NBA Finals Predictions: Thunder or Pacers?
Will the Pacers have a chance against lightning in the THR NBA Finals? Fth Crew doesn’t have much faith in this series.
Oklahoma City — Due to the long stretch of Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers, the Pacers looked like they were teams who regretted the chance to be blown away through the arena.
The Pacers were selling on what appeared to be all their other possessions – 20 rpm in the first half alone.
Oklahoma City Thunder’s NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander delivered an additional 30 points performance.
Arenna filled primarily with Thunder fans – there was nearly 48 minutes of game action to celebrate, except for full-time non-basketball operations employees who leapt into the game.
“This arena is crazy… From a road perspective, decibels were insane,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said.
When the game ended, 18,000 lightning fans disappointed the arena.
Thunder has regrets. They waste opportunities.
They were unable to make the most of those pacers’ turnover and drive the pacers away. They took a 15-point lead early in the fourth quarter and failed to score a 9-point lead later in the fourth quarter.
They were unable to use the Gilgeous-Alexander 38-point game. They were unable to win Game 1 on Thursday, June 5th.
The Resilient Pacers defeated the Thunder 111-110 to take a 1-0 series lead with Tyrese Haliburton’s 21-foot jump shot with 0.3 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
“We learned from that. We could improve just as much as we would have if we had won the game and got ready for Game 2.
Thunder was disappointed, but there was no panic. Oklahoma City lost Game 1 to Denver in the Western Conference semi-finals and won the series at Seven Games.
“The playoffs will bring you to the limits,” Daigneault said. “They turn their backs against the wall in the game. If they do this this far, you have to endure to do it. It gives you a rich experience that you can bring out.
“There are more games left in the series. We understand that. As always, we’ve come to zero ourselves. I hope we’ve formed. These guys have created a habit of playing the best games with themselves in the next game.”
The Thunder have not lost a back-to-back games in the playoffs, losing twice in a row during the regular season.
They won 68 regular season games and 12 playoff games. They know what they need.
They watch the movie. Of Indiana’s 25 turnovers, the Thunder scored just 11 points from these sales. They shot just 39.8% off the field. Daigneault tinkered with the starting lineup and inserted Casson Wallace instead of Isaiah Hartenstein. Chet Holmgren had just six points, not a factor.
“The series is not one from the beginning, it’s four from the beginning,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We have four more games, but they have three. That’s one of us. We managed to understand that. If we wanted to win the NBA Championship, we were able to reach four before they reached three.
“It’s that simple. It’s not rocket science. We lost Game 1. We have to get better.”