Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective - NBA Finals Game 1 Live Reaction: Pacers Stun the Thunder

Episode Date: June 6, 2025

Brian Windhorst and Iman Shumpert react courtside to Game 1 of the NBA Finals. In a jaw-dropping Game 1 of the 2025 NBA Finals, the Indiana Pacers pulled off a stunning 111-110 comeback victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder. Despite trailing for nearly the entire game, Tyrese Haliburton hit a clutch jumper with just 0.3 seconds left to steal the win. The Thunder, led by MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, dominated early but couldn’t close it out as Indiana’s resilience and late-game shooting turned the tide. The Pacers now lead the series 1-0 . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, sports fans, the ESPN app has all of ESPN all in one place. The ESPN app is your home to thousands of live events, ESPN shows, and originals across every ESPN network and service. And now you can check if you already have ESPN Unlimited as part of your TV package for no additional calls. Visit activate.esPN.com to learn how to access your account or sign up, then start streaming in the ESPN app. It's all of ESPN all in one place. Sign up or activate now. Okay, welcome to the Hoop Collective. We talk about the NBA. We are here on the court at the end of finals game one with our special guest for the finals,

2016 NBA champion. I'm on Shumper. I'm distraught. You're distraught because you've never seen stuff like that. Is that way you're distra? I'm more so, yeah, I guess that's what it is. All the elements that was involved, the SGA went in the matchup. OKC winning the turnover.

Oh, they won it. The turnover rate. Yeah, they won that. And then Halliburton gets loose at the end. Like, I just, let me just say that. I need that last four minutes back. Before the game, I was talking to a Pacer's coach. Right.

And he goes, they're awesome. Talking about the Thunder. They're awesome. He goes, the way that we can win is by getting him into a close game at the end. Because we're better at that than they are. better at almost everything, but we're better than, we're better at that. At closing the game. Exactly how we called it.

So I think their goal, especially in a game where they're not hot on threes, there might be a game in this series where they get hot on threes and they just win it going away. But their goal is to make the thunder sweat a little bit. Now, the thing is, is that several times they came at them and the thunder pushed him back. Yeah. That I'm saying, quick buckets by SGA. I thought they had control. It looked like the thunder were handling their business, right?

But a couple of things. First off, the Thunder go 7 of 19 in the fourth quarter on shooting. So they go cold. That's not like ridiculous. It's like 40, 37 percent or something. They go 0 of 5 on threes. And there was a couple possessions there where like Jalen Williams gets the ball in the wing. And I don't think he really wanted to shoot it.

And that's happened before. I don't think, but it wasn't indecisiveness. I don't think he wanted to shoot it. I think he could feel the game starting to feel like. like it was slipping a little bit. They played really good defense on the penetration. Like when the thunder came in, they were really walling that stuff around the pain.

And they played without fouling. At the end. Yeah. Okay. So they didn't foul. You're right. I thought Andrew Nemhart. His,

Andrew Nemhart's stats don't look great. He was like 4 of 11, but he was super calming running their offense. They get into their offense. I think, you know, they had 25 turnovers, but they had 19 in the first half. So they only had six turnovers in the second.

in half. Right. So that's where you're starting to come, change the game. Yeah. Okay. And then how do you, how do you come up? How do you get over the hump? You get over the hump with a little bit of craziness. Miles Turner banks in a three. Banking three. After a shot fake step back. Crazy stuff, right? So you have a little bit of stuff like that. And Obie. Obie was consistent the whole time. I ain't a lie. He put a good ball game together for them. The last possession, the ball for the last real possession for the thunder, the ball goes out of bounds. Right. There's 20 seconds left. they got 14 seconds on the clock. So they can play straight up defense.

They don't have to foul. So that's what they do. Shump. Shea gets a open like eight footer. He's got two feet of space. He's got an eight footer. He just missed it. This is the finals.

Stuff like that happens. He also, he had 38 points, which is very good. He did have 30 shots. He was 14 to 30. He did. He shot a lot. He shot a lot. Yeah, he shot a lot.

A lot more. You think that creeps into the conversation? No, I don't think. You think the conversation crept in on him? Even if he makes that shot, Indy has a timeout and they're only down three. So I don't want to say that's the game. I'm just saying he's got a clean look from about eight feet as my memory serves. Without a though.

And then I want to ask you about the last shot. So Carlisle trusts his guys. He's got a timeout. He could call timeout, advance the ball. He's like, I'm not going to do that. They get it to Halliburton. Casein Wallace is on him. I thought he played good defense.

Halliburton turns the corner and he gets one foot inside the three point range. They were waiting for the step back. Right. So Casein Wallace thinks he's driving. He keeps going and he just stops. He doesn't step back. He doesn't keep driving. He takes a 19 and a half footer from a very awkward spot on the court.

Is it? That's an elbow shot for a point. guard. That used to be the best shot in basketball for a point guard. Yeah, but who practices shots one foot inside the three point line? Two, two steps. I'll give him two steps inside. I thought it, I thought it was a pretty good jumper. Like, I think that we've seen a lot of two guards, triple threat, attack it. Never with a live dribble like that. I give you that on the dime going downhill like that. It's impressive, but I think the spot he picked, most point guards are used to that. Okay. So this is, so, this is, so,

So you're an elite defender in your career. It's interesting that you talk about him not doing the step back because he did do the step back against the Cavs and he did do the step back against the Knicks. This one, no step back. He just shoots on a dime. But they also got a no time to score. I probably would have played him for the step back, honestly.

Yeah. But they would have had to be conscious that he only needs a two, which is why they played the drive. You had to keep it honest. You know what I mean? It was a broken type of style play. again, what owe to the coaches that told you that prior,

that's why Carlisle just was cool with it because he's like, they can't play in this, this no man's land that we play in. And I think they play, like you said, they're comfortable being uncomfortable. Yeah, yeah.

Especially once they see Halliburton's eyes light up. They have, so they're eight and one in clutch games in the playoffs. Yeah. So they're like, you know, they're not, they're hanging the hat on it. It's a hell of a way to live.

It is, especially on the road. I don't like it on the, and at home I don't want it. I don't want them to play like that or feel like that. This is the third time they won a game like this on the road. I love it on the road. On the road, the goal is to stay within two, three possessions toward the end. Make your push.

After that last TV time out, my God, it's hard to do. We make that push. But that's what was wild. The whole game, I just kept saying, they were flirting with that nine to 12. Somebody would hit a three, then they miss a three. Yeah, they stayed within range. Right there. So that's a good point because the one thing the Thunder do, they do knock people out.

They push a game from 15 to 30. held on to the rope. They held on to the rope and they got it in the end. Now, at the end of the game, I'm thinking they're going to trap, they're going to trap Shea. They didn't trap him for the last shot. Impressive. Come down here. I'm thinking they're going to trap Halliburton. They didn't trap him. I don't know. In a one possession game, that's tough. Okay. You're asking an NBA player to not be an NBA player. Like, I would, now, I'm cool with trying to make somebody play all game and you be a new ball handler or whatever, whatever, at the end of a game, everybody's hot. I don't know what it is. The basketball gods have said it, but at the end of a

game, that corner three goes in, that you can't leave a guy wide open. And I wouldn't have, I wouldn't have sent a trap either. I think it was a great job on both coaches parts to play it solid like that. I love a good man-to-man as Shay walks in here. They still got got the same demeanor. Same demeanor. I do love that about their whole team. Not one of them are head down. By the way, the diamonds he was wearing were I'm going to win diamonds.

I just want you to say. But, hey, Shea said, he's consistent, and he said that he weaponizes an even keel. So he just walked by even keel. Without a doubt. Now, okay, they're even keel publicly. I get that. What's going on in that locker? What just went on in that locker?

I hope somebody threw a chair through a glass. I hope. The popcorn stand got kicked over. I hope gatorade bottles were thrown. Their locker room should look awful. Like somebody should have a lot of work to do tonight. Just because I know they know, you cannot do that where somebody turns the ball, turns the ball over,

you're holding their head underwater, and then you don't drown them. Like, you cannot do that, not on your home floor. You don't do that to these fans. I'm sorry, that was a tough pill for them. That's a tough pill for them to swallow when they were controlled. trolling at the whole game. It gives Indiana a ton of confidence coming into game two. If I'm Indiana, now my eyes are lit up saying we turn the ball over almost 30 times in one. This is how you mess up series. You spike a game like this.

We said that, though. If they got game one, it'd be different. Game two, I don't even think it was possible. You're right. We also said we thought the Thunder would win big or the Pacers would win close. You said that in a close game. So, okay. All right, but I couldn't have seen that. So now if you're in the Pacers locker room, what do you think? Oh, I'm thinking this is our series. I'm thinking we stole one. It was already going to be hard for them in Indiana. And I'm starting to lick my chops and say,

I want to get greedy and take game too. If I'm the Pacers, I'm definitely saying we turned it over 30 times. We need to cut that down to about 10 turnovers and make the other 10 shot attempts. and then within those shot attempts, I need to make sure that Halliburton didn't get off until probably six minutes to go where he looked confident

and start handling the ball again. They were giving it off to, why can I say his last name? What's the other guard? Nemhart. Nimhart. My bad doubt. My bad doubt.

It ain't person. My name. My name Hart and Shea had a little back and forth to two Canadians. I love that. I love a little push, but I even love more that the reps didn't entertain it.

Well, first off, I thought it was a well-officiated game. Very. Right. A lot of no calls that went. I loved it. And there was a review in the end and they did the right thing. They didn't change that call. That was the correct non-thing on the review. You don't agree? You think there's a foul? If I was going for that loose ball, I got hit, that's a foul. You saying, you say and Siakum should have got foul. Oh, that was a foul. I just feel like he doesn't, I feel like he doesn't fall. Like, he's not going to fall if he's by himself. Tough overturn in that spot because that would have been keep shots. It doesn't matter because they won anyway. All right. So by the way, I thought Nemhard. Nemhard just total rock, rock down the stretch.

I think he, that's the thing, but that's the thing we've been talking about all series with the, I mean, with Indiana and last series as well. They always have another guy that could step up. They just plug them in. It's almost a la San Antonio Spurs under pop, where it's just like, whoever we plug in, they just kind of know what to do.

I was kind of uncomfortable with it as a fan sitting back there watching him handle the ball. I'm like, well, when is Tyrese Halliburton going to catch his rhythm? Because the only chance y'all have is that he wasn't doing great. He wasn't doing great, but it was like he's not even trying to get going. That's what was catching me off guard. Unaggressive Halliburton just doesn't look good if I'm rooting for the Pacers. But to see them do all that, again, to see them do all that, that's another thing that I'm

saying if I'm in the Pacer's locker room, I'm saying, our guys weren't, we didn't even get going. He didn't even get going. I agree. So if you're the Pacers, what you're saying is we're not going to turn the ball over a 20, whatever times. And we're not going to shoot it this bad. Right. We're not going to have just anybody handling the ball. We're going to get it to our guy now that he made it down and stretched his confidence is bad.

Got a little more bouncing his step. Like you take advantage of this. Yeah, right. It's just one thing if Halliburton goes for 35 and you win by one. You're like, wow, he had a great game. You're an awful game. What, not again, there's never an awful game because I believe he still had, what, 11 rebounds. I believe he had, what, eight assists?

Seven assists? I don't know the exact number. It wasn't a bad game. It wasn't a bad game. His stat line was at like 12, 10, and 6 for a while. I'm like, wow. He had 14, 10, and 6. 6 to 13. So it's just like with that, it's like he's still playing basketball the right way. Yeah. But I don't like though. I feel like a lot of those turnovers came from where we saw in other games. We saw Tyrese Halliburton get the ball because they do. didn't have anything going and they were going to turn it over or take a bad shot. And he got them a great shot every single time. And I feel like if he can continue to do that, that they'll be, they're the team to beat now.

Whoa, Shump. I'm saying if he plays well, like, I knew that they were a good matchup. And we've been talking about it as the playoffs have gone on. We've been talking about how well Indiana matches up with everybody on paper and how well they can do what they do at the end of the game. We all have been talking about OKC and their consistency, but we have not been talking about just the inconsistency of Indiana, and they're still winning while being inconsistent

with where it's going to come from. Yeah, so, okay, I think Chet Holmgren did not play a good game. He didn't rebound well. He didn't shoot well. Without that. Jalen Williams didn't play well down the stretch. But you called the small ball. They played it. Yeah, yeah.

And it was working. Yeah, it was working. I'm just, I'm trying to, I'm now saying that the Thunder are going to play better. Oh, copy. Yeah, yeah. She wasn't super efficient. 30 shots, 38 points. He does, he's better than that.

He did want the ball. I think he wasn't, I think he just didn't get to that line. That's what, usually he gets to the line. He's got a lot of guys really in foul trouble. Guys have to play different, guard him different, gap him different. He didn't do that tonight. I don't know if that's large. largely because of, you know, all the complaining about the files or anything.

But I think the Pacers did a good job, but just not fouling. They kept their hands out the cookie jar. A couple of times he got them with the little. Also, they crushed, Pacers crushed him on the boards. I think they had 17 or 18 more rebounds. Yeah. Crushed him on the board. And they also took some wilder shots because some of them rebounds was pretty wild.

You think so? Yeah, just they weren't, there were those Dennis Rodman rebounds. It's like, how you know that was going over there? You know what I mean? I used to watch Dennis Robben rebound and be like, well, how do he know that that would go off like that? But I think they do, they got good instincts. They got good instincts. But their ability to one create second chance opportunities is underrated.

And I'm telling you, I can't not think of this stat enough. I don't think I've been in the basketball game and turned the ball over that much. And lost it. No, and won. Oh, I mean, you won. And won it. Yeah. Like we, I've been on some great teams where, but if you do that, you are shooting yourself in the foot.

Like to be able to do that, that's so impressive to me. And it's, it's disheartening if you're OKC. It's exciting. It's, oh, my God, it's so exciting if I'm Indiana. And that's the only reason I'm saying it shifts because I haven't, the same way we didn't see the thunder have to deal with anybody down the stretch. They've never had to be down the stretch and feel like, oh, man, one mistake and this could all go wrong. That's a different type of pressure for you mentally. Yeah. So they've had some moments like this where they've blown games,

but they've also had a couple of moments in the playoffs where they've been in tight situations and won. So I still, I thought, I wasn't like super worried about it coming in for the Thunder. It's the tight situation at home. Yeah. That's uncomfortable for me. You know the Pacers led this game for three-tenths of a second? That's what I'm saying.

That makes me uncomfortable. The Pacers flew a hole. the whole plane load of people down here. This isn't unusual teams do this, but they had a whole whole bunch of people down here. Tyrese's dad, John, was in the building. For sure. He kept his cool.

He was definitely very happy. I was looking for the towel. I was looking for the town. The towel stayed in Indy. Well, at least his day, they didn't make it to the arena. He kept his cool. Yeah. He left the floor.

I don't know what he did when he went back in the back, but he left the floor. He kept his cool. As soon as Tyrese hit that shot, he's saying, no more choke sign or whatever. He's just saying that's one. So I think that's something Siakum has been telling those guys, like, you know, you got to win four. So the Pacers did try to keep their cool.

So now we'll see if that actually carries over. I do. I think, again, I love what O'KC does because they baited Halliburton the same way we watched them bait Anthony Edwards. Yeah. They show a wall and they show you the correct basketball play to make. But they're waiting for you not to exhaust. You know what I mean? I think that it's really impressive that Halliburton and Nimhart,

like their ability to be selfless in that moment and say, you know what, you handle the ball. You know, they got a little more little doors. He's way out here guarding me as soon as the ball goes. You bring it up. I don't need to exert extra energy. And, you know, being able to tuck that ego and be able to play like that, that's, man, if you're really,

Rick Carlisle, you have to be smiling a little bit. This is how this is what they've been doing. They have not been doing this. No, that they have too. Not down the stretch. Down the stretch, they give that ball to Halliburton. I see what you're saying. Yeah, like down the stretch.

I'm so used to. Yeah, I see what you're saying. Oh, no, winning down the stretch. Yeah, they've been doing it. But that's the first time I've seen Nimha, like, yeah. Because for a second, I'm like, it looked like they just don't even want to fight. Like, they're just going to take this loss. Like, that's what I felt.

Three after three. Couple stops, all the turnover stopped. So this might happen. And then my I start penetrating. Once he started penetrating, you change sides of the floor. That defense gets weaker and weaker and weaker. All those gaps at the end that we saw Indiana being able to go. You saw Neesmith got that drive all the way here.

He didn't finish it. He fumbled it. He really should have snaked it and went middle. And went all the way around fumbled it a little bit. But you started seeing how all those drives were unavailable the first half. Everything was unavailable. And then you saw little by little, especially at the end,

it was Nimhart dribbling the ball and handling the ball that made everything become disarray. Because Lou Dort was too much on the Haleberd. Although, by the way, since you brought up his name, the defensive play that Lou Dort made. That block? Oh, wow.

The verticality play. Oh, yeah. As he walks out. Great game, well. Yeah, as he walks out. Right here. I think it was right about right there. That's what I'm saying.

That was a wild defensive. That should have won the game. That's a game winning play. It is. That's an effort. That's an effort. But I mean, being in these things over and over, you almost know at the end of the game

there's something like that's going to happen. But you have to impose your will. I think that they were in a tough spot anyway at the end like that. But I don't know if everyone, Everybody remembers this ironic that it's still the Pacers that we're talking about. When I played for the Knicks, Paul George had a shot like that.

And I contested it because I contest everything. I don't care. But I touched his elbow because he did the extra extension to get, but I touched his elbow and he missed that shot and he ended up shooting free throws for it. But there's something at the end of the game where you're trying not to foul. and I would never, ever, ever put the game in somebody else's hands.

I did it with D. Rose ran off a screen and was like, oh, I need to switch this screen. D. Rose had a shot off the glass. I also remember, I think it was game one, 2014. When the game goes to overtime, you had a shot similar to what Halliburton had that hit the rim and almost went in. Lipped off. Do you remember? You don't remember the shots you missed, but anyway. Never remember the shots you missed.

Just got to shoot the next. But, yeah, you're saying you don't, you absolutely. don't want to put it. I would never put I've never found success at the end of the game. This as much as you you you work you work your ass off all year to just make sure you're prepared for everything that you're going to see. There's just something that it's in the air, especially for the playoffs and the finals that's just so special. You know everybody in here, every player one through 15 on both sides has been waiting for this moment. They've been dreaming about this moment. You was playing in your, in your backyard, dribbling the clock out. Like,

I know Halliburton has done this a million times. No chance I'm giving it to you. Pass the ball. Fast the ball. Do a spin. Go through your legs. Go behind your back. Do something. But I can't let you shoot something with the ball just in front of you, step, step. Like, I just felt like it was too in rhythm. It was a broken play. And yeah, he stopped on the dime, but it's so in rhythm. And he's also, like, sort of cutting across the top of the key was an unusual. Unusual movement. So I say this is, we tell you what's unusual. So normally you come out after a game.

Yeah. Even after a bad loss, your families are out here. You don't have the world's media sitting on the court talking about your loss. That's what is happening right now for the thunder. These players are all walking out. It's great for them. Yeah, you think so? Yeah, this will piss them off.

They should be pissed off. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, I love that. Even when Ludoir came out here, I low-key forgot that they just lost because this is insane. But even as I said that, he had a great game.

He did. It's a great game, boy. He didn't acknowledge it. He's pissed off. He should be, as you should be. You should tear something up. Like I said,

I want to go check the locker room for popcorn. That's not their M. Popcorn and Gatorade. I mean, I don't know. I haven't been in there. I want to check the locker room for popcorn, Gatorade, see if there's some broken glass in there. Because that's the locker rooms I've been in.

Like, didn't that happen with LeBron? And he punched the, he punched the board and. All the, The white boy. Yeah. That was game one. Not that I want to call up old stuff with Jay-R. There's just some stuff.

There's just some stuff that happens when you know we did everything to get to that moment. And we threw it away at home. On the road, I promise you could live with so much all the magical stuff, the off-the-glass three. It's like, of course, it's a playoff. Stay focused. While you're at home. those things happen, it's no longer the basketball gods. We did that.

Like, we messed up. You know what I mean? As long as they could take ownership of the loss tonight, as long as they could all look in the mirror and say, hey, we didn't lose in the last bucket, but we need to understand that we beat them on paper like we were supposed to. Well, I would just say that they've had some issues closing out games, not massively, but they've had some issues closing out games because they didn't play a lot of

close games. Yeah. And there's probably going to be another close game or two in this series. Oh, I would love that. I would love to see it. So that's the going to be the pressure one. But that's what you were saying before this started. Like if this is a close game, just because like you said, they battle tested. They've been here, they've done

this and ironically, it looks like they like doing it. That is crazy. It does. It looks like they enjoy this. Like I was, you know, I stayed a little longer in the back. Yeah, me too. Because I wanted to see them when they left the floor. I wanted to see was it an excitement like yeah and it wasn't.

Yeah. Indiana came back there and was like, I think they, they know they got work to do. They know they didn't play well, but they are razor focused and they are so together. That's how they got here. They are so together. But I mean, that's my first time being in the back to see it. Like, you know, I could, I would never let the fans see me not loving my teammates while I'm sitting on the bench. I feel you. I will just say to win three consecutive game ones on the road, I think it's only happened four times. It just doesn't happen. And it sure as heck doesn't happen when you're hitting crazy shots at the end of games. I know they won game one in New York and overtime, but they got to the overtime with the crazy shot. This, we never quite seen anything

like this. We haven't. What do you, what do you say that this game does to the series, though? it introduces a whole new set of circumstances because this is a game the Thunder should have won because you know the Pacers are going to play a game or two where they're just going to win because they're a good team they're going to hit threes this is how you screw up the series this is what happened the last round against New York when it was when it was 3-1 that series should have been 2-2 New York you should have been 2-2 yeah then when it was 3-2 it should have been 3-2 New York because they gave away game one now I'm not saying that this wasn't like a giveaway,

but in a series like this, you're now playing from behind. Oh, no, this was a giveaway. You think so? Yeah, I don't know. They didn't play terrible. They didn't play terrible, but in a game like this, it's coming down the stretch. You have to know we need this bucket,

and then we need this stop, and now this is over. Shouldn't have got under three minutes and been that close. You got to get your stops. You get your rebounds. And if you miss two of them, if you miss two of them, call your timeout. Now, if you miss two of them and you still get the rebound like they did, you call a time out.

You get everybody together, you make your next one, you walk off out of this. Tough, man. I know they're kicking themselves in the foot right now. Well, I hope you packed for a long time, man. Hey, listen, I got enough clothes, man. however long y'all want to keep this up. All right.

We'll be ready. Shump, thank you for doing this. We're going to do us after every game. I enjoyed it. Man, let's do it. I thought it was going to be a blowout. We're going to have to talk about old stories, but not at all. We got new stories.

A brand new story. All right. Thanks for listening to the Hoop Collective. Thanks for having.