Haliburton saves Pacers in Game 1

KYLE TERADA/IMAGN IMAGES - Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton 

shoots against the Thunder on June 5 in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

7 Jun 2025 - The Oklahoman

Lorenzo Reyes - USA TODAY

If Game 1 of the 2025 NBA Finals was any indication of what the rest of the series holds, hoops fans should be delighted.

The Indiana Pacers stole Game 1 from the Oklahoma City Thunder, 111-110, on Tyrese Haliburton’s thrilling game-winning jumper with 0.3 seconds left. For the Pacers, it was yet another comeback victory from a deficit of at least 15 points, their fifth of the 2025 postseason.

Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led all players with 38 points on 14of-30 shooting, while Indiana forward Pascal Siakam paced his team with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

The Pacers had six players, including all five starters, reach double-figures in scoring.

The winners and losers from Game 1 of the 2025 NBA Finals between the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder:

Winners

Tyrese Haliburton: This was a good – not great – game for Pacers All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton. Held in check for most of the game, Haliburton shined brightest in the clutch, as he has all season.

Haliburton finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, but his gamewinning, 21-foot jumper over Thunder guard Cason Wallace is what makes him a singular talent.

This season, Haliburton is 13-of-15 (86.7%) on shots inside the final two minutes (including overtime) to tie or take the lead. He has scored 32 points across those 15 attempts, giving him 2.13 points per shot attempt in such scenarios.

In the postseason alone, Haliburton is 6-of-7 (85.7%) on shots inside the final two minutes to tie or take the lead.

Pacers’ defense: Much of the attention from the wild Pacers comeback will go to its up-tempo offense in the fourth quarter. Don’t sleep on Indiana’s defense. Despite being put in compromising spots because of their 25 turnovers, the Pacers hustled back on defense and recovered in transition. That’s why the Thunder were never able to ignite on debilitating runs; despite losing the turnover battle 25-7, Indiana ceded just 11 points off those giveaways, compared to the four the Pacers scored.

In the final two-and-a-half minutes, the Pacers gave up just two points. They held the Thunder to just 1-of-6 shooting in that span.

Andrew Nembhard: As he has throughout this postseason, Nembhard had another seemingly quiet but massive game, especially when his team needed it most. Nembhard scored eight of his 14 points in the fourth, including a massive, stepback 3 over Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – his teammate on Canada Basketball – with 1:59 to play.

His most significant contribution, however, might have been on defense. For much of the fourth, Nembhard served as the primary defender on Gilgeous-Alexander. Nembhard limited SGA to four shot attempts in the period, and his physicality on Gilgeous-Alexander’s final attempt with 11 seconds left helped set up Haliburton’s game-winner.

The Pacers clear the glass: In the regular season, the Pacers were tied for 27th in rebounds, hauling in just 41.8 per game. The Thunder were tied for 11th (44.8). Yet, in Game 1, Indiana outworked OKC and claimed a 56-39 edge, or a +17 differential.

The Pacers did turn the ball over much more, and Oklahoma City did attempt 16 more shots, which in theory diminished the number of defensive rebounds available for the Thunder. This is an area of relative weakness for Indiana, one the Thunder should try to exploit.

Losers

Thunder finishing in the fourth: Oklahoma City isn’t a team that typically squanders leads late in games, especially at home.

Yet, the Thunder got outscored by 10 in the final period and faltered on both sides. Not only did OKC go cold in the fourth, with seven misses coming within the paint, but the Thunder also lost defensive intention and focus and let Indiana shoot 50% from the floor. In fact, the Pacers drilled 6-of-10 from 3, while the Thunder did not make any of their five attempts from beyond the arc.

In the final 2:38, the Thunder, who held a nine-point lead inside the final 3 minutes of the game, allowed the Pacers to score 12 points.

Pacers turnovers: The Pacers have grit, at this point there can be no question. But Indiana should also consider itself to be quite fortunate.

That’s because, simply put, there is no way the Pacers can win this series if they turn the ball over anywhere near the way they did in Game 1. Indiana committed 25 turnovers Thursday night, which, for most of the game, played right into Oklahoma City’s hands.

The Pacers, though, did improve as the game went on; 20 of those turnovers came in the first half.

Chet Holmgren: In a game in which Shai Gilgeous-Alexander dropped 38 and Lu Dort added 15 on five made 3-pointers, center Chet Holmgren underwhelmed. His six points marked his lowest output of the postseason, as did his two made field goals.

And then, defensively, Holmgren also struggled at times to find Pacers center Myles Turner, who went 3-of-4 in the fourth quarter.

***

Thunder lament their missed opportunity

Jeff Zillgitt - USA TODAY

OKLAHOMA CITY – For a long stretch of Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers, it looked like the Pacers were the team that would leave the arena regretting a blown chance.

The Pacers were committing turnovers on what seemed like every other possession – 20 turnovers in the first half alone.

NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder put up another 30-point performance.

An arena full of mostly Thunder fans – save for the full-time non-basketball operations Pacers employees who were flown out for the game – had nearly 48 minutes of game action to celebrate.

“This arena is madness … from a road perspective, the decibels were insane,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said.

When the game ended, nearly 18,000 Thunder fans left the arena disappointed.

The Thunder have regrets. They squandered an opportunity.

They failed to take full advantage of those Pacers turnovers and put the Pacers away. They failed to hold onto a 15point lead early in the fourth quarter and a nine-point lead late in the fourth quarter.

They failed to take advantage of Gilgeous-Alexander’s 38-point game. They failed to win Game 1 Thursday, June 5.

The resilient Pacers defeated the Thunder 111-110, taking a 1-0 series lead on Tyrese Haliburton’s 21-foot jump shot with 0.3 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

“We got to learn from it, we got to improve like we would if we had won the game and get ourselves ready for Game 2. That’s really what it comes down to,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said.

While the Thunder were disappointed, there was not any panic. Oklahoma City lost Game 1 to Denver in the Western Conference semifinals and won the series in seven games.

“The playoffs take you to the limit,” Daigneault said. “They put your back against the wall, in games, in series. If you make it this far, you have to endure to do that. It gives you rich experiences that you can draw on. …

“There’s a lot more games left in the series. We understand that. We got to get ourselves to zero, as we always do. That’s a habit that hopefully we’ve formed. These guys have made a habit of being able to get ourselves centered and play our best game in the next game.”

The Thunder have not lost consecutive games in the playoffs and lost two consecutive games just twice during the regular season.

They won 68 regular-season games and 12 playoff games. They know what is required.

They will look at the film. Of Indiana’s 25 turnovers, the Thunder had just 11 points off those turnovers. They shot just 39.8% from the field. Daigneault tinkered with the starting lineup, inserting Cason Wallace in place of Isaiah Hartenstein. Chet Holmgren had just six points and was not a factor.

“The series isn’t first to one, it’s first to four,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We have four more games to get, they have three. That’s just where we are. We got to understand that, and we got to get to four before they get to three, if we want to win the NBA championship.

“It’s that simple. It’s not rocket science. We lost Game 1. We have to be better.”

***

SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN - Indiana’s Myles Turner (33) drives past 

Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren (7) in the second half of Game 1 of the 

NBA Finals on June 5 at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.

GAME 1 REPORT CARD

7 Jun 2025 - The Oklahoman

We might have a series after all.

The underdog Pacers stole Game 1 of the NBA Finals, stunning the Thunder 111-110 on Thursday night in Oklahoma City.

Let’s get to the grades.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: B+

Gilgeous-Alexander missed a late jumper that would’ve given the Thunder a three-point cushion.

This loss isn’t on him, though. Gilgeous-Alexander was mostly magnificent in his NBA Finals debut. He scored 38 points — the third most by a player in his first NBA Finals game behind Allen Iverson (48 in 2001) and George Mikan (42 in 1949). SGA shot 14-of-30 and was 7-of-8 from the foul line.

—Joe Mussatto, columnist

Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren: C

The non-Shai Gilgeous-Alexander legs of the Thunder’s Big Three were wobbly Thursday. Williams scored 17 points but hit only 6 of 19 shots. He was aggressive, getting downhill and going to the rim. But he seemed to rush some shots and failed to convert three in the restricted area, including a dunk that was blocked. Holmgren managed only six points, his lowest scoring game of these playoffs. He made only 2 of 9 shots. Williams dished six assists while Holmgren grabbed six rebounds and blocked one shot.

Still, the Thunder needs more from both.

—Jenni Carlson, columnist

Guarding Tyrese Haliburton: B

I know, I know, the Pacers standout hit the last-second game-winner, but the Thunder guarded him well for about 47 minutes and 45 seconds. He scored 14 points on 6-of-13 shooting, grabbed 10 rebounds, dished six assists and committed three turnovers. This is a guy who has had triple doubles without a single turnover, so that stat line is one the Thunder would live with.

If not for those last two points. Cason Wallace ended up matched up on Haliburton, and as good a defender as the Thunder sophomore is, Lu Dort had locked down Haliburton much of the night. Dort used his physicality to get into Haliburton, and Wallace should’ve bodied him up the same way. Instead, he gave Haliburton a sliver of space, and he took advantage.

—Jenni Carlson, columnist

Participation points: A

Twenty players logged firstquarter minutes … 20! In Game 1 of the NBA Finals!

We knew Mark Daigneault and Rick Carlisle liked their benches, but holy smokes. It’s like they were coaching a regular season game in the dead of December. Daigneault played an 11th man, Ajay Mitchell, to start the second quarter.

The rookie second rounder had played a grand total of 64 playoff minutes entering Thursday night. Mitchell threw a nice pass to Holmgren, which led to a foul and free throws, but he missed all three of his shots in four minutes of action.

— Joe Mussatto, columnist

Points off turnovers: D

Even though the Pacers had a whopping 25 turnovers, almost double their regular-season average of 13.2, the Thunder managed only 11 points off those turnovers.

OKC has to get more than that off that level of defensive pressure, and while it regularly capitalizes off turnovers by getting out on the break and scoring in transition, that didn’t happen Thursday.

OKC had 11 transition points to Indiana’s 10.

“I think you’ve got to look at what kind of turnovers we’re getting, too,” Thunder guard Jalen Williams said. “Sometimes you get a turnover in the backcourt, sometimes the defense is behind you now, so you try and obviously space out, run something.”

And when that didn’t happen much Thursday, the Thunder’s poor shooting night factored into the points off turnovers. OKC had 98 shots to Indiana’s 82, so the Thunder created more opportunities with their turnovers. But it didn’t make any more shots than the Pacers; both made 39 baskets. —Jenni Carlson, columnist

Pacers’ role players: A

Indiana outscored OKC 39-28 in bench points.

Obi Toppin, after throwing the ball all over the place in the first half, settled in and finished with 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting.

T.J. McConnell had nine points on 4-of-6 shooting. Thomas Bryant went 2-for-2.

The Pacers’ bench shot 8-of-12 from 3-point range. The Pacers as a whole went 18-of-39 (46%).

—Joe Mussatto, columnist

Big Rob Clay: A+

Rob Clay walked to center court to sing the national anthem, and before he was even introduced, he was being cheered. Thunder fans gave him a huge ovation; they know his track record.

Clay sang the national anthem before Game 1 in the opening round of the playoffs against Memphis, then again before Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals against Denver. And Oklahoma City won both series.

Even though Clay gave way to violinist Kyle Dillingham in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals — and the Thunder won that series against the Timberwolves — no chances were taken this time.

And Clay was masterful, as usual.

—Jenni Carlson, columnist

NBA Finals feel: D

The home crowd was awesome.

But whether you were watching from inside the arena or on TV, there weren’t a lot of visual cues reminding you that THESE ARE THE NBA FINALS! Remember when a giant logo of the Larry O’Brien Trophy used to be under the team logo at midcourt? Those days are long gone, but we’ve zagged too far in the other direction.

No Larry ‘O logo. No iconic NBA Finals script on the court. A certain grandeur was lacking. — Joe Mussatto, columnist