OKLAHOMA CITY —

The game plan was the obvious one. Just chip away, the Indiana Pacers said, because there was no other option that would have made any sense at that point.

They were down by 15 with 9:42 remaining. They were turning the ball over about once every three possessions, couldn't stop Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and had the Oklahoma City crowd in a deafening fury.

"We just said, 'Hey, let's just keep chipping away at the rock,'" Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "Got to keep pounding the rock and just chip away and hang in."

With 0.3 seconds left, there was no more rock left to pound.

Not for Game 1, anyway. Tyrese Haliburton scored with that much time left and the Pacers stunned the Oklahoma City Thunder 111-110 in the opener of this year's NBA Finals on Thursday night.

A lo

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