Tyrese Haliburton’s last-second shot lifts Indiana Pacers over OKC Thunder in NBA Finals
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Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton makes the game-winning shot over Oklahoma City Thunder guard Cason Wallace in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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OKLAHOMA CITY – The National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals between the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder have tipped off, and they started in the most dramatic of ways on June 5.
Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton sank the game-winning basket in the very last second to give the Pacers a stunning 111-110 comeback victory over Oklahoma City in the opening game of the best-of-seven series.
Haliburton, who had 14 points and 10 rebounds, crucially gave his team their only lead of the game on a dramatic jump shot with 0.3sec remaining to deliver a shock after Indiana had trailed by 15 points with 9min 42sec remaining.
“We got the stop and coach trusts us in those moments to not call a timeout, trusts me in those moments, guys trust me and just trying to make a play,” the star point guard, 25, said of the last shot.
“Basketball is fun, man, winning is fun,” he added during his on-court interview. “That’s a great win for us.”
With a game-closing 14-2 run, the Pacers seized a 1-0 lead in the series with Game 2 on June 8 (June 9, Singapore time), also at Oklahoma City.
Pascal Siakam led the Pacers with 19 points, reserve Obi Toppin added 17 and Myles Turner had 15.
“It was a total team effort, we had so many guys chip in,” Haliburton said.
“Obi was huge off the bench, Myles in the fourth... so many guys stepped up and just really proud of this group.”
The finish evoked memories of the first game in the Eastern Conference Finals, when a Haliburton shot at the buzzer bounced high and went in to force overtime as the Pacers stunned the New York Knicks on the way to a 4-2 series victory.
The Pacers are seeking the first NBA crown in their 58-year history while the Thunder, who took a title in 1979 as the Seattle Supersonics, have not won a crown since moving to Oklahoma City in 2008.
Indiana overcame 24 turnovers and a 38-point performance by Oklahoma City’s NBA Most Valuable Player and top season scorer Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
A 12-2 run pulled the Pacers to 94-98 with 6:16 remaining in the fourth quarter, with Turner and Toppin each making two three-pointers in the spurt.
The Thunder, with the NBA’s best regular-season record at 68-14, clung to the lead as Gilgeous-Alexander made a driving lay-up and added two free throws for a 106-98 edge with 3:24 left.
Aaron Nesmith and Andrew Nembhard sank back-to-back three-pointers to lift Indiana to 105-108 with 1:59 remaining. After a lay-up by Gilgeous-Alexander, Nembhard made two free throws and Siakam scored off a rebound to lift the Pacers to 109-110.
Nesmith rebounded a Gilgeous-Alexander miss to set up Haliburton’s game-winning shot.
“We just had to figure out how to win in so many different ways all year,” Haliburton added.
“There’s so many weird different ways and we’re a resilient group... We keep believing and we stay together.”
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 12 points in the first quarter and the Thunder forced nine turnovers on the way to a 29-20 lead.
Oklahoma City surged to a 57-45 half-time lead with 19 points from “SGA” while the Thunder, play-off leaders at forcing turnovers, got 18 from Indiana in the first half.
The Pacers pulled to 76-85 entering the fourth quarter. But a Jalen Williams slam dunk produced the Thunder’s biggest lead at 94-79 with 9:42 remaining, setting up the intense finish.
“That’s a really good team,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said of the Pacers.
“Credit them for not only tonight but their run.
“They’ve had so many games like that that have seemed improbable. And they just play with a great spirit and they keep coming. They keep playing.” AFP
