Tyrese Haliburton Does It Again As Pacers Take Game 1

The Oklahoma City Thunder crowd was into it. The Indiana Pacers were down. The Thunder’s defense all game long had been blanketing. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander all game long had been firing. Surely with a 15-point lead with 9:42 remaining, the Thunder would hold on. Right?

Wrong. 

The Pacers said patience. Tyrese Haliburton said hold up. 

After a furious comeback that got them within one, the Pacers tightened up on Gilgeous-Alexander on the final play as he shot over Andrew Nembhard to potentially put the Thunder ahead by three. He missed. The Pacers rebounded and did not call timeout. 

Haliburton, just as he did in Game 2 versus the Cleveland Cavaliers and in Game 1 against the New York Knicks, was ever cool in the clutch. He took his time and got to his spot on the right side, elevated against Cason Wallace and nailed a jump shot to give the Pacers the 111-110 lead. With 0.3 seconds remaining, a lob attempt from Alex Caruso was knocked away by Myles Turner. 

Just as they did in that Cavalier Game 2, Knick Game 1 and even in Game 5 in the first round against the Milwaukee Bucks when they went on an 8-0 run to close out the series, the Pacers won a game late with a furious flurry. This time, it was Paycom Center that they left stunned as they took a 1-0 in the 2025 NBA Finals.   

Rewind exactly 9 minutes and 41 and 7 tenths seconds. The Thunder’s Jalen Williams dunked the ball through the hoop on a fast break. The Pacers called timeout down 94-79, the crowd was in a frenzy. Williams was hyped. For the duration of the first three quarters, the Thunder had managed to quell any Pacer run by responding with scores to keep distance every time the road team got close. Game 1 looked to be locked in favor of the home team.

A 12-2 run was the response by the Pacers to OKC’s 15-point lead - Nembhard converting an and-1, Obi Toppin and Turner hitting two treys apiece. The last three by Turner was a bodacious bank off the glass from the corner off a sidestep. A Turner jump shot with 5:42 remaining cut the deficit to four, 100-96. That jumper have the center 15 points. 

Gilgeous-Alexander hit free-throws. Pascal Siakam hit free-throws. Gilgeous-Alexander was fouled by Nembhard and hit free-throws again. 36 points for the MVP.

Aaron Nesmith drilled a trifecta with 2:38 remaining. Deficit six, 108-102 Thunder. Nembhard drilled a stepback triple. 1:59 remaining, 108-105. Lu Dort then made one of the plays of the game with a clean, leaping block on Nesmith, textbook verticality. Nesmith drove and elevated, but Dort was there to meet him. Similarly earlier in the game, Bennedict Mathurin had stupendously stuffed Jalen Williams as Williams drove the middle of the lane for a dunk attempt. After Dort’s block, Gilgeous-Alexander laid the ball up. 110-105. Free-throws by Nembhard. 1:22 on the clock, deficit three at 110-107. Nembhard missed a jump shot, Siakam came up clutch with the rebound of the miss and put-back. 48.6 seconds. 110-109. The Pacer run was 10-2. 

With a one-point lead, Jalen Williams missed, and Siakam and Wallace hustled after the ball to the corner. Siakam reached and could not corral it as his momentum carried him out of bounds. A challenge by Rick Carlisle was unsuccessful. Thunder ball. 22.8 seconds. 14 seconds on the shot clock. 

Gilgeous-Alexander got the ball on the left wing. Three right-hand dribbles. Crossed over back to his left. Sized up Nembhard. Made his move with two hard dribbles. As SGA turned inside, Nembhard was right there in position. Gilgeous-Alexander stopped and rose. Nesmith leapt for the rebound. Siakam to Toppin. Toppin to Haliburton. 

Then the “NBA’s most overrated player” called game. Again. 

The result was shock. Jubilance for Indiana. Devastation for Indiana. The Thunder for the most part had controlled the game. 

Wallace started for Isiah Hartenstein. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 12 first quarter points. The Pacers had nine turnovers in the first quarter and 19 at halftime. The Thunder led 57-45 after the first 24 minutes. Their defense was all over the place, forcing turnovers. Hounding defense. Transition scores. Trey balls from Dort and Caruso. Haliburton finished the first half with just 6 points and 6 assists. Despite holding the Thunder to 37% from the field in the first half, the Pacers themselves were shooting just 41.7%. Dort was 3-for-5 from downtown for 9 points. Alex Caruso and Hartenstein had contributed 7 points each. 

The Pacers, down 67-55 with 7:01 remaining in the third, committed their 22nd turnover via Turner. They trailed 77-66 at the three minute mark of the third. An unlikely Thomas Bryant triple cut the deficit to nine, 82-73, with 56.9 seconds on the clock. At 16.2 seconds, Siakam connected on a long ball. 82-76. Gilgeous-Alexander calmly hit a three in the waning seconds of the third. 85-76 Thunder after three quarters. SGA had 28 points on 12-for-16. The Pacers outscored the Thunder 31-28 in the third. 

The Thunder got to their 15-point lead by virtue of a 9-3 run to begin the fourth. But the Pacers obviously were not finished. 

The Mighty from the Midwest, the Incredibles from Indiana. Whatever you want to term them, they do not give up. They play all the way through. Keep their composure. Play together. 

The Pacers shot 47.6% for the game, the Thunder 39.8%. The Pacers connected on 18-of-39 from deep, the Thunder 11-of-30. An advantage for the Thunder at the line as they shot 21-of-24 to the Pacers’ 15-of-21. The Pacers reeled in 56 rebounds - 12 from Nesmith, 10 from Siakam, 10 from Haliburton - while the Thunder managed just 39. No Thunder player finished with double-digit rebounds (Hartenstein’s nine was the high). 

The Pacers turned the ball over TWENTY-FOUR times. The Thunder just six. But the wonder of Haliburton struck again. His stardom continues to sprout. 14 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists on 6-for-13 (2-for-7 from deep) and zero free-throw attempts is a pedestrian line. When things get tight though, he is loose. 

Siakam finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds on 7-for-15 from the field. Nesmith finished with 10 points on 3-for-7 from deep, Turner 15 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks on 5-for-10, 2-for-5 from downtown. Nembhard 14 points and 6 assists on 4-for-11 shooting. Did not shoot that well, but played great defense. While T.J. McConnell was 4-for-6 for 9 points and Mathurin missed four of his five attempts, Toppin played a grand game - 17 points and 5 rebounds in 25 minutes, 6-for-9 from the field, 5-for-8 from deep. Clutch plays. 

Gilgeous-Alexander put forth 38 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals on 14-for-30 shooting, 3-for-6 from deep, 7-for-8 from the line. A game-high 40 minutes. Dort 5-for-9 from deep for 15 points. Jalen Williams 6-for-19 from the field for 17 points with 6 assists. 11 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks, 2 assists in 28 minutes from Caruso. Big minutes. Clutch minutes. Holmgren was just 2-for-9 for 6 points and 6 rebounds. 

Williams and Holmgren likely will not shoot that poorly again in this series. Indiana likely will not commit 24 turnovers again in a game in this series. 

But the -500 favorites had home court taken from them in shocking fashion in Game 1. Rocky Balboa was on the ropes, but he ducked a Drago jab and threw a punishing body blow the Russian with the powerful PSI punch wincing and retreating.

1-0 Pacers. A great series commencing. 

Game 2 is Sunday at 8:00 p.m.