By Joel Perez 
ALRIGHT… WHAT THE HELL DID WE JUST WATCH?!
Tyrese Haliburton has done it again. The Indiana Pacers steal another Game 1—just like
they did against the New York Knicks. But this one felt even weirder than that Knicks
game.
In Game 1 against the Knicks, Aaron Nesmith was on fire. He hit nearly every
three-pointer he threw up at the rim—missing only one the entire game. Toward the
end, it didn’t matter how wild the shot was—Nesmith just couldn’t miss. The dude was
on fire.
Then Haliburton tied the game with a ridiculous attempt. Unfortunately, his foot was on
the line, so it was ruled a two instead of a three. Still, the ball hit the rim, popped up,
and dropped straight back down to tie the game with barely any time left.
And of course, we all remember the “choke” emote—an obvious Reggie Miller callback.
The only difference? Reggie won the game with his shot. Hali just tied it. But he didn’t
know his foot was on the line, and the Pacers went on to win anyway—shocking the
world, silencing New York, and eventually taking down the Knicks to reach the Finals.
Now, after another Game 1 win—this time over the OKC Thunder—it’s starting to feel
surreal. The Pacers might actually have a real shot at taking this series.
Throughout the first half, it was noticeable that Indiana wasn’t playing their best,
especially in taking care of the ball—they finished the half with 19 turnovers. Normally,
you’d expect a team with that many turnovers to get blown out. But for some odd
reason, it never truly felt like they were going to flat-out lose. Indiana kept themselves
in the game, making plays and hitting shots when it mattered most.
In the third quarter, it felt like they had a bit more urgency—they saw an opportunity to
make it a game and just kept pushing. Eventually, they’d make their way back in, or at
least that’s what I envisioned as a viewer watching this masterclass of hoops unfold in
Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
The fourth quarter came around, and with about 6 minutes left, Myles Turner hit a
leaning step-back three-pointer from the left corner after a pump fake—and banked it
in to make it a four-point game. At that point, you could feel and hear the OKC crowd
start to settle down, worry creeping in about the outcome.
Little did they know, a couple minutes later, Andrew Nembhard took over as lead guard.
With OKC’s Lu Dort locking down Haliburton, making it nearly impossible for Tyrese to get the ball and initiate offense, Nembhard found himself in an isolation against his Olympic teammate and friend—the reigning MVP of the league.
Nembhard started showing off his bag, creating space, and eventually stepped back
into a three-point attempt over Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to make it a three-point game
with exactly two minutes left.
The next Indiana possession brought a similar iso possession for Nembhard, this time
against Cason Wallace. After passing around the perimeter, with Tyrese again
completely shut out by Lu Dort, Nembhard missed the three badly—but somehow the
ball found its way to Pascal Siakam, who put it right back up, cutting OKC’s lead to one
with about 50 seconds left.
After some misses from OKC and a failed challenge from Indiana, Shai decided to
make a play for himself. For a second, I really thought SGA was going to make that
mid-range shot he rarely misses. But as I sat there in disbelief after Shai’s miss, the
Pacers grabbed the rebound—Nesmith fought hard, passed to Siakam, who gave it to
Hali.
With a timeout still on the clock, Rick Carlisle and his staff decided not to call one,
trusting their guys to make a play. And just like in Game 1 against the Knicks,
Haliburton pulled up for a jump shot and drained the go-ahead shot with 0.3 seconds
left—absolutely stunning the OKC crowd and everyone watching around the world.
Haliburton and the Pacers stole another playoff game under crazy circumstances.
Man oh man, what a game. What a phenomenal way to start the Finals.
As we all know, this series is for real sickos like me who just love hoops and can clearly
see how this matchup could be something great—two of the fastest-paced, most
exciting teams in the sport.
Hali wins it for Indiana, and they take Game 1 in Oklahoma on the very same day his
signature shoe with Puma is revealed.
Man oh man, what a story. What a great way to kick off this series.
Joel Perez