NBA Finals: Oklahoma City Thunder vs Indiana Pacers

[dahntayJfanclub]

This feels like the Peyton-era Colts, where you can be behind by a mile early in the 4th and still feel like you can win it. Not because it makes sense (the statistics say you're dead), but because they just keep making miracles. You can see the belief on the players' faces. No pouting, crying, or anger. Just calm determination. The fact that the Pacers have had this mojo throughout the playoffs is on another level, though.

Don't. Turn. The. TV. Off.

[JMaster5K]

I just feel joy and don't have much to communicate, so just boom baby!

I am so glad someone gave a ‘Boom Baby!’! Slick & Nancy are watching this! After all they gave to this team, you can bet Slick is whispering in Coach’s ear,… not that Coach Carlisle needs it.

[granger05]

I live in Colorado and years ago, I had just started at the same job I have now when the Pacers made the finals for the first time. I drove out to Indy for game 5 even though they were down 3-1 in the series. They blew the Lakers out that game. I kind of debated driving all the way to LA to keep it rolling, but I didn't. Over the years, I decided that if they ever made the finals again, I would go to all the games. So, I'm in OKC and game 1 was a lot of fun. I didn't wear any Pacers gear because I didn't want to antagonize people, but they gave everybody white shirts and I also wasn't going to wear that. It was pretty obvious who the Pacer fans were. I pulled my phone out at halftime to see how many turnovers we had because it felt like so many. The thing with this run is that it just never feels like they're out of it. The Thunder would hit a big three or dunk and the crowd would go crazy and there would be replays on the jumbotron, but before any of that was even done the Pacers would already have hit a shot at the other end. They're kind of always in that hectic last minute mode.

They just kept hanging around. They cut it to 6 right before the 4th, but then SGA responded with a 3 to push the lead back up. With maybe 6 minutes to go, the Pacers finally had a little spurt to start cutting those double digit leads down to 4 and the arena got noticeably less enthusiastic. They really wanted good things to happen and SGA delivered a couple of times to give them something to erupt about, but folks were getting nervous. When OKC missed their last shot and the Pacers got the ball and gave it Haliburton I was like "We're gonna win."

So far, they're 2-0 when I go to Finals games and I already have tickets for the next 3.

[SunsRback4Good]

This feels like the Peyton-era Colts, where you can be behind by a mile early in the 4th and still feel like you can win it. Not because it makes sense (the statistics say you're dead), but because they just keep making miracles. You can see the belief on the players' faces. No pouting, crying, or anger. Just calm determination. The fact that the Pacers have had this mojo throughout the playoffs is on another level, though.

Don't. Turn. The. TV. Off.

I’m a diehard Pacer fan since early 2025 NBA playoffs and I completely agree with your statement . Go Pacers Go!!!

[Pacers Forever]

My thoughts after the latest episode of Tyrese and the never say die Pacers are:

I have to say that my posts wanting a last minute first game of the series win was with the knowledge that the Thunder have been a dominant home court team and the best record team this season. I felt if we could win it would be last minute as it so happened to play out. Now my outlook has changed after tonight’s result. I’ll address later.


It doesn’t get old winning regardless of last minute heroics. I liked hearing Mike Breen dominate the call. I thought this referee crew were fair and I really enjoyed them not being the show like some refs we’ve seen.

I thought Chet, Jaylen, and Cason probably all underperformed for the Thunder. For the Pacers I thought Benn had the roughest night not ever seeming to get going. Aaron and Andrew had rough shooting nights but both still contributed very well in other ways.

That leads to this from the stat sheet. Thunder had ZERO players with a double doubles. Pacers had three players with Myles 1 rebound away from a fourth. I was shocked when I heard that the Pacers won the rebounding battle by 17 boards. Also pretty shocking is that the Thunder had only 13 assists.

I heard the after game thoughts from the sports media. (Not ours) I think a great point was made that if the Pacers can win this game with over 20 turnovers there’s no way they’ll play this bad next game. Thus the Thunder coaches and players have much more to worry about. Another comment even though Shai got his their offense was disjointed and it hurt them. The Pacers passing offense relies on less situations of iso ball going wrong thus more efficiency spread throughout several scoring options. Another comment was that the Pacers actually have more experience going into the Finals with a visit to the ECF 2 years in a row. The Thunder only made the WCF this season.

With all these media comments and the Pacers continually finding a way to win I now feel differently about the Finals. Before tonight’s game I was hopeful of tonight’s result and knew it could happen but I wasn’t confident knowing the season the Thunder had. Now I feel confident that the Pacers are actually the deeper, more experienced, and better team. I think it is destiny that the Pacers win their first NBA championship and I still go with my original belief of the Pacers in 6.

[Pacersike]

I just feel joy and don't have much to communicate, so just boom baby!

I am so glad someone gave a ‘Boom Baby!’! Slick & Nancy are watching this! After all they gave to this team, you can bet Slick is whispering in Coach’s ear,… not that Coach Carlisle needs it.

It needs to be used every day, unless you are carrying a baby of course.

[GermanFan120]

I was screaming my lungs out last night, and I woke up this morning and still felt the excitement.

Couple things to say and share with you all:

About OKC:
1. We the Pacers are still the underdog, 200%.
2. Thunder had a game 1 heart breaker vs. the Nuggets, and they still beat them afterwards, in convincing fashion. So game 1 meant something, but it is far from over.


About the Pacers:
1. The Pacers didn't lead the game last night for 47 mins and 59.7 secs, and the Pacers won somehow someway. Thunder might be the better team, but the Pacers teach good lessons about life. If you don't give up and continue to chase for the impossible, miracle does happen.
2. Rick Carlisle, hands down, is the best coach left in NBA. Doc Rivers would have called a timeout in the last play.
3. Thunder would be super ultra pissed and game 2 there will be blood. We need to be ready for that.
4. If you like basketball, you will adore this Pacers team. The Pacers might not win the championship in the end, but their legacy will live forever.

(Sorry about my English too, not my native language.)

[Wizop]

This feels like the Peyton-era Colts,

or when Harbaugh was Captain Comeback.

[granger05]

1. The Pacers didn't lead the game last night for 47 mins and 57 secs

47 mins and 59.7 seconds

For the Pacers I thought Benn had the roughest night not ever seeming to get going.

During warm-ups I saw him miss on a few of those little one-hand floaters, just couldn't hit them and early in his game time, he had one that also missed. He maybe never got it going, but he is so overly aggressive that I kind of thought he sparked things in the second half. He got to the line a couple times and his aggression seems contagious and I thought helped carry things. One strength of the team regarding their resilience in these games is probably that they have a lot of players like this and any one of them can provide a spark and the rest of them are like kindling.

I was shocked when I heard that the Pacers won the rebounding battle by 17 boards.

I think this stat is a little misleading. The Pacers had so many turnovers that they took a lot less shots than the Thunder and also shot pretty well so there were just less shots for the Thunder to rebound in general. I think we missed 43 shots and they missed 59 if I remember right. That pretty much aligns with the rebounding margin. That said, I did feel like a bunch of 50/50 type balls went the Thunder's way. Long rebounds or plays where guys tapped things out seemed to land in their guys hands a bit more often so there's some regression hope there.

I think a great point was made that if the Pacers can win this game with over 20 turnovers there’s no way they’ll play this bad next game. Thus the Thunder coaches and players have much more to worry about. Another comment even though Shai got his their offense was disjointed and it hurt them. The Pacers passing offense relies on less situations of iso ball going wrong thus more efficiency spread throughout several scoring options.

My concern going in was that the Pacers make a lot of these cross court passes on the move. Tyreses loves his jump passing. I was worried that the Thunder would be aware and jump on these. That didn't really happen. Most of the TOs seemed to be on guys getting stripped on drives or just down inside in general. I also kind of hoped that Carlisle and the coaches would have a plan to maybe weaponize the Thunder's defensive aggressiveness to create openings. I'm not sure that happened either, but I did feel like there were a lot more forcefully pass fakes than normal so maybe they were trying. Point is that I worried their passing could turn into a liability and that didn't happen. I think getting accustomed to avoiding those strips on drives/rebounds is more easily adjusted to.

The Pacers did have a lot of TOs, but they also shot a lot better than the Thunder did so there are things I think will regress to the mean in our favor and things that will go the other way. I think our best asset is that they really do just never give up and this team has guys everywhere that are willing to shoot 3s and can hit them so they can make up ground quickly and they like playing that chaotic comeback style even when they're ahead. I think that game 5 in the Knicks series when they were leading late I really wanted them to grind some clock and they were still driving into the teeth of the D and kicking out for a three with 10+ seconds on the shotclock. They're just like this, and you take the good with the bad. I saw a tweet that they are 5-3 in games when they trail by at least 15 points in these playoffs.

[GermanFan120]

1. The Pacers didn't lead the game last night for 47 mins and 57 secs

47 mins and 59.7 seconds

For the Pacers I thought Benn had the roughest night not ever seeming to get going.

During warm-ups I saw him miss on a few of those little one-hand floaters, just couldn't hit them and early in his game time, he had one that also missed. He maybe never got it going, but he is so overly aggressive that I kind of thought he sparked things in the second half. He got to the line a couple times and his aggression seems contagious and I thought helped carry things. One strength of the team regarding their resilience in these games is probably that they have a lot of players like this and any one of them can provide a spark and the rest of them are like kindling.

I was shocked when I heard that the Pacers won the rebounding battle by 17 boards.

I think this stat is a little misleading. The Pacers had so many turnovers that they took a lot less shots than the Thunder and also shot pretty well so there were just less shots for the Thunder to rebound in general. I think we missed 43 shots and they missed 59 if I remember right. That pretty much aligns with the rebounding margin. That said, I did feel like a bunch of 50/50 type balls went the Thunder's way. Long rebounds or plays where guys tapped things out seemed to land in their guys hands a bit more often so there's some regression hope there.

I think a great point was made that if the Pacers can win this game with over 20 turnovers there’s no way they’ll play this bad next game. Thus the Thunder coaches and players have much more to worry about. Another comment even though Shai got his their offense was disjointed and it hurt them. The Pacers passing offense relies on less situations of iso ball going wrong thus more efficiency spread throughout several scoring options.

My concern going in was that the Pacers make a lot of these cross court passes on the move. Tyreses loves his jump passing. I was worried that the Thunder would be aware and jump on these. That didn't really happen. Most of the TOs seemed to be on guys getting stripped on drives or just down inside in general. I also kind of hoped that Carlisle and the coaches would have a plan to maybe weaponize the Thunder's defensive aggressiveness to create openings. I'm not sure that happened either, but I did feel like there were a lot more forcefully pass fakes than normal so maybe they were trying. Point is that I worried their passing could turn into a liability and that didn't happen. I think getting accustomed to avoiding those strips on drives/rebounds is more easily adjusted to.

The Pacers did have a lot of TOs, but they also shot a lot better than the Thunder did so there are things I think will regress to the mean in our favor and things that will go the other way. I think our best asset is that they really do just never give up and this team has guys everywhere that are willing to shoot 3s and can hit them so they can make up ground quickly and they like playing that chaotic comeback style even when they're ahead. I think that game 5 in the Knicks series when they were leading late I really wanted them to grind some clock and they were still driving into the teeth of the D and kicking out for a three with 10+ seconds on the shotclock. They're just like this, and you take the good with the bad. I saw a tweet that they are 5-3 in games when they trail by at least 15 points in these playoffs.

Yes 59.7 secs, I made a typo.

[Wizop]

Don't overlook the adjustments we've already made. We scored 66 in the 2nd half and only had 5 turnovers. I was pessimistic going into game 1 but I became optimistic about game 2 some time in the 3rd quarter.

[GermanFan120]

Another thing I want to mention is that this OKC team is not as good when they are under pressure, similar to the Miami Heat 2011. For example they lost the in-season tournament against the Bucks too.

So if Pacers can build a lead going into crunch time, that would boost the possibility to win a lot.

[boomershadow]

This is the coolest year to be a Pacers fan that I can remember.

[Pacers Forever]

This is the coolest year to be a Pacers fan that I can remember.

It’s quite a different story line with this team(a more youthful dynamic still maturing squad) making a 2 year run towards the Finals compared to cheering for Reggie’s team in the Finals back in the day. Both were great but this season has been magical and so exciting to see and experience the growth of this team to getting back to potential playoff regulars as the organization once was.

[6ixpessant]

Nick Nurse: Let's get the split in the Bay.

Kawhi Leonard: F that, let's get them both. (Mission accomplished and I'm sure Spicy has brought that up)

Let's goooooooooooo Pacers. (Still love ya SGA) Do it for Reggie! Great teams that had to deal with the cheat code that was MJ.

[AussiePacer]

I expect OKC will attempt to run us off the line from 3 and do more work to limit our assist numbers. Expecting Spicy P and Benn to have higher scoring games as a result. Hopefully can get downhill and to the line aggressively.

I think they’ve got a little bit of offensive growth. They’ll be trying to go hard at Myles early and get him into foul trouble - he really anchored us brilliantly and we need him spending 32 mins on the court from a defensive standpoint.

I keep on “hoping” we give a good account and we keep exceeding my expectations. I’ll continue as it’s working. Optimistically nervous.

It could also just be a total blowout statement game by OKC as a worst case scenario….

[Wizop]

It could also just be a total blowout statement game by OKC as a worst case scenario….

And the best case is we blow them out.

[Wizop]

Indy channel 6 doing a local pregame now (7:00)

[boomershadow]

It could also just be a total blowout statement game by OKC as a worst case scenario….

And the best case is we blow them out.

Game 2 Siakam scoring explosion. Let's make it a recurring thing.

[Wizop]

Game 2 Siakam scoring explosion. Let's make it a recurring thing.

His 30 point games have been in the even number games. That's reoccurring.