Oklahoma City (AP) — For the Indiana Pacers, the opportunity to achieve perfection in the first two games of these playoffs has turned out to be a letdown.
Instead, they now must accept a split in the opening two contests of the NBA Finals.
The Pacers’ pursuit of joining the ranks of the fifth team in NBA history faced a setback on Sunday night as the Oklahoma City Thunder halted their momentum, leading to four playoff rounds that erased games 1 and 2 in all series. The Thunder swiftly took command, winning Game 2 with a score of 123-107, setting the stage for a championship showdown.
“When you’re the underdog in a playoff series, you know your objective is to either steal one on the road or split,” said Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton. “We took Game 1, but it felt like we lost our grip in the second quarter.”
What transpired was a decisive 19-2 run in the second quarter that swung the momentum in favor of the Thunder, ultimately resulting in a 16-point loss.
The Pacers were on the verge of joining the ranks of the 1986 Boston Celtics, the 1987 Los Angeles Lakers, the 1996 Chicago Bulls, and the 2017 Golden State Warriors, all of whom secured NBA titles.
All these teams accomplished this while enjoying home-court advantage throughout their series. The Pacers, however, have not had the benefit of home court since the first round. They secured the first two games of that series against Milwaukee, the first two in round two against Cleveland, the initial two of the Eastern Conference Finals in New York, and the opening game in Oklahoma City.
In conclusion, the Pacers must settle for a 7-1 record, achieving the fifth-best tally in games 1 and 2 across a single postseason. They also became the third team to win five games on the road during playoff runs.
“I want to win every game we play,” said Pacers forward Pascal Siakam. “So we’re not satisfied with today’s outcome. That’s simply how it is.”
Houston went 5-3 in games 1 and 2 en route to their title in 1995, while Miami recorded a similar 5-3 on their path to the NBA Finals in the first two games of the 2023 series. (In the “road” games 1 and 2 of the 2020 Bubble Playoffs, the Heat posted a 6-2 record, but all those contests took place in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.)
“I’m not interested in discussing the past,” said Pacers coach Rick Carlisle. “We approach each playoff run as a new day. Looking back can be hazardous. You must focus on where you need to go.”
If the Pacers had triumphed on Sunday, they would have been significant favorites heading home with a 2-0 lead. Only two teams, the 1993 Chicago Bulls and the 1995 Houston Rockets, won the first two games of the road finals, both of which ended up winning the NBA championship that season. Teams that take a 2-0 lead in the finals historically win 86.5% of the series (32 out of 37 occurrences).
“Keep your heads up; we know our position,” Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith stated. “We understand what we need to improve upon and will execute our game plan better.”
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Source: apnews.com