2025 NBA Finals: Can Thunder bounce back in Game 2? Three keys for OKC after stunning loss to Pacers

Oklahoma City will get its chance to even up the series on Sunday at home

The Oklahoma City Thunder were the better basketball team for about 45 minutes of Game 1 in the NBA Finals against the Indiana Pacers. Through the entire first half, the Thunder executed with elite precision, showing on the grandest of NBA stages why this team was heavily favored to be crowned champions. The defense was smothering. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was earning every "MVP" chant. OKC made Indiana's typically fast-paced, frenetic offense look like they forgot how to play basketball altogether.

But regardless of how dominant a team is, it hasn't seemed to matter when they're playing against the Pacers. Climbing back from a 15-point deficit, Tyrese Haliburton hit a go-ahead jumper with 0.3 seconds left in the game to give Indiana a 111-110 win in Game 1 on Thursday to take a 1-0 series lead. The usually raucous fans inside Paycom Center fell silent as they became the latest victims of Haliburton and Indiana's late-game heroics.