Big NBA Finals comebacks are nothing new to Pacers' Rick Carlisle

The Pacers took Game 1 after Tyrese Haliburton's game-winner completed a massive comeback on the road for a 111-110 win. It may have looked familiar for Carlisle, who saw his Dallas Mavericks erase a 15-point lead in the final seven minutes of Game 2 in the 2011 Finals, also on the road.

In that game, the Mavericks fell behind 88-73 after a 13-0 Miami Heat run, punctuated by Dwyane Wade drilling a three-pointer and celebrating in front of the Mavericks' bench, earning a "Mama, there goes that man!" from ABC broadcaster Mark Jackson.

Wade's premature celebration fired up Jason Terry and the Mavericks, who went on a 20-2 run after Wade's three ball. Terry himself scored the next six points, while Dirk Nowitzki had the last nine Mavericks points and the game-winning basket.

The Mavericks tied the series with the win and went on to take the series in six games. Just 11 days earlier, Carlisle's Mavs came back from 15 points down with under five minutes to play to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals.

These Pacers have been the ultimate "comeback kids," to quote ESPN's Mike Breen. Game 1 was Indiana's fifth win of the playoffs, where they trailed by 15 or more points.

There may be something about Rick Carlisle that keeps his teams motivated even when they're trailing big and late. Or he may have a talent for getting his team good three-point looks when they absolutely need it, while also suckering opponents into taking bad ones of their own. It doesn't hurt that he had Haliburton and Jason Kidd as his point guards.

But the lesson for the Thunder is that 15 points is not a comfortable lead against a Rick Carlisle team. Even if the Pacers only led for 0.3 seconds of Game 1, they led for the most important 0.3 seconds.