OKLAHOMA CITY – The only solace for the Thunder is it woke up from this nightmare before. Popped up in a cold sweat and exhaled — relieved to see another day and ultimately survive a series.
OKC’s 111-110 loss to Indiana in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night was “eerily similar,” as Thunder guard Alex Caruso said, to OKC’s Game 1 meltdown against Denver two rounds ago.
Instead of an Aaron Gordon 3-pointer, it was a Tyrese Haliburton long 2 that did the Thunder in. Instead of Chet Holmgren missing two free throws with 10 seconds left, it was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who back-ironed a 14-footer with 11 seconds that would’ve put the Thunder up three.
“Felt good,” SGA said, “didn’t go in.”
Aaron Nesmith collected the defensive rebound. He passed to Pascal Siakam, who passed to Obi Toppin, who hot-potatoed it to Haliburton. No. 0 in yellow crossed halfcourt with five seconds left, his Pacers down by one. After a couple of hesitation dribbles, trying to dispatch Cason Wallace, Haliburton drove and pulled up from 21 feet.
The Pacers’ comeback was so sudden, Mike Breen missed a “BANG!” opportunity.
It never felt like a game the Thunder was going to lose until it lost. OKC dictated the terms until only decimals remained. Haliburton, who had 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, didn’t reenact the Reggie Miller choke like he did in Game 1 against the Knicks, but a choke it was.
In Game 1 against Denver, OKC led by 13 points with 6:39 to play. It led by nine with three minutes left.
In Game 1 against Indiana, OKC led by 15 after Jalen Williams’ pick-six dunk off a Pacers inbounds pass with 9:42 left. The Thunder led by eight with 3:24 left. And then Indiana outscored OKC 13-4 the rest of the way. Indiana won the fourth quarter 35-25.
“It sucks,” said Jalen Williams, who shot 6-of-19, “but we have been here before.”
Both teams have. The Thunder against the Nuggets, and the Pacers? Well, this is how they win seemingly every game. Win probability calculators have lost all credibility thanks to Haliburton’s crew. This was the Pacers’ fifth 15-point-plus comeback of these playoffs.
The Pacers are 8-1 in playoff games decided in the clutch, when the score is within five points in the last five minutes.
The last team to come back from a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit to win an NBA Finals game was the 2011 Mavericks, coached by none other than now-Pacers bench boss Rick Carlisle.
“Just had to hang in,” Carlisle said Thursday night.
The Pacers hung in despite a 20-turnover and 15-field goal first half. It wouldn’t have been a big deal had the Thunder won, but “we didn’t get the kind of juice for that squeeze that we normally do when we turn teams over,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said.
The Thunder was a +18 in turnover margin but only a +7 in points off turnovers. And a -1 in point differential after outplaying the Pacers for 47 minutes and change.
“The playoffs take you to the limit,” Daigneault said. They put your back against the wall, in games, in series. If you make it this far, you have to endure to do that. It gives you rich experiences that you can draw on.
“The biggest experience we’ve had is understanding that every game’s a new game. The most important game of the series is always the next one, regardless of the outcome.”
After dropping Game 1 to Denver in the West semifinals, the Thunder responded with a 43-point rout in Game 2 and a seven-game series win.
“The series isn’t first to one, it’s first to four,” Gilgeous-Alexander said after dropping a game-high 38 points. “We have four more games to get, they have three. That’s just where we are.”
A place the Thunder, for better or worse, knows all too well.
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: ‘It sucks.’ It never felt like a game the Thunder was going to lose —until it lost
Reporting by Joe Mussatto, The Oklahoman / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
