles Turner said, via Eric Nehm and Shakeia Taylor ofThe Athletic. “Each game in the series is going to look different. A playoff series is a series of seven chapters, you know, and each one takes on a different personality.”
“We wear it on them for 48 minutes at the end of it,” Haliburton said during Indiana’s series against the Cavaliers, via Nehm and Taylor. “They came out, pressed us full court and they played more our style, and by the end of the game, they were tired and I feel like that’s part of the wear-down effect of 48 minutes."
Along with the Pacers' conditioning and fast play for 48 minutes, the team is deep, allowing them to rest their starters so that they are more fresh for those crucial final minutes of the game.
“I think that our roster is just constructed for everybody to play the same way," Haliburton said. "We don’t change the way we play when a guy is out. We play the same exact way. We got two fives who can space the floor, make shots, and then everybody likes to run. We got a lot of guys who play well in transition, so I think kudos to our front office and our coaching staff for the roster construction in the first place.”
The Pacers' strategy has succeeded thus far, bringing them to the NBA Finals and a win in Game 1 over the favored Thunder. If they can continue to outlast the Thunder in the fourth quarter this series, the Pacers will win their first championship in franchise history.
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