At the Buzzer: R4G1 — Pacers 111, Thunder 110 | Haliburton Does It Again
The Pacers committed 25 turnovers and didn't lead until Tyrese Haliburton went the length of the floor and hit a pull-up jumper with 0.3 seconds left — erasing a 15-point deficit in the final frame.
OKLAHOMA CITY — After four days between games, it was back to action on Thursday for the start of the NBA Finals. It’s the Pacers’ first visit in a quarter century, and the Thunder’s first since 2012.
One day after Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau was fired after the Pacers ended their season — to which Rick Carlisle thought was fake AI news when he first heard — Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault, 40, was asked pregame about being one of the longest-tenured coaches in the league now.
Do you feel like a veteran coach?
“Not when I'm coaching against Rick,” he replied, smiling. “I feel like a rookie.”
An hour later, Daigneault tweaked his starting lineup — having guard Cason Wallace make his first career playoff start in place of Isaiah Hartenstein. Hmm.
Carlisle, 65, and his coaching staff may be their greatest advantage in a series where outside observers have already counted out the Pacers — to which the team is completely fine with because they thrive off it. It fuels them.
Pacers basketball into mid-June. Let’s all enjoy what should be a fun and fascinating series between two young teams with staying power.
The game officials were John Goble, Marc Davis, David Guthrie, Kevin Scott (alternate)
I asked both Aaron Nesmith and Tony Bradley about their injuries on media day, including the incredible feat to get Nesmith back after Game 3 sprain. And then taking advantage of downtime. “I needed 'em. I was looking forward to these days off. I'll be ready.”
Bradley: “I'll be ready.”
Jarace Walker is out for at least the first two games due to a right ankle sprain. He was not in uniform.
The ESPN announcing crew — for the entire series: Mike Breen, Doris Burke, Richard Jefferson, and Lisa Salters.
Sports books favored the Thunder by 9.5 points for Game 1 — and -700 for the series.
Watch my live postgame show in the media player below:
🏀How it happened: Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard got a stop on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with 11.1 seconds left, and then Aaron Nesmith snatched down the rebound. No, the Pacers didn’t call timeout — they’d much rather run and go, taking advantage of a defense on its heels.
Tyrese Haliburton moved left to right with a right-hand dribble, pulled up from about 20 feet, and buried the go-ahead bucket with 0.3 seconds left — once again displaying how he rises in big moments, and how the pressure doesn’t get to him. When others might fade, especially when only having 12 points and no free throw attempts, Haliburton welcomed the pressure of taking the final shot.
He’s on quite the run this season, but especially this postseason. It’s now his fourth crucial shot that set the team up for a win in the closing seconds. To do it on this stage — Game 1 of the Finals, on the road? Bring it on, Haliburton said.
Until that moment, the Pacers had never led in the game. They erased a 15-point deficit in the final frame — and the only lead they needed lasted 0.3 seconds.
Since 1971, that’s the latest into any Finals game that a team has taken its first lead.
It was a turnover-filled game, but the only turnover we’ll remember is the Thunder losing this one. They took a 12-point lead into halftime, led by nine with under three minutes left — and then gave up a shot everyone saw coming.
Even when the Pacers turned it over — 25 times — the Thunder didn’t make them pay as much as they should have, converting them into just 11 points.
It got really bad just before halftime. With about three minutes left in the second quarter, the Pacers had 18 turnovers — including six straight possessions — and just one made field goal over a six-minute span.
Yet the Thunder’s halftime lead was just 12 (when it should’ve been twice that), despite attempting 18 more shots than the Pacers. Indiana had already matched its playoff-high for turnovers in a game (20, vs. the Knicks).
However, the Pacers cleaned it up in the second half and turned it over just five times over the final 24 minutes. Simultaneously, they shot 51% from the field, went 10-of-20 from 3, and outrebounded the Thunder by 11 — including a +5 edge on the offensive glass.
As poorly as the Pacers started — prompting multiple early timeouts — it’s not as if they fell behind by 20-plus, even if it felt that way. The Thunder sped them up, swarmed them, and forced bad decisions. “I was antsy, a little too quick,” Haliburton said. But they recovered and hung around.
This team can never be counted out — because they never count themselves out. As Pacers fans have seen for the last three months, this team has thrived under pressure and in the clutch — now 8-1 in such games during this postseason run.
The Pacers overcame the turnovers, maintained belief, and executed. Especially Nembhard, who spent significant time on SGA, the 2025 NBA MVP. Gilgeous-Alexander’s 38-point night feels wasted — and so does Lu Dort’s outstanding two-way game. He defended hard, as expected, finished with four steals, and hit five of the Thunder’s 11 3-pointers.
But you know who matched him? Pacers forward Obi Toppin off the bench.