OKLAHOMA CITY — Tyrese Haliburton moved up the floor, down a point, the seconds ticking away, and a once raucous crowd of 18,000 Thunder fans stood in silence. They had seen this movie before. In Milwaukee, in Cleveland, in New York. Haliburton has turned this postseason into his personal sizzle reel, delivering clutch shot after clutch shot, snatching improbable victories out of the jaws of near-certain defeat. And here he was, in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, aiming to do it again.
From the sideline, Rick Carlisle watched, hands on his hips. A timeout? Never considered it. These were the moments Haliburton had been groomed for, since the Pacers acquired him in 2022 and told him they were going to put the ball in his hands. Coming out of the last timeout, Carlisle’s message was simple: . “If we get a stop and [got] the rebound,” said Carlisle, “we’re going to go.”
And they did. A Shai Gilgeous-Alexander jumper bounced off, into the hands of Aaron Nesmith, then Haliburton, who was gone. He drove the right side of the floor, stopped just inside the three-point line and tossed up a 21-footer that settled into the bucket with 0.3 seconds left to seal a 111–110 win.
“I don’t know what you say about it,” Haliburton said. “But I know that this group is a resilient group. And we don’t give up until it’s 0.0 on the clock.”
It’s a cliché coming from most players, most teams. But in Indiana, every word rings true. Four times this postseason the Pacers have had comeback wins with a less than 5% win probability. They have five comebacks of 15 points or more. They broke Milwaukee’s hearts in Game 5, crushed the Cleveland crowd in Game 2 and silenced Madison Square Garden in Game 1. This postseason Haliburton is 6 for 7 when taking a shot to tie or take the lead in the final 90 seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime, the most such shots made in a single postseason since 1997.
“Ultimate, ultimate confidence in himself,” Myles Turner said. “Some players will say they have it, but there’s other players that show it, and he’s going to let you know about it, too. That’s one of the things I respect about him. He’s a baller and a hooper and really just a gamer.”
Indeed. Oklahoma City figured to be the fiercest test of Indiana’s resilience. The Thunder are a juiced-up version of the Pacers, loaded at every position, deep at most. In the first half, Oklahoma City flexed that strength, racing out to an early 13-point lead, finishing the half up 12. The Thunder ball pressure was relentless, forcing an astonishing 19 turnovers in the first two quarters.
At halftime, Carlisle spoke calmly. The 19 turnovers were bad. But Oklahoma City had scored just nine points on them. The Thunder attempted 19 more shots than Indiana. But were up only 12.
“We were within reach,” Carlisle said.
By the end of the third quarter, the lead was sliced to nine. In the fourth, the game started to get away from the Pacers. Alex Caruso free throws pushed the lead to 11 and a Jalen Williams layup made it 13. It was 15 when Williams slammed home a dunk, and the sold-out Paycom Center crowd was ready to celebrate. Said Haliburton, “It felt like it could get ugly.”
In a timeout, Carlisle reminded his team: . Chip away, Carlisle said. Hang in. “We had a lot of experience in these kinds of games,” Carlisle said. “And our guys have a real good feel for what it’s all about, giving ourselves a chance.”
So much of this postseason has been about Haliburton, but he has had plenty of help. Andrew Nembhard’s defense set up Haliburton to close out Milwaukee. Nesmith’s three-point shooting created the opportunity for Haliburton to make the skyscraping jumper to force overtime against New York. In Indiana, Haliburton is the closer, with a roster 10 deep fighting to get him there.
In Game 1, it was no different. Obi Toppin knocked down a three to cut the lead to 11. Then it was a Turner triple slashing the lead to single digits. Then Toppin again. Then Turner. Nembhard, Gilgeous-Alexander’s Team Canada teammate, hounded the MVP, creating the stop that led to Haliburton’s game-winner.
“I think as a group, like we never think the game is over, ever,” Haliburton said. “Honestly speaking, . That never creeps in. I think we just keep talking as a group, ”
Indiana gets that it’s the underdog. The players see the media coverage. Hell, they look for it. “We’re a young team,” Haliburton said, “so we probably spend more time on social media than we should.” This series has been billed as a coronation for Oklahoma City, the punctuation of one of the NBA’s most remarkable rebuilds.
The Pacers know few believe in them, even now that they have seized home court. It’s nothing new. They felt the skepticism last season, when after a competitive four-game sweep by Boston they were dismissed as a fluke. They heard it early this season, when they limped into January with a sub-.500 mark.
“You have an unsuccessful first couple months and now it’s easy for everyone to clown you and talk about you in a negative way,” Haliburton said. “And I think as a group we take everything personal. It’s not just me. It’s everybody. I feel like that’s the DNA of this group and that’s not just me. It’s our coaching staff [that] does a great job of making us aware of what’s being said.”
No one is clowning Indiana now. The Thunder watched the Pacers defy odds in the conference playoffs, and now they know what it feels like to be on the wrong end of it. They will regroup, recover, confident that if they play the same way in Game 2, they will again be in a position to win.
“Basketball has ups and downs,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It is what it is. Can’t do anything about it now. Just got to be better for next game.”
For all of it. No lead is safe against these Pacers, no game out of reach. One by one they knocked off Eastern Conference contenders and now here they are, threatening to rewrite the ending to Oklahoma City’s storybook season.
“This group never gives up,” Haliburton said. “We never believe that the game is over until it hits zero, and that’s just the God’s honest truth. That’s just the confidence that we have as a group, and I think that’s a big reason why this is going on.”
