Latest / Bleacher Report / Shaq & Kenny React to Pacers Game 1 Win vs. Thunder _ 2025 NBA Finals

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Shaq & Kenny React to Pacers Game 1 Win vs. Thunder _ 2025 NBA Finals · Bleacher Report

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Man, he froze.
• 0:03
  Speaker 2: We're froze.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: But he froze the defense. He froze the defense. I
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: don't think I've ever seen an NBA game like that. Yeah,
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: didn't play well at all.
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: Next series they came back from a twenty point kind
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: of definitely this is the final.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Yeah, like that.
• 0:23
  Speaker 3: The team that don't play this don't play well and
• 0:25
  Speaker 3: win like this.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: Yes, I don't think I've ever seen this.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: CONTRARII I don't thought. I never thought Okay See was
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: playing well. I never thought they were playing well. They
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: had so many total for so many turnovers and if
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: they I don't know, you could probably look it up, Chris,
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: the conversion rate on their turnovers to to baskets like
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: points off turnovers.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: So you have a twenty five.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: Turnovers and you have eleven that they weren't converting off
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: of those turnovers. So I'm like, neither team is really
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: playing bad. And you look up to You're like, oh,
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: they're down eleven. Then someone hits a three. Oh they
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: only down eight. I understand what you're saying, but Okay
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: is highly favored. Okay, Yeah at home, and it was
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: a couple of times they had double digit leits.
• 1:07
  Speaker 4: All right, let's check out the highlight from game one
• 1:11
  Speaker 4: here of the NBA Finals between the Indiana Pacers and
• 1:17
  Speaker 4: the Oklahoma City All right, we're having some technical.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: No, you're having difficulties Isai and Kenny, we never have
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: typical Yeah, that ain't our job.
• 1:30
  Speaker 5: The TV froze on you.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: It didn't freeze on us. Here's a job.
• 1:34
  Speaker 4: They didn't turn the TV off on up they all right,
• 1:38
  Speaker 4: let's forget about this highlight and just talk about this game, right,
• 1:41
  Speaker 4: because what you pointed at Kenny was Shaye Gilgess Alexander
• 1:46
  Speaker 4: and his inefficiency. Like it's thirty eight points, which for
• 1:49
  Speaker 4: most players that's a great game, especially in the NBA Finals,
• 1:52
  Speaker 4: But he was fourteen for thirty from the field, and
• 1:55
  Speaker 4: they limited his free throw attempts at the end of
• 1:58
  Speaker 4: the game.
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: Just ate them.
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: The one thing about greatness, Chris, Greatness is allowed to
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: get shots off. It is very difficult to get twenty
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: or more shots off in an NBA game. You have
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: to have a special kit skill. But he's at a
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: level that he should be efficient. We had talked about
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: his efficiency. We're saying he has to be north of
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: thirteen to twenty when he's playing in the game and
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: doing things that way. And as Halliburton looks around, he
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: just know who's what it is. Oh my gods. Always
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: everybody can see what we see if you can see
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: what I see.
• 2:32
  Speaker 4: But zeke to that point about Tyrese Halliburton, like a
• 2:35
  Speaker 4: lot of guys if you're having a night where you're
• 2:37
  Speaker 4: not getting shots off, Like they took the ball out
• 2:40
  Speaker 4: of his hands in the fourth quarter to start making
• 2:42
  Speaker 4: that run. Andrew Nimhard hit a big shot TJ McConnell
• 2:45
  Speaker 4: just to get the turnovers down. But his confidence, they've
• 2:48
  Speaker 4: never wavered and he hit the game winner.
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: Well, this is what I said about him at the
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: start of the game, like he's a guy that can
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: beat you taking eight shots. Yes, you're taking twenty shots, right,
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: And he has so many ways to impact and affect
• 3:05
  Speaker 3: the game that it doesn't necessarily have to be a
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: with scorn And as Siakam said at the end of
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: the game, what you trust about Halliburton is that either
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: he's going to get a good shot himself or he's
• 3:17
  Speaker 3: going to create one for someone else. And he's not
• 3:20
  Speaker 3: a selfish player. He plays the game the right way.
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: He lets the game come to him, and when it's
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: time for him to make a shot or make a play,
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: he does that.
• 3:29
  Speaker 4: Yeah, we can look at all the stats in point two. Okay,
• 3:31
  Speaker 4: the thunder really had the advantage across the board except
• 3:35
  Speaker 4: three point shooting. The Pacers made six threes in the
• 3:38
  Speaker 4: fourth quarter, and they had the advantage by seven in
• 3:42
  Speaker 4: the three point shooting.
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: You know, okay, see is a great team, but they
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: are a greater team when Shed has nineteen twenty, they're
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: a greater team when Jadub has twenty five. Blue Dork
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: played unbelievable. He played great basketball. Shad shot. I would
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: have to disagree with you and Kenny about his efficiency.
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: He gave me thirty. They had multiple They had more
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: than multiple chances to win this game. Again, like in
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: the finals, when you get up to a double digit
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: digit lead and the other team is turning the ball
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: over at hot clip, you have to win this game.
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: You definitely have to win this game. So again I said,
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: if you could slow Jay Dove down, you have a chance.
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: Because Shay getting his thirty. Listen, Shaye's the MVP, but
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: been averaging thirty last two years. You're not gonna stop
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: him going through show number when he gets thirty, and
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: Jay Dev gets twenty five, and lou Dort gets fifteen
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: and Check gets nineteen. Nobody in the world can beat them.
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: Well, what I said at the start of the show, right,
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: is that OKC has three players averaging double figures in
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: the playoffs, and Indiana was gonna take one of them away.
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: Who they take away? Shit they took away chet. Chet
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: only gets six pointys tonight, doesn't get in double figures.
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: Indiana gets six players in double figures.
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: And Jay Dove didn't get going to late. Yeah, he
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: didn't get going to late.
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: So I mean, even though with all the turn was
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: that Indiana had, what they could rest comfortably on is
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: that they were shutting OKC down. OKAC was having a
• 5:09
  Speaker 3: tough time scoring and breaking away.
• 5:12
  Speaker 4: All right, let's hear from the thunder head coach Mark
• 5:14
  Speaker 4: Dagnall at podium.
• 5:19
  Speaker 6: Mark, I imagine you spent a lot of this week reviewing
• 5:22
  Speaker 6: some of the Pacers' comebacks, just the nature in which
• 5:25
  Speaker 6: those late game situations happened for them. What what maybe
• 5:28
  Speaker 6: felt like a common denominator tonight and where do your
• 5:31
  Speaker 6: sort of sense things went off the rails?
• 5:34
  Speaker 7: The common denominator is them, you know, that's a really
• 5:37
  Speaker 7: good team. Credit them, you know, for not only tonight,
• 5:41
  Speaker 7: but they're run. They've had so many games like that
• 5:44
  Speaker 7: that have seemed improbable and they just played with a
• 5:46
  Speaker 7: great spirit. They keep coming, they keep playing, They made plays,
• 5:49
  Speaker 7: they made shots, so they deserve to win by a point.
• 5:53
  Speaker 7: We got to learn from it. There's obviously a lot
• 5:55
  Speaker 7: of things we can clean up. But credit them. They
• 5:57
  Speaker 7: went and got that game.
• 5:59
  Speaker 8: Again on the front row Joe must or the oklahol
• 6:02
  Speaker 8: in that experience.
• 6:03
  Speaker 5: Yeah, we just got to focus on being better. The
• 6:07
  Speaker 5: series isn't first to one, it's first of four, so
• 6:10
  Speaker 5: we have four more games to get they have three,
• 6:12
  Speaker 5: and that's just where we are. We got to understand that,
• 6:14
  Speaker 5: and we got to get to four before they get
• 6:16
  Speaker 5: the three if we want to win NBA Championship and
• 6:18
  Speaker 5: the it's that simple. It's not rocket science. We lost
• 6:21
  Speaker 5: game one. We have to be better.
• 6:25
  Speaker 8: Nick on the right shape in being better, what do
• 6:28
  Speaker 8: you feel are some controllables, particularly on the offensive end
• 6:31
  Speaker 8: of the floor. Just given the number of looks you
• 6:34
  Speaker 8: guys got in the paint downhill and it seemed like
• 6:36
  Speaker 8: you guys were getting downhill a lot, but those shots
• 6:38
  Speaker 8: weren't going down.
• 6:40
  Speaker 5: Yeah, honestly, I'm not too sure. It's hard to like
• 6:43
  Speaker 5: have that answer twenty minutes after the game, but yeah,
• 6:47
  Speaker 5: for sure, we it's definitely areas to get better. I'm
• 6:50
  Speaker 5: both into the floor and so the next two days
• 6:53
  Speaker 5: before try to get better and then come out here
• 6:54
  Speaker 5: and be a better team for game two.
• 6:56
  Speaker 9: Jenny here on the left, Shay Jenny Carlson with the
• 6:59
  Speaker 9: Oklahoma and you guys have when you've had games that
• 7:01
  Speaker 9: have slipped through your fingers in these playoffs, you've found
• 7:04
  Speaker 9: a way to come back and make good on that.
• 7:07
  Speaker 9: But in the finals, with the pressure being what it is,
• 7:11
  Speaker 9: how can you guys make sure.
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: That you do that again?
• 7:13
  Speaker 9: Or is this kind of an unknown because you guys
• 7:16
  Speaker 9: have as a group haven't been to this point yet.
• 7:19
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I think as much as we can. We just
• 7:21
  Speaker 5: got to treat it like every other game, every other
• 7:25
  Speaker 5: situation we've been in. Yes, we haven't been in the situation,
• 7:27
  Speaker 5: but it doesn't mean our character has to change or
• 7:30
  Speaker 5: what we did last time. It's still basketball, still the
• 7:32
  Speaker 5: game of basketball that we grew up playing. The rules
• 7:35
  Speaker 5: don't change. It's because we're in the finals. So it's
• 7:36
  Speaker 5: like We've been in a situation before. In the other situation,
• 7:40
  Speaker 5: we handled it. We handled it well. We were better
• 7:42
  Speaker 5: for game two, and that's the goal. Tuntumonia, right, scheck.
• 7:46
  Speaker 4: You disagree with what the MVP of the league just
• 7:49
  Speaker 4: said at the end there.
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: I don't want to make it look like I'm different.
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: I disagree. It's just we all have different mentalities. You know.
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: It's not just another game. Yeah, it's not just another
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: game on the time. I understand that first time here.
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: But if it ends up like the promos started our
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: show today and you don't win, it may be another
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: chance you don't get back. I was fortunate enough to
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: go back six times. You went back. Of course you
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: went back. But this is not another game. I didn't
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: realize that they shot forty percent from the field and
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: thirty six percent from three. But I was sitting there
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: and they had double digit leads. The fans are going crazy,
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: crowd was going crazy. When that happens. In that moment
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: at home, you have to put them away. This is
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: not another game. This is the NBA Finals. This is
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: a championship run. Gotta be more efficient, you gotta have
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: that killer and when you get a team down you
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: got to put your a foot on their throat.
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: Well, we talked about the versatility you asked about honestly,
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: about the versatility of the bench or the guys, you know,
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: the subsidiary characters or as Shack says, the others. And
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: if you really look at what you know, Obi Toppin
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: did with macmrin did on the defensive end, Thomas Bryant
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: came in, gave him solid minutes. You know, everyone, Nimhr, McConnell, Connell,
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: Nie Smith, they all played up to their ability when
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: they didn't turn the basketball over. On CONTRARII, I would
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: say OKC had opportunities that they didn't take advantage of,
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: so meaning they didn't turn the basketball over, but those
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: guys didn't play up. They have a great bench, but
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: they didn't play up to their ability today. And I
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: thought that was the difference that kept them in the
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: game and allowed Halliburton to be a star.
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: You know, here's the concern that if you're OKC that
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: you have right tonight at home. They shoot thirty nine
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: percent from the field, thirty six from the frid line,
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: I mean from the three point line. They get out
• 9:43
  Speaker 3: rebounded fifty six to thirty nine at home. We all
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: agree that Indiana didn't play a great game at all.
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: I mean, they turned the ball over, but they found
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: a way to win. But what concerns me for OKC
• 9:58
  Speaker 3: right now is can you find a way to score
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: and can you rebound the basketball? Because right now these
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: are the two areas to me that are poffing up.
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: And if Indiana don't turn the ball over game two
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: and you can't figure out how to score or rebound,
• 10:18
  Speaker 3: don't be surprised if Indiana comes back and win game two.
• 10:21
  Speaker 4: Also, and one thing we know from watching these playoffs
• 10:24
  Speaker 4: is when you need a bucket lake Tyres Halliburton has
• 10:28
  Speaker 4: been answering that call.