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Ladies and gentlemen, he did it again.

Today’s Lineup

🎉 Happy birthday to 70s journeyman legend Chuck Williams! 🎉

Finals G1 Recap

Haliburton stuns OKC home crowd with game-winning shot as Pacers take Game 1 111-110

For three quarters of this game, the Thunder faithful at Paycom Center thought they were sailing smooth. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (38 PTS) looked like his normal MVP self, and despite a quiet night on offense for Chet Holmgren (6 PTS, 6 REB), the Thunder role players were hitting threes at a decent clip and defending the Pacers’ wings like usual—with an exception for Pascal Siakam (19 PTS, 10 REB).

But like clockwork, Tyrese Haliburton (14 PTS, 10 AST) and the Pacers started to work their magic in the fourth quarter.

Up 94-79 with under ten minutes to play and the home crowd roaring, the Thunder started to show signs of imperfection. OKC couldn’t hit a three (zero 3PM in 4Q) and simultaneously gave up a barrage of triples from Myles Turner (15 PTS, 9 REB) and Obi Toppin (17 PTS, 5-8 3PM) as the lead got smaller and smaller. By the six-minute mark, Indiana had cut the lead to under five.

And at this point, Haliburton must have thought to himself, “I’ve done this before. Why not do it again?”

With seven seconds left and the Pacers down one, Aaron Nesmith (10 PTS, 12 REB) grabbed a rebound and shoveled the ball to Haliburton, who got down the court and pulled up for a game-winning midrange jumper… cash.

It was the end of a 32-16 run for the Pacers that stretched all the way back to the beginning of the final period, and just another chapter in one of the clutch-est playoff runs we’ve ever seen.

The Pacers snapped the Thunder’s six-game home playoff win streak and are now 4-0 in Game 1s this postseason. All of a sudden, we’re one Indiana win away from a 2-0 Pacers lead with two games in Indianapolis up next. How the tables have turned! 🔄

Around the NBA

Suns hiring Cavs assistant Jordan Ott as head coach

If it’s going to be a summer of turmoil in Phoenix, this was a step back towards normalcy.

On Wednesday, Shams reported that the Suns would be hiring Cavaliers assistant Jordan Ott as the franchise’s 23rd head coach. The news comes as trade rumors around Phoenix’s Kevin Durant continue to heat up.

Before spending this past season in Cleveland, Ott spent two years on the Lakers’ staff and four years with the Nets before that as an assistant coach. He was also a finalist for the Hornets’ top job in 2024 before they went with Charles Lee.

Reports suggested that ten-year Suns veteran Devin Booker played a role in the team’s coaching search, demonstrating the front office’s commitment to him as a long-term franchise cornerstone. Ott will be the eighth coach of Booker’s career in Phoenix, though, and you can’t ignore the lack of team and coaching continuity’s impact on his otherwise statistically incredible career.

Phoenix filing their vacant HC spot means there’s only one job left in the NBA, and it’s the one that just opened up. After parting ways with Tom Thibodeau, the Knicks are at the beck and call of president of basketball operations Leon Rose, who will lead the coaching search after the latest in what has been a brutal series of firings this season.

Three in the Key

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Signing Off

That’s one Finals game down. How many more in store? Only time will tell…

See you Monday!

Austin Zeglis