Indiana Pacers erased a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter to take Game 1 of the NBA Finals series, with Tyrese Haliburton draining a buzzer-beating shot to seal a thrilling 111-110 win over Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night.
OKC got off to a bright start and led by 12 points at the half, led by Western Conference Finals MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, before the Pacers rallied to cut the gap to six points with two three-pointers as the third quarter was drawing to a close.
But SGA responded with a three for his 28th point in the game to give OKC a nine-point lead heading to the fourth quarter; where the real drama was about to go down at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.
A steal by Jalen Williams made the score 94-79 in OKC’s favour with just 9:42 on the clock, while Alex Caruso had the chance to make a three-point play and restore that 15-point gap when he was fouled as he made a tough lay-up, only to miss the subsequent free throw.
That miss would be part of a series of plays that would prove crucial in the Pacers erasing another double-figure lead late in the game during this NBA post-season, with Pascal Siakam and Haliburton scoring in the closing stages to flip the score in the Pacers’ favour with 0.3 seconds left.
Watch how Pacers pulled off the comeback at OKC here.