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Indiana Pacers starts to look like a team of fate if they didn’t already look like one.
After 15 in the fourth quarter, Pacers deleted this deficit and withdrew a huge rebellion in Game 1 in the NBA final on Thursday night against Oklahoma City Thunder.
The 15-point lead early in the fourth quarter was OKC’s biggest of the game. But after Pacers called a timeout, they went on their own 15-4 races to get back to within four. The Thunderer settled to pull away a little to lead with nine, but they responded with another race, this 10-2, to suddenly trace with one with 48.1 seconds left.
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Indiana Pacers Guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) responds after a game against Oklahoma City Thunder during the fourth quarter of the game one of the 2025 NBA final at the Paycom Center. (Kyle Terada-Preferred Pictures)
Gilgeous-Alexander missed a shot with 11.0 seconds left, and Tyrese Haliburton replied with the game winner with 0.3 seconds left. It was Indiana’s first lead of the whole game as most of the game had been the whole of Thunder.
Indiana came in as double -digit lower dogs, and it seemed to cover the majority of the competition. Instead, it’s a 111-110 victory for Pacers, their first in the NBA final since 2000.
In the last 9:27 Outscored Pacers Thunder, 32-16, and it was a 12-2 race in the last 2:38.
Indiana Pacers Guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) dribbles the ball against Oklahoma City Thunder Guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) during the third quarter of the game one of the 2025 NBA final in the Paycom Center. (Kyle Terada-Preferred Pictures)
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It is another crazy comeback for Pacers this fall season-in almost 1,500 playoffs since 1997 has only four times one team left to win after afterwards with seven-plus points in the last minute of the fourth quarter or overtime pacers have won three of these matches this season alone. This one did not fit these criteria, but nonetheless it is chalk up as an incredible comeback.
“It’s not over until it’s over,” said Haliburton, who makes his best Yogi Berra impression after the game. “It’s not over until the clock hits zero.”
Amazingly, no pacer had 20 points in the game, while the MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had a game high 38 for Thunder. But six pacers scored in double digits and five had at least 14.
Indiana Pacers Forward Aaron Nesmith (23) and Guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) celebrate after a game against Oklahoma City Thunder during the fourth quarter of the game one of the 2025 NBA final in the Paycom Center. (Kyle Terada-Preferred Pictures)
Game 2 will be Sunday night in Oklahoma City.
