OKC Thunder's NBA Finals Game 1 Loss Reminiscent of Denver Nuggets Series

As the saying goes, lightining never strikes the same place twice.

That was, until Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton hit a game-winning jumper with 0.3 seconds left on the shot clock to steal Game 1 of the NBA Finals at Paycom Center. In the Oklahoma City Thunder's home arena, it felt the same distraught in Game 1 of the second round when Aaron Gordon did a similar number for the Denver Nuggets.

For most of the 48 minutes of action, Oklahoma City was in the driver's seat. It led by nine points with 2:52 left in the game, but Indiana finished out the rest of the night on a 12-2 run. Just like that, a strong start to the Thunder's first Finals appearance in 13 years was evaporated.

Denver left a little more on the clock when it pulled off the upset, but it was equally as much of a dagger. Oklahoma City controlled the tempo for most of that game, leading 108-95 at the 6:39 mark before the eventual 121-119 loss. Of course, it had to be reminiscent.

"Yeah, you can, just from a sense of kind of the same game flow," Alex Caruso said on drawing comparisons between the two games. "We played good enough to win that game, controlled it for the most part. Was up double-digits most of that game, as well. Then they made some big shots. We made a couple mistakes down the stretch to give them free throws. There's some similar stuff
from that."

The Thunder is far from the first team to deal with the grandeur of Haliburton in the clutch in this playoff run — each of the New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers and Milwuakee Bucks endured the same fate. When Haliburton rose up to take the final shot, it wasn't much of a surprise when it found the bottom of the net.

The Pacers are a team that thrives in dire situations — a trait that Oklahoma City got an early glimpse at firsthand.

"I thought we played good enough to win. We just didn't finish the game," Caruso said. "Credit to (the Pacers), that's how they've played for the whole post-season. They kind of stayed true to themselves, their brand of basketball."

Once the dust settled, the Thunder kept an optimistic approach. It might've experienced deja vu, but that also means this isn't unfamiliar territory. After the Game 1 loss to the Nuggets, it came back in full force to take the series in seven games.

The series is far from over. Oklahoma City has the opportunity to take Game 2 on Sunday at home, which it accomplished against Denver. In the NBA Finals there's no time to panic, regardless of how a single game shakes out.

"Me personally, how you lose doesn't really matter," Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. "Obviously it sucks, last-second shot. The energy in the arena and stuff like that ... (but) we've lost Game 1 before. On the other side of that, we came out a better team. That's our goal. That's our mentality, to try to learn a lesson from the loss, like we always do, and move forward and be better."

The Thunder has plenty it can hone in on moving forward. It shot sub-40% from the field as a unit, while allowing Indiana to fire away with 18 made 3-pointers. It forced a whopping 25 Pacers turnovers, but only scored 11 points off them.

Oklahoma City figured it out before, and it has plenty of time to do it again.