OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Things were going as expected for the heavily favored Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
They forced the normally efficient Indiana Pacers into 19 turnovers in the first half to lead by 12 at the break. The advantage swelled to 15 early in the fourth quarter, and it looked like the Thunder were off to one of their usual blowout victories.
They fell apart late, then Tyrese Haliburton hit a mid-range dagger in the final second that gave Indiana a 111-110 victory on Thursday night.
“I thought we were pretty good,” Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We had control of the game for the most part of it. It is a 48-minute game. They (Pacers) teach you that lesson more than anyone else in the league, the hard way.”
The homecourt advantage Oklahoma City fought all season to gain vanished in a game it dominated for three quarters. The collapse wasted a 38-point effort by Gilgeous-Alexander, the league MVP. Now, the Thunder will be under pressure heading into Game 2 on Sunday.
“We’ve just got to focus on being better,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “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 offense out of sorts in the first half, the Pacers committed just five turnovers in the second.
“I thought they loosened us up a little bit,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “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 isn't the first time this has happened to the Thunder this postseason. The Thunder lost a game they largely controlled in Game 1 of the second-round series against the Denver Nuggets. Aaron Gordon's 3-pointer gave Denver a 121-119 win.
Oklahoma City responded and won the series 4-3. The Thunder believe they can use that experience to their advantage.
“We lost at the end of the day,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “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, either. The Pacers have made a habit of rallying late to win games this postseason, most notably in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals against the New York Knicks.
“The common denominator is them,” Daigneault said. “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.”
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
Cliff Brunt, The Associated Press
