Pacers put Thunder on understand with shocking Game 1 win

OKLAHOMA CITY — It was once a recreation that they did the entirety to win till they misplaced it.  Or extra correctly, till the Indiana Pacers gained it. 

The Pacers arrived in Oklahoma City as underdogs in opposition to the 68-win Thunder who had adopted up their dominant common season via in large part steamrolling their manner into the NBA Finals, and for a lot of Game 1 on the Paycom Center, the 2 groups performed to shape. 

In a matchup of considered one of NBA’s maximum medical offences — the Pacers grew to become it over simply 13.2 occasions in step with recreation all through the common season in spite of taking part in a height pace each time conceivable — and the NBA’s most far sighted ballhawks — the Thunder led the league in pressured turnovers with 18 a recreation — Oklahoma City was once in a position to impose its will. 

They pressured the Pacers into 25 turnovers whilst making best six of their very own. 

The plus-19 turnover merit was once the Thunder’s biggest thru 17 playoff video games and their second-largest at the season. 

The Thunder had been 20-2 this season when recording a minimum of 20 opponent turnovers and 6-0 within the playoffs prior to Thursday evening. When they’d 25 or extra opponent turnovers within the common season, they gained the video games via a median of 18 issues. Their earlier excessive all through the post-season was once after they had 24 opponent turnovers in opposition to the Memphis Grizzlies and gained via 51. 

But the Pacers aren’t like any person else the Thunder have performed all through their playoff run. They are a workforce that flourishes on adversity, just like the 15-point deficit they had been trailing via with 9:42 left within the fourth quarter of Game 1.

They have been trailing via double figures for nearly all of the sport. 

Indiana isn’t a workforce that turns out via such statistical improbabilities, and by the point the horn sounded, the Pacers had earned their 5th comeback from down 15 or extra in 17 playoff begins, this one hanging them up 1-0 and securing them homecourt merit for the remainder of the Finals. 

Once once more it was once Tyrese Haliburton running his magic and he shrugged off an in a different way strange night via his requirements (14 issues, 6 assists, 3 turnovers) to weave his manner during the Thunder defence prior to pulling up from 21 ft for the sport winner with 0.3 seconds left, slamming the automobile door at the Thunder’s grabby palms for the wholly sudden 111-110 win. 

“I don’t know. I don’t know. I think we’re just a really resilient group,” stated Haliburton of the Pacers’ penchant for playoff comebacks. “We do exactly an excellent process of sticking in and simply settling into the sport.

“You know, through the course of the game, it kept getting — it felt like it could get ugly, who knows where this game is heading. I thought we did a great job of just walking them down. When it gets to 15, you can panic, or you can talk about ‘how do we get it to 10 and how do we get it to five and (go) from there’.”

For the Thunder, the hope is that the loss is simply a ignored alternative relatively than a important mistake. The remaining time the Thunder misplaced a playoff recreation they’d managed from begin to end — the Pacers’ first lead got here on Haliburton’s recreation winner — was once when Aaron Gordon stole Game 1 of the second one spherical from them with a buzzer-beating putback on behalf of the Denver Nuggets. That helped Denver push the Thunder to seven video games, however OKC prevailed. 

There is not any ensure the Thunder will have the ability to be informed from their errors once more, now not in opposition to a workforce as opportunistic because the Pacers. 

“We just got to focus on being better,” stated Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. “The series isn’t first to one, it’s first to four. 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.”

Gilgeous-Alexander was once beautiful darn excellent in his NBA Finals debut. He completed with 38 issues, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals, even supposing his 14-of-30 capturing was once now not his standard usual for potency. He had a excellent glance from 14 ft with 11 seconds left that may have put OKC up via 3. The Thunder had retained the ball after the Pacers used their trainer’s problem when it was once dominated that Pascal Siakam (19 issues, 10 rebounds) had fallen out of bounds after grabbing the rebound when Thunder wing Jalen Williams ignored a floater. 

Gilgeous-Alexander were given some robust improve from fellow Canadian Olympic workforce member Lu Dort, who was once the Thunder’s subsequent maximum dependable offensive risk during the first 3 quarters. The Montreal local hit all 5 of his threes — on seven makes an attempt — for 15 issues.

He additionally contributed 4 of the Thunder’s 14 steals and blocked two pictures, together with hiking the ladder for a impressive contest of high-flying Aaron Nesmith after Indiana had lower the Thunder’s result in 3 with 1:33 to play. 

Front and centre within the Pacers’ comeback was once some other Canadian Olympian, Andrew Nembhard, who scored 8 of his 14 issues and counted 3 of his six assists all through the Pacers’ comeback push within the fourth, together with a step-back 3 over Gilgeous-Alexander with 1:59 left that lower the Thunder’s result in 3. 

Nembhard was once the main defender on Gilgeous-Alexander all evening and held his personal up to any person can in opposition to him. He was once provide with out fouling Gilgeous-Alexander’s ultimate shot. 

“He made plays at both ends,” stated Pacers head trainer Rick Carlisle. “The one prevent on Shai on the finish was once a large play, after which we were given the rebound. There was once (his) step-back 3, which was once a large momentum play. I believe it went from six to a few. 

“And there was an and-one, he got to the rim, I don’t know what point it was in the fourth (with 9:27 left, kicking off the Pacers’ comeback) but a lot of big plays and you’ve got to have playmakers against Oklahoma City. They make it so difficult defensively.”

Perhaps the largest factor running within the Pacers’ favour is that even after making 20 in their turnovers within the first part, they had been best down 57-45 because the Thunder, possibly appearing a few of their Finals jitters, scored best 9 issues off the ones 20 takeaways. 

“I think obviously when you turn the ball over that much, you expect to be down 20-plus,” stated Siakam. “So the fact that we were still in the game just for us is just …  stick to the game plan and take care of the turnovers, which is hard against a team like that, especially with the pace we play with.”

The atmosphere was once some other part that are supposed to have labored within the Thunder’s favour, however didn’t. 

Oklahoma City hadn’t hosted a Finals recreation since 2012 when James Harden was once only a man with a beard who got here off the bench at the back of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, as an alternative of The Beard, and considered one of 3 eventual MVPs the Thunder had at the roster on the time. 

Leading as much as the end, the power inside of Paycom Centre was once palpable. Everyone within the enviornment was once clad solely in white. They all had noise makers that they had been slapping on their knees to the rhythm of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman,” and music after music after that. There was once no scoreboard messaging or in-arena announcers exhorting the rest. It was once 18,203 folks locked in on one activity, being as loud and engaged as conceivable. 

“Look, this arena is madness. I mean, this is,  from a road perspective, this was — the decibels were insane,” stated Carlisle, who was once remaining within the Finals when he led the Dallas Mavericks to an disenchanted over the Miami Heat in 2011. “There’s a lot going on. You know, (and we’re) grateful to hang in and give ourselves a chance in the end, but now we’ve got to keep our eye on the ball.”

If they are able to stay higher cling of it — they simply made 5 in their turnovers in the second one part, which must be encouraging — they may not have to head all the way down to the cord with OKC to get a win. But they now have the arrogance going into Game 2 that if they have got to, they are able to.