Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers did it again. They came away with a miraculous 111-110 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Haliburton made an improbable shot to win Game 1 on the road in the Eastern Conference finals against the New York Knicks and he did it once more in this Game 1 on the NBA's biggest stage.
Indiana came up with a big defensive stop off a Shai Gilgeous-Alexander miss and Pacers coach Rick Carlisle chose to keep his one timeout left in his pocket. The ball found its way to Haliburton with just over six seconds remaining before he drained a long two after creating space on Thunder guard and elite defender Cason Wallace.
Immediately after the game, Haliburton credited his coach for trusting his team in pivotal moments.
"It ain't over 'till it hit zero."@TyHaliburton22 on the Pacers' 5th 15-PT comeback of the Playoffs 😤#NBAFinals presented by @YouTubeTV https://t.co/heI0ELIQlu pic.twitter.com/iTQF8iuR6W
— NBA (@NBA) June 6, 2025
"We got the stop and coach [Carlisle] trusts us in those moments to not call timeouts," Haliburton said of the game-winning shot in his postgame interview on the ESPN broadcast. "He trusts me in those moments, the guys trust me and I was just trying to make a play. So, man, basketball is fun. Winning is fun. That's a great win for us."
Carlisle's decision to let play go once the Pacers controlled possession led to the game-winning shot and gave Indiana the chance to call a timeout before the Thunder inbounded the ball with 0.3 seconds left.
Haliburton had 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists on the night. The Pacers come away with a 1-0 series lead in the NBA Finals ahead of Game 2 in Oklahoma City on Sunday.
More On Pacers Game 1 Win
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Tyrese Haliburton Credits Rick Carlisle for Bold Coaching Move That Led to Final Shot.
