Would it not have been higher for the Indiana Pacers to win Sport 1 by 30 factors as a substitute of the way in which it occurred — with the Pacers trailing by 15 with 9:42 to go and Tyrese Haliburton giving them their solely lead with 0.3 seconds remaining?
Completely not.
Give it some thought: The Pacers are within the excellent spot as they put together for Sport 2 on Sunday night time.
They claimed a 1-0 lead within the NBA Finals’ best-of-seven sequence, however they don’t should take care of any of the human-nature negative effects that always include it.
First, the Pacers aren’t deluded into pondering that profitable Sport 1 on the street ensures they’ll hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy. For the file, the one instances previously 20 years when a street workforce received Sport 1 (the 2022 Boston Celtics and the 2013 San Antonio Spurs), that workforce nonetheless misplaced the sequence.
Second — and extra necessary — with the way in which Sport 1 unfolded, it’s not possible for the Pacers to imagine they’re clearly superior to the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder. There’s no motive for a psychological letdown. No motive to imagine they will throw their PUMAs (in Haliburton’s case) or their Nikes on the ground Sunday night time and assume victory.
“We all know we’re a reasonably heavy underdog right here,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle stated earlier than Sport 1.
And that didn’t change simply because the Pacers received.
Actually, in keeping with BetMGM, the Pacers had been 9.5-point underdogs in Sport 1. The BetMGM oddsmakers had been so impressed by the Pacers’ rally Thursday, they promptly made Indiana 10.5-point underdogs for Sport 2.
LOL.
It’s this form of insult that retains the Pacers hungry to determine find out how to clear up the Thunder’s defensive schemes. To be honest, they confirmed some progress throughout Sport 1. After committing 19 turnovers within the first half — which put them on tempo to set an NBA Finals single-game file — Indiana coughed it up simply 5 instances within the second half.
“They’re a menace defensively,” Carlisle stated. “We too typically took it into crowds. Then, you recognize, different instances they only take the ball out of your arms. The extent of their protection is loopy good.”
Even when the Pacers stop turning it over so regularly, they nonetheless appeared spooked by how shortly the Thunder’s assist defenders closed in.
Pacers like Haliburton and Andrew Nembhard would drive to the ring, but sneak glances to their left and proper, frightened about getting stripped from the blind facet. And Chet Holmgren — along with his 7-foot-6 wingspan — gave the impression to be in every single place.
Throughout one three-possession stretch within the third quarter, Aaron Nesmith drove into Lu Dort for a cost. However even when the decision hadn’t gone Dort’s manner, Holmgren had already rotated over to problem the shot.
On the following possession, Holmgren flew out to the nook to deflect Nesmith’s 3-point try.
The one after that, Myles Turner caught the ball above the 3-point arc, used a pump pretend to get previous Holmgren on a drive — and nonetheless received pressured right into a journey as a result of Holmgren recovered.
That is basic second-guessing, however Oklahoma Metropolis led 104–96 with 3:24 left when Thunder coach Mark Daigneault subbed Holmgren out for Cason Wallace. Thirty seconds later, when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hit two free throws to increase OKC’s result in 9, the Pacers’ win chance stood at simply 2.6 p.c.
But Holmgren didn’t return to the court docket till there have been 0.3 seconds left — when the Thunder’s solely possibility was an inbounds lob for a tip-in.
That didn’t work out, which meant the Pacers grew to become the primary workforce since no less than 1971 to win an NBA Finals sport when trailing by no less than 9 factors within the remaining three minutes.
Now the query: Can the Pacers develop into the primary workforce for the reason that 1995 Houston Rockets — led by Corridor of Famers Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler — to take a 2-0 Finals lead on the street?
We’ve all discovered to not put something previous them.
“I believe … we take every little thing private as a gaggle,” Haliburton stated. “It’s not simply me. It’s all people. I really feel like that’s the DNA of this group and that’s not simply me. It’s our teaching employees (doing) an awesome job of creating us conscious of what’s being stated. Us as gamers, we speak about it within the locker room and on the aircraft. We’re a younger workforce, so we most likely spend extra time on social media than we should always.
“I simply assume we do an awesome job of taking issues private, and that provides this group extra confidence.”
