Haliburton heroics continue, Pacers win 111-110 in Game 1 of NBA Finals

    Written by: William Petersen •

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    Picture Via NBA on ESPN X account

    Game 1 of the NBA Finals was nothing short of outstanding after the best team from the Western Conference, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the best team from the Eastern Conference, the Indiana Pacers, squared off in OKC Thursday night in pursuit of the Larry O’Brian Trophy. The OKC Thunder came into this Finals matchup as massive favorites due to their impressive 68-win regular season, boasting the best record in the NBA. The Pacers were no slouches in the East, winning 50 games for the first time since 2014. If you did not get to watch the game last night, just by the 111-110 score you would think Game 1 was a tightly contested, back-and-forth game. Even though the Pacers stole Game 1 on the road, the only time they led that entire game was after Tyrese Haliburton hit another game winner with 0.3 seconds left on the clock. OKC had nearly dominated Indiana the entire game, holding a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter that dwindled away with four minutes remaining. Andrew Nembhard hit a tough three during the Pacers 15-point run to add the mounting pressure on the Thunder, finishing with 14 points on only 4-of-11 shooting, and 2-for-6 from three. MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished with a game high 38 points but failed to miss an eight-foot jumper with 9 seconds left to give the Pacers and Haliburton one final shot to win the game.

    Haliburton delivered on the final shot, again, making the Pacers the only team in the NBA Finals to win a game after trailing by nine-plus points in the final three minutes of the game. Before Thursday night, teams were 0-182 in this statistical category dating back to 1971, they’re now 1-182 thanks to the Iowa State alum.

    If you only looked at the box score, you would notice that the Pacers committed 24 turnovers throughout that game, with a staggering 19 in the first half. Somehow the Pacers were able to overcome their sloppy play in the second half thanks to six Pacers scoring in double figures. Obi Toppin continued to be the best bench player in this year's Playoffs after dropping 17 points from 6-of-9 shooting, and a remarkable 5-for-8 from beyond the arc. Indiana’s run came from efficient shooting down the stretch, which found the Pacers finishing the game shooting 47.6% from the field and 46.2% from three. Although the Thunder led the entire game they finished 39.8% from the floor and 36.7% from three.

    Shai Gilegous-Alexander had a stellar Finals debut with 38 points but had trouble making tough shots in crunch time which found him finishing 14-for-30 from the field and 3-for-6 from three. Jalen Williams had a tough night making shots he normally would, finishing with 17 points on 6-of-19 shooting and only making one three off of four attempts. Chet Holmgren was found in a matchup nightmare with Myles Turner, who only played 24 minutes and finished with six points on 2-of-9 shooting. While the Thunder forced 24 turnovers, they only managed to score 11 points off those turnovers which is one of the glaring stats of this stunning Game 1 loss. The other glaring stat is that OKC only had four players score in double figures as well as their bench only scored 26 points while the Pacers bench scored 39.

    If OKC wants to tie this series on Sunday, they will need to get more production from Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren but also need more input from their deep bench. The other major factor will be hitting shots down the stretch to close out the game but also scoring more points off of turnovers to not put their tenacious defense to waste. Indiana has already done their job by nullifying home court advantage after stealing Game 1, but the Pacers will need more from Haliburton offensively, while hitting the game winner, only finishing with 14 points shooting 6-for-13 from the field and 2-for-7 from three. Look for OKC to respond in Game 2 due to Jalen Williams having a bounceback game and with this bounceback I expect the Thunder to handle the Pacers, but if we have seen anything from Indiana, it's that they know how to hang around. If you let the Pacers hang around you might find yourself on the wrong end of a last second shot, probably coming from the “most overrated player in the NBA”.

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