Oklahoma City Thunder, led by German center Isaiah Hartenstein, led for a long time, but Indiana turned the game around with 0.3 seconds left.
Oklahoma City Thunder, led by German center Isaiah Hartenstein, narrowly lost game one of the NBA Finals despite a victory that seemed certain after a dramatic final phase.
Against the Indiana Pacers, Oklahoma lost 110-111 on Friday night German time – Tyrese Haliburton sank the decisive shot for the Pacers’ victory with 0.3 seconds before the final buzzer.
Haliburton: “Basketball is fun”
“We stopped them well in the back and the guys put a lot of trust in me to take the shot,” Haliburton said of the decisive basket. “Basketball is fun, winning is fun,” added the 25-year-old, who had 14 points and ten rebounds: “This is a great win for us.” The team’s top scorer was Pascal Siakam with 19 points.
Hartenstein, who is the second German professional after Dirk Nowitzki to have the chance to win the NBA title, only came off the bench unlike recently. In around 17 minutes of playing time, he scored nine points and also had nine rebounds.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a strong 38 points for Oklahoma, he was the game’s top scorer, but he himself missed the possible decision before Haliburton’s decisive shot. For almost the entire duration of the game, the City Thunder, who are considered favorites in the best-of-seven final series, looked like the winners. OKC took the lead from the start and was still 15 points ahead 9:42 minutes before the end of the game, before the Pacers turned the duel around with a 14-2 run.