“As a group, we never think the game is over, ever. Honestly speaking, ever,” said Tyrese Haliburton when discussing his final shot that delivered the Indiana Pacers the win in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. For the majority of the game, it felt that the odds were in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder’s favor. After all, the Pacers had 19 turnovers by the end of the 1st half. Moreover, they trailed by 99-108 with 2:36 minutes remaining in the 4th quarter. Therefore, nothing more would have been crushing than knowing that the game was in the bag. But the Pacers’ resilience allowed them to steal the game in the last seconds. Fortunately, any feelings of anger and regret are not present anymore. The team simply cannot afford to hold them.
With hours remaining until Game 2, several OKC players participated in a post-practice media session. During Isaiah Hartenstein’s presser, they asked the player about the mood in the locker room after Game 1. Especially “after the shot”, since “it looked like a big shock”. Hartenstein replied that “It’s good. I mean, again, we’re a good team of staying present. There’s the after game, you’re mad, you get over those emotions, and again those are just feelings. Um, fleeting feelings. It’s the only thing you can really control is like, you go to the facts of what you did wrong, how you get better at them, and that’s what we’re focused on”. According to the Center, one can certainly imagine 100 different scenarios in their head, and try to make the feelings get worse.
However, he considers the Oklahoma City Thunder squad to be “a facts team”, whose focus is simply on just getting better. The OKC squad certainly was not in a good mood after the game. A reporter during Alex Caruso’s presser even highlighted that Chet Holmgren was reportedly ‘furious’ after the loss. For someone who Caruso claimed had been pretty good at picking himself up, this was certainly unsettling. However, the power forward himself indicated that the priority for him is always the next game when asked if he knew, even at the beginning of the new season, that this is the championship year for OKC.
During a press conference on June 7, Holmgren said, “Uh, at the beginning of the season, uh, there’s so many things to focus on. Uh, that’s not one of the things that comes to mind. We got to focus on how to be better, ready for game one, and uh, game one of the regular season, and, you know, after every single game, the focus switches to the next game.” When asked about their strategy for the next game, he noted, “So, uh, we’re not thinking that far ahead.” The outcome of Game 1 would have certainly left many stunned.
Feb 28, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein (55) in action against the Atlanta Hawks in the second quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images
After all, throughout the remaining 2:52 minutes in the 4th quarter, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and co made just one basket the rest of the game. The Pacers, meanwhile, continued making play after play. The recent standoff against OKC marked the Pacers’ fifth comeback victory from a deficit of 15 or more points in the 2025 NBA playoffs. It was the most by a team in a single postseason since 1998. Shai and co aiding in this record would not have left a good feeling in the locker room.
It is hard to feel hope when a team loses Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Especially by the closest margin one could have in an NBA game, and that too after having held the lead throughout the matchup, except for (literally) the last second. Fortunately, hope is something that does not seem to be absent from the OKC squad. After all, it wasn’t that long ago when the players were caught in a similar situation.
Jalen Williams and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander use Denver Nuggets comeback as proof of Oklahoma City Thunder’s prowess
After the recent loss, the confidence of some fans towards OKC would have been reduced. The same, of course, would have also happened after the Oklahoma City Thunder squad lost Game 1. And that was against the Denver Nuggets in the recent Conference Semi-Finals. Despite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s near 33-point triple-double, and Alex Caruso’s 20 points and 5 steals, Nikola Jokic and co still emerged victorious. That was called a “shocker” by ‘OKC Thunder Wire’ reporter Clemente Almanza. However, OKC recovered from that setback. They won the next 4 out of 6 games to head to the Conference Finals. That recovery is now serving as a ray of hope through which the OKC squad can counter any doubters.
During the recent post-game presser, Jalen Williams was described to be ‘frustrated’. Despite that, he said “Well, it sucks. But, we have been here before. Obviously, in the Denver series, around the same thing to be totally honest. We’ll get back to 0-0 and look at what we can do to get better.” He further added that “It’s first to four. Regardless of whether it’s the finals or round one. You still have to win four games. So, we’ll take that and be ready for Game 2.”
Williams wasn’t the only one to use the Game 1 loss against the Denver Nuggets to highlight hope. During his presser, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said, “How you lose doesn’t really matter. Obviously it sucks — last-second shot, the energy in the arena and stuff like that. But we lost at the end of the day. We lost Game 1. We’ve lost Game 1 before. On the other side of that, we came out a better team. That’s our goal.”
Oklahoma Thunder at Orlando Magic, Orlando, Florida, USA Orlando, Florida, USA, December 19, 2024, Oklahoma Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 2 at the Kia Center. Photo by Marty Jean-Louis/Sipa USA NOxUSExINxGERMANY PUBLICATIONxINxALGxARGxAUTxBRNxBRAxCANxCHIxCHNxCOLxECUxEGYxGRExINDxIRIxIRQxISRxJORxKUWxLIBxLBAxMLTxMEXxMARxOMAxPERxQATxKSAxSUIxSYRxTUNxTURxUAExUKxVENxYEMxONLY Copyright: xMartyxJean-Louisx Editorial use only
Since 2000, 4 road teams won Game 1 of the NBA Finals, and only one of them won the championship. As reported by Land of Basketball, only 22.1% of times have teams recovered from a 0-1 deficit in the NBA playoffs. The odds can favor either team, especially with their skills on the pace level being the same. Therefore, predicting whether Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his team can overcome the deficit after Game 2 must wait until the final basket.
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