Thunder cave in past due in Game 1: ‘It’s a 48-minute recreation’

OKLAHOMA CITY — Things had been going as anticipated for the closely favoured Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

They pressured the typically environment friendly Indiana Pacers into 19 turnovers within the first part to steer via 12 on the smash. The benefit swelled to 15 early within the fourth quarter, and it gave the look of the Thunder had been off to one in all their same old blowout victories.

They fell aside past due, then Tyrese Haliburton hit a mid-range dagger within the ultimate moment that gave Indiana a 111-110 victory on Thursday night time.

“I thought we were pretty good,” Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander mentioned. “We had control of the game for the most part of it. It is a 48-minute game. (The Pacers) teach you that lesson more than anyone else in the league, the hard way.”

The homecourt benefit Oklahoma City fought all season to realize vanished in a recreation it ruled for 3 quarters. The cave in wasted a 38-point effort via league MVP Gilgeous-Alexander. Now, the Thunder can be underneath power heading into Game 2 on Sunday.

“We’ve just got to focus on being better,” Gilgeous-Alexander mentioned. “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’ve got to understand that and we’ve got to get to four before they get to three (more) if we want to win the NBA championship.”

After Oklahoma City had Indiana’s offence out of varieties within the first part, the Pacers dedicated simply 5 turnovers in the second one.

“I thought they loosened us up a little bit,” Thunder trainer Mark Daigneault mentioned. “They took better care of the ball. Obviously, I’m sure that was a huge theme for them coming in and at the half.”

This is not the primary time this has came about to the Thunder this postseason. The Thunder misplaced a recreation they in large part managed in Game 1 of the second-round sequence towards the Denver Nuggets. Aaron Gordon’s 3-pointer gave Denver a 121-119 win.

Oklahoma City replied and gained the sequence 4-3. The Thunder imagine they are able to use that have to their benefit.

“We lost at the end of the day,” Gilgeous-Alexander mentioned. “We lost Game 1. We’ve lost Game 1 before. On the other side of that, we came out a better team. That’s our goal. That’s our mentality, to try to learn a lesson from the loss, like we always do, and move forward and be better.”

This wasn’t new for Indiana, both. The Pacers have made a addiction of rallying past due to win video games this postseason, maximum significantly in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals towards the New York Knicks.

“The common denominator is them,” Daigneault mentioned. “That’s a really good team. Credit them for not only tonight but their run. They’ve had so many games like that that have seemed improbable. They just play with a great spirit, they keep coming, they made plays, made shots. They deserved to win by a point.”