Story & Photos
By Michael Kinney
For the Oklahoma City fans who stormed out of the Paycom Center with stunned or angry looks on their faces, it must have felt like deja vu. For the second time this postseason, they watched their home team give up a big lead in Game 1 and lose on a walk-off (almost) shot in the final seconds.
While Oklahoma City was able to come back and beat Denver in a seven-game series, they will have to prove they can do it again against Indiana on a much bigger stage.
After leading by 12 points at halftime, the Thunder fell 111-110 to the Pacers Thursday night in the opener of the NBA Championship series.
“The Playoffs take you to the limit. They put your back against the wall, in games, in series,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “If you make it this far, you have to endure to do that. It gives you rich experiences that you can draw on. We would have liked to win tonight, but tonight was a starting point, not an end point. There are a lot of things we can improve on. There’s a lot of things I’m sure Indiana thinks they can improve on. Now the series starts to evolve.”
The Thunder had the ball with 22 seconds left in the game and were leading by one point. They put the rock into the hands of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to let the MVP close out the night.
However, Gilgeous-Alexander’s shot in traffic was off the mark, and the Pacers grabbed the rebound.
After getting the ball to Tyreese Haliburton, they let him go to work with Oklahoma City’s Caeden Wallace guarding him. Haliburton crossed to the right side of the court, jabbed stepped to his, which gave him some breathing room against Wallace’s tight defense.
Haliburton then rose up from just inside the 3-point line and drilled a jumper as Wallace was flying at him and just 0.3 seconds on the clock.
Haliburton and the Pacers celebrated, but he refrained from unleashing the choke signal, like he did against New York.
“I had a couple dumb fouls late in the fourth sending them to the free throw line. We just showed our chest. We’re solid. Had to get a big rebound,” Haliburton said. “I’m obviously confident in my ability and feel like if I can get to that spot, I feel very comfortable in there. It’s a shot I’ve worked on a million times and I’ll work on it a million times more. Just have confidence in that shot.”
Oklahoma City was unable to do anything in the final 0.3 and walked off the court, trying to figure out what exactly happened.
“I thought I got a pretty good look, felt good; didn’t go in,” Gilgeous-Alexander said of his missed shot. “Then they got a look, and it went in. I don’t know. Basketball ups and downs. It is what it is. Can’t do anything about it now. Just got to be better for next game.”
Gilgeous-Alexander led all scorers with 38 points in 40 minutes of action. He shot 14-of-30 from the field to go along with five rebounds and three assists.
Jalen Williams added 17 points while Lu Dort chipped in with 15 points.
Oklahoma City’s big man combination of Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein combined for just 15 points, 15 rebounds and one blocked shot. As a team, they were outrebounded 56-39.
The Pacers had six players reach double figures in scoring. Pascal Siakam led the charge with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Myles Turner added 15 points and nine boards.
Haliburton was held to just 14 points on 6 of 13 shooting. But he hit the one he had to have to put Indiana up 1-0.
“Ultimate, ultimate confidence in himself,” Turner said of Haliburton. “Some players will say they have it, but there’s other players that show it, and he’s going to let you know about it, too. That’s one of the things I respect about him. He’s a baller and a hooper and really just a gamer. When it comes to the moments, he wants the ball. He wants to be the one to hit that shot. He doesn’t shy away from the moment and very important this time of the year to have a go-to guy. He just keeps finding a way, and we keep putting the ball in the right positions, and the rest is history.”
Game 2 is 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the Paycom Center.
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