The Indiana Pacers secured a thrilling 111-110 victory in Game 1 of the NBA Finals with the OKC Thunder.
It looked like the game was over for the Indiana Pacers as they were down over 15 points in the fourth quarter.
However, the teams gathered together and wore excellent displays to win after Tirese Halliburton drained a midrange shot through OKC Thunder’s Casson Wallace.
Before the loss, the Thunder had a dominant 8-1 playoff record at Paycom Center.
Pacer himself has a record, unlike other teams in the playoffs, including the Thunder.
The Pacers reached the NBA Finals after beating teams such as the Milwaukee Bucks, Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks
Impressively, they are not tracked in the series against any of these aspects in the playoffs.
Thunder’s run was dominant, but they were 2-1 until the Denver Nuggets in their second round, but then turned things around and won the series.
The Pacers have been rumbling from the jaws of defeat several times in these playoffs.
One of the biggest examples of this was Game 1, when the Thunder seemed to have done enough to grab a victory, but the Pacers returned and stole a victory on the road.
The majority of NBA analytics writers chose Thunder to win the Pacers’ final for the dominant run so far.
However, the Pacers have proven they can’t count after a lively display to secure a victory in Game 1.
Records show that 60% of teams that won Game 1 won the championship.
The table below shows that three of the five game winners in the last five years have won the championship.
| year | The NBA Finals were played during that time | Teams that won Game 1 | Championship-winning team |
| 2020 | La Lakers vs Miami Heat | LA Lakers | LA Lakers |
| 2021 | Phoenix Suns vs. Milwaukee Bucks | Phoenix Suns | Milwaukee Bucks |
| 2022 | Boston Celtics vs Golden State Warriors | Boston Celtics | Golden State Warriors |
| 2023 | Denver Nuggets vs Miami Heat | Denver Nuggets | Denver Nuggets |
| 2024 | Dallas Mavericks vs. Boston Celtics | Boston Celtics | Boston Celtics |
Gary Payton argued that the team that first dropped the game at home would likely lose the series.
This shows Indiana has a considerable chance, but in order to continue competing in the series, some screws will need to be tightened.
Rick Carlisle’s side had 24 turnovers in the game.
The Thunder had kept Pacer to just 45 points after two quarters, but Pacer came back and looked back on things to secure a victory.
Mark Deen’s men have always responded well to bad results, so we could expect better performance from lightning.
This was proven in the series against the Minnesota Timber Wolves when he lost 42 points in Game 3.
But even Pacers are expected to play better than they are, as many experts predict that the series could become a thriller.