Tyrese Haliburton scored in the final second as the Indiana Pacers snatched victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in game one of the NBA Finals.
His 21-foot shot put the Pacers in front for the first time in the match, with 0.3 seconds remaining as they secured a 111-110 win.
The Thunder, with home court advantage for the first two games, had led by 15 points during the fourth quarter, and in the closing seconds the ball was in the hands of NBA most valuable player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
However, he missed a two-point attempt with 12 seconds remaining and the Pacers grabbed the rebound, passed the ball to Haliburton and he drove down the court before hitting the winning points.
It’s the fourth time in the 2025 play-offs that the 25-year-old has recorded a big-time score – three times to win a match and once to force overtime.
Indiana won despite turning the ball over 25 times, with 20 of those coming in the first half.
“It’s not the recipe to win,” Haliburton said.
“We can’t turn the ball over that much. (But) come May and June, it doesn’t matter how you get them, just get them.”
Team-mate Myles Turner said of Haliburton: “Some players will say they have it, but there are other players that show it. He wants to be the one to hit that shot. He doesn’t shy away from that moment.”
Gilgeous-Alexander was the game’s leading scorer with 38 points, while Pascal Siakam top scored for the Pacers with 19 points, followed by Obi Toppin with 17.
“We played like we were trying to keep the lead instead of trying to extend it or be aggressive,” said the Thunder’s Jalen Williams.
Game two of the best-of-seven series is also in Oklahoma and will start at 19:00 local time on Sunday, 8 June (01:00 BST on Monday).
Bbc.com
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