Haliburton scores on the last play and sets up impressive comeback for the Pacers at the Thunder's home

The quest for the first NBA title between the Oklahoma City Thunder (who lifted the trophy when they were the Seattle Supersonics in 1979) and the Indiana Pacers began on Thursday with an incredible comeback by the visitors with the clock running out. Haliburton sealed the 111-110 triumph, overshadowing a great performance by MVP Shai Gildeous-Alexander, to make it 1-0 at the Paycom Center.

Named the NBA's MVP of the season, the Canadian point guard finished as the game's top scorer with 38 points. But he failed to score with 11 seconds remaining and gave the ball to his opponent, who had never led the game. In the Pacers' half, Haliburton charged and made the shot with 0.3 seconds left on the clock, to end the night as the hero with only 14 points. Siakam was the top scorer for Indiana, with 19, followed by Toppin, with 17.

The second matchup will only take place on Sunday, also in Oklahoma, and the Thunder will seek revenge to avoid getting the Pacers even more excited before the finals head to Indianapolis on the 11th and 13th.

With the best record in the qualifying phase, with 68 wins and only 14 losses, the Thunder reached the finals after maintaining their dominance in the playoffs, crushing the Memphis Grizzlies, 'sweeping' their rival 4-0, then engaging in a great battle with Nikola Jokic's Denver Nuggets and advancing in the seventh game. The Western title came with a 4-1 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Pacers finished fourth and defeated some tough opponents in the playoffs. First, they beat Giannis Antetokounmpo's Milwaukee Bucks, then they overcame the favorite Cleveland Cavaliers, the best team in the East, finishing 4-1 again. In the conference final, they beat the New York Knicks 4-2.

For their first title, the Thunder entered the court betting on the explosion of their young squad, reinforced by the experienced Caruso and excited by five victories in the playoffs with more than 25 points advantage, while Indiana believed in the strength of their strong marking group and inspired by the great phase of Tyrese Haliburton.

The game started with the ball burning in the Pacers' hands, even missing free throws, and with the fans pushing the rested Thunder to attack, soon opening up a 7-0 lead. The advantage was soon erased, however, with Nembhart tying it at 10-10 with a three-pointer. The game was balanced by the home team's blunders.

Shai Gildeous-Alexander was the difference-maker in the game, as he had been all season. After just seven minutes, he had already scored nine of the home team's 14 points, hitting three-pointers, driving in and taking on the defense. The Pacers didn't know what to do to stop the NBA MVP.

Indiana made a lot of mistakes and the Thunder quickly took the lead again, with a 25-15 lead on another basket by Shai. The first quarter ended with a 29-20 lead for the home team, who took advantage of Indiana's nine turnovers.

The second quarter started more evenly, with the Pacers well on the three-point line, but still struggling to stop Oklahoma's number 2. Haliburton hit his second shot from the perimeter to cut the deficit to 39-33, and Shai responded immediately, rising to 14 points in the game. The Canadian still stood out on defense and drew a good offensive foul from Turner.

With Dort also needing three, the Thunder opened their biggest lead of the game so far, reaching 50-37. The halftime break came with the home team dominating from the start and 57-45 with an impressive 19 points from Shai, giving them a huge advantage in the star-studded clash against Haliburton, who only had six. Oklahoma was 11-0 in steals against a rival that wasted 19 balls to their four.

Would Indiana be in the Finals after halftime? The start was scary, with Haliburton and Siakam missing shots, Nesmith committing an offensive foul and Turner walking under the basket. Luckily, the Thunder didn't take advantage on the other end, maintaining a 12-point lead after five minutes of play.

Dort continued to dominate the three-point line, providing good assistance to Shai, who was better marked. Hartenstein was the master of the paint, with valuable offensive rebounds. With no one standing out, the Pacers stayed in the game, closing out the game behind by “only” eight points, at 85 to 76.

A team that has had impressive victories in the final stretch of the playoffs, the Pacers entered the fourth quarter “sleeping”. With a dunk by Jalen Williams, the Thunder opened up an important 94-79 lead, forcing Rick Carlisle to stop the game to “shake up” his players. The team responded and closed the gap with 98-94 after two consecutive three-pointers.

Seeing his rival grow, Shai Gildeous-Alexander took responsibility and, with six consecutive points, calmed the fans down again, increasing the lead to 108-99 with three minutes remaining. Score decided? Nothing like that. The Pacers grew and, with 22.5 seconds on the clock, the disadvantage was 110-109 and a challenge would define who would have the ball. It fell to the Thunder, who did not take advantage and Haliburton, then out of action, turned it around with the clock running out: 111-110.