The Indiana Pacers won the first game in the Pacers NBA Finals Game 1 NBA finals against the Oklahoma City Thunders in the very last moment. The last moment marked their victory over the Thunders with a score of 111-110, a close call. Another interesting fact is that Tyrese Haliburton scored the last point just 0.3 seconds before the buzzer beeped. It is what only Haliburton can do under such an immense and stressful condition.
On Thursday night, the Indiana Pacers were initially losing the match, running behind 15 points from the Thunder. Moreover, as you can see, the team had a comeback just in time to recover from the loss. The Thunders must have been in shock as the game, which was earlier on their side, flipped back at their winning moment. Let’s check the highlights to look closely at Thursday’s game.
Haliburton’s Comeback Strategy
Tyrese Haliburton has been the support of the Indiana Pacers and has proven to be an asset since the beginning of the series. He has contributed highly to its previous wins over the Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks, and Cleveland Cavaliers.
Haliburton individually scored 14 points for the Pacers with 10 rebounds and 6 assists throughout the game. The victory, however, was the fruit of every player’s scores in the end. 6 players in the team scored double-digit points in the game, which accelerated the scoreboard when most needed.
The Indiana Pacers flipped the victory of the Thunders just when they were winning and took the spotlight from Gilgeous Alexander. As much as Haliburton is appreciated for his comeback victory in an earlier losing game, Gilgeous-Alexander’s achievement is overlooked. In this game, he scored 38 points for the Thunder with five rebounds and three assists, which is quite appreciable but went unnoticed. The Thunder entered the finals with a heavy fan following, considering their record throughout the season. However, the Oklahoma City crowd was quietened when they lost.
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The Thunders’ Dominance in the First Half
The Oklahoma City Thunders were leading the Indiana Pacers in the first half of the game. Moreover, the team had a strategic advantage over the other team, noting that the crowd mostly supported it from the beginning.
In the first quarter of the game, the Indiana Pacers had about 9 turnovers which increased to 19 in the first half. The team had a deficit of 18 field goals over the Thunders by the end of the first half. Thus, the lead of the Thunders over the Indiana Pacers was 57-45 at the break.
Indiana Pacers’ Comeback
Even after a demotivating first half in the game, the Indiana Pacers didn’t lose hope. They managed to limit their turnovers to 5 after the 19 turnovers in the first half. Moreover, the Thunders faced difficulties in scoring in the third quarter of the match due to their strong defense. By the end of the third quarter, they managed to lead the scoreboard by 6 points over the Thunders until Gilgeous Alexander stepped in. The final score of the third quarter was 85-76, and a lead of Thunder of 94-79 in the last 9:42 minutes which made the game suspenseful.
The game pushed the audience on edge as the teams struggled to force their lead on one another. The last 14 seconds were left when Siakam managed to cut the leaderboard to 110-109. Haliburton took the lead from here and scored 2 points over the Pacers just 0.3 seconds before the time went up.
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Conclusion
The last-moment save of the Pacers made them win the game on a close call with a 111-110 lead. It was indeed the only win of the Pacers, which was this close to the opponent team. Moreover, their dedication and consistency made them win this game.
