Tyrese Haliburton converted a 21-foot jumper over Cason Wallace with 0.3 seconds remaining to give the Indiana Pacers its first and only lead, completing a historic comeback as they defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 111-110 in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday.
The shot marked the latest game-winner in Finals history since Michael Jordan's Game 1 shot in 1997 to defeat the Utah Jazz, according to ESPN Research. Indiana's first lead coming with 0.3 seconds left was the latest into any Finals game over the past 50 years.
The Pacers trailed by 15 points with 9:42 remaining before mounting the second-largest upset in Finals history over the past 35 seasons. Indiana closed as 10-point underdogs against a Thunder team that entered 36-1 at home when leading by 15 points.
Rick Carlisle's squad has become masters of late-game heroics throughout these playoffs. The Pacers previously overcame deficits of seven points with 34.6 seconds left against Milwaukee, seven points with 48 seconds left against Cleveland, and nine points with 51.1 seconds left against New York.
"We're a resilient group," Haliburton said afterward during an interview on ESPN's "SportsCenter." "We just keep saying that to you guys. You guys keep asking us, and we keep giving you the same answer. We're a resilient group and we don't give up till the clock hits zero. We do a great job of just staying in the moment. Try to get from 15 to 10 (down), 10 to 5, 5 to 0. We just walk teams down. Real proud of this group."
Pascal Siakam led Indiana with 19 points while Obi Toppin added 17. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led all scorers with 38 points for Oklahoma City, but the Thunder didn't score past the 1:27 mark in the fourth quarter.
The comeback matched the largest fourth-quarter rally in Finals history since Dallas overcame a 15-point deficit against Miami in 2011. Carlisle coached those Mavericks as well.
The Pacers had 19 turnovers in the first half, but settled down in the second half to finish with 25 in total. The Pacers had an offensive rating of 110.0 with 101 possessions in the game. Indiana had an eFG% of .585 compared to .454 for Oklahoma City to make up the possession differential.
“We've had lots of experience in these kinds of games,” Carlisle said.
"They keep coming. They keep playing. They made plays," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. "They deserve to win by a point. We got to learn from it."
