Finals Game One: Hold Our Beer, NHL

It only took barely over a month for me to eat crow.

During the tail end of April, I wrote a piece about how the NBA (especially the playoffs) lacks parity. This was due to the fact that three first round series ended in sweeps, and one ended in five by the time I wrote the piece, while the first round of this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs had no sweeps. I had also said that we're basically doomed to get the same teams deep in the playoffs in the NBA, while the NHL will give us different teams every year.

There's a rematch going on in one of the Finals, and it's not the one you think.

While the NHL is giving us a repeat of last year's Stanley Cup Final, look who is playing in the 2025 NBA Finals. The Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers. A pair of small-town teams going at it for the Larry O'Brien Trophy. OKC nailed down the NBA's best record, eased their way through Round 1, but had a tough go against the Denver Nuggets in the second round. The Thunder needed five games to oust the Minnesota Timberwolves, resulting in a 12-4 record and their second Finals appearance since the franchise moved from Seattle.

As for the Pacers, they've been the surprise story this year. After dominating the descending Milwaukee Bucks, the Pacers actually dominated the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in Round 2, and took out the New York Knicks in a six game Eastern Conference Finals. The Pacers are in the NBA Finals for the second time in franchise history, and the first time in a quarter-century. Indy was looking for their first NBA Championship, while the Thunder are looking for their first crown in OKC; they previously won in 1979 as the Seattle SuperSonics.

The game started well enough; the Thunder went on a 7-0 run to start the game, with Indy's first point coming at the free throw line. It was a nine-point lead for the Thunder after one quarter, and at the half, OKC led by a full dozen: 57-45. The Thunder continued to dominate in the third, and even had a 15 point lead, which was their largest of the game. It didn't look like the Pacers had a shot in this game. Even as the Pacers wittled their deficit down to nine entering the fourth quarter, it still looked iffy.

And then, the Pacers "Pacered."

Clutch shots, big threes when they needed them, free throws at the right time, and all of a sudden, it was a one point game very late. Pascal Siakam knocking the ball out of bounds and not getting a foul call in his favor looked like it would be the end for Indy in Game One. Thunder had the ball, it was in the hands of the reigning NBA MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander... and he missed the lay-up. Indy rebounds, the ball ends up in the hands of Tyrese Haliburton, and...

He did it again, folks.

The Indiana Pacers won Game One, 111-110, thanks to yet another clutch Tyrese Haliburton shot. He keeps on doing this, folks. He gets the ball in his hands, he throws it up at the right time, and it turns into a game being stolen by the Indiana Pacers. Haliburton is the ultimate heartbreaker in 2025. Just when your team's won, BANG! Haliburton time. It's been absolutely insane how he's doing this in this run. Indy steals yet another game on the road and they move three wins away from their first championship.

Haliburton wasn't even the lead scorer on the Pacers in Game One. In fact, no Pacer scored 20 points. 19 led the team, and it was 2019 NBA Champion Pascal Siakam who led the way in that category. Myles Turner finished with 15 points, while Haliburton had 14. For OKC, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 38 points, but no one else on the Thunder had half that. Indy has a good chance to take the series; the winner of Game One of the NBA Finals has gone on to win the series 55 out of the past 78 times, which equals about 70.5% of the time.

Amazing! One night prior, the Stanley Cup Final gave us an absolutely awesome and memorable Game One. The NBA Finals just did the same. What a year! Game Two is Sunday in Oklahoma City, and the Thunder need to win that one.

* * *

If you like this story, click the heart and the subscribe button, and feel free to comment below! Tips and pledges would be greatly appreciated, as they help support my writing, but only if you want to do so!