Haliburton and the Pacers conjure another miracle and take the lead in the Finals

Oklahoma City (USA) (EFE).- The Indiana Pacers, led by Tyrese Haliburton and known for their incredible and epic comebacks, conjured another miracle on Thursday to defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder 110-111 and take a 0-1 lead in the NBA Finals.

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The Pacers struggled in the first half against Oklahoma’s overwhelming defense and trailed throughout the night, but they managed to hold on, cut the Thunder’s lead, and an amazing basket by Haliburton with only 0.3 seconds left gave them their first lead of the evening, which proved to be decisive.

The second game of  the Finals will be played this Sunday also in Oklahoma.

Haliburton had a very discreet performance (he finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists) but he once again demonstrated that he is the comeback magician in this ‘playoff’ since improbable victories have come out of his hat against the Milwaukee Bucks, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the New York Knicks.

Nothing pointed to anything similar for Indiana after a disastrous first half in which they committed 20 turnovers, stifled by Oklahoma’s defense.

But these Pacers never give up and now have home-court advantage to try to win the first NBA championship in their history (they have three ABA titles).

This is the fifth comeback from 15 or more points that Indiana achieves in this ‘playoff’, something that had never been achieved in the ‘play-by-play’ era of the NBA.

Six visiting players finished in double figures with Pascal Siakam (19 points and 10 rebounds), Obi Toppin (17 points and 5 of 8 on three-pointers) and Myles Turner (15 points and 9 rebounds).

The accuracy in the three-point shot (18 of 39 for 46.2%) kept them in the game during the worst moments and from the shipwreck of turnovers before halftime they went to only 5 in the second half with a 25-35 in the last quarter to seal another memorable comeback.

For the Thunder, who threw away a game they had completely under control (+15 with 9:42 left), Shai-Gilgeous Alexander was the best with 38 points (14 of 30 in shots), 5 rebounds and 3 assists.

Lu Dort was sensational on both ends of the court (15 points with 5 of 9 in three-pointers, 4 rebounds and 4 steals) but the home offense did not live up to its imposing defense and finished with 39.8% in field goals with 36.7% (11 of 30) in three-pointers.
Jalen Williams only woke up at the end (17 points with 6 of 19) and Chet Holmgren didn’t have his day (6 points with 2 of 9).

The sound of thunder…

The Paycom Center in Oklahoma City doesn’t have the history of Madison Square Garden, but the Thunder’s arena is known for being one of the loudest in the NBA.

The fans lived up to their reputation tonight with thunderous shouts (‘thunder’, in English) from the warm-up and with the arena turned into a mosaic of white shirts, only interrupted by the yellow ones of some intrepid Pacers fans.

On the court, the first change was Cason Wallace’s entry into the starting lineup in Oklahoma, replacing Isaiah Hartenstein, which allowed Mark Daigneault a more natural matchup with only one ‘big’ (Chet Holmgren) against Turner.

Much less surprising was the excellent defensive performance of the Thunder from the opening tip. The best example? The Pacers are a wonderful offensive machine that knows how to limit their turnovers very well, but tonight they crashed with 9 in the first quarter and 20 at halftime.

In the sixth game of their series against the New York Knicks, they only lost 13 turnovers. The main responsible for that defensive carnage was a Dort who appeared in every square meter of the court: Dort nullifying Haliburton, Dort helping out, Dort on the rebound…

… and even Dort on the triple, with 3 of 5 from the perimeter for a fabulous first half and not reflected in the statistics with 9 points, 4 rebounds and 4 steals.

The attack was a matter of Shai with 19 points at halftime (12 in the first quarter), but the limited 37% in shots by the home team allowed the Pacers to reach halftime alive (57-45).

The score was close, but the first half was worrying for Rick Carlisle’s team, unable to find that frenetic and overwhelming offensive rhythm that has guided them to the Finals.

Haliburton was missing (6 points, 3 assists and 3 turnovers), Siakam also did not stand out (8 points), and Aaron Nesmith and Turner got tangled up with 4 turnovers each.

The dynamic remained upon resumption. The Thunder continued to be a powerhouse on defense but with an offense only held up by Shai and Dort while the Pacers remained too fearful and too erratic although they stemmed the bleeding of turnovers.

A crucial three-pointer by Shai in the last second cooled an attempted comeback by Indiana, and Oklahoma landed in the outcome with an 85-76 score.

… silenced by Haliburton

It didn’t seem like a day for miracles, but these god-touched Pacers defy any expectation.
A very lucky three-pointer by Turner off the backboard put them only 4 points behind (98-94 with 6.16 left to play). In the stands, some murmurs could be heard: “What if it happens again…?”

Shai took the reins and from the coaching staff provided some tranquility to a Thunder team with less and less composure. In contrast, the Pacers kept growing in confidence, adding players like Toppin or Andrew Nembhard, and Siakam put his team just one point behind in the last minute after an offensive rebound.