Berry Tramel

Tulsa World Sports Columnist

OKLAHOMA CITY — Mark Daigneault is not a by-the-book coach. He experiments in the regular season. He’s not afraid to go against convention in the playoffs. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Didn’t seem to work Thursday night in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton capped a torrid comeback with a 20-foot jumper with 0.3 seconds left that gave the Pacers a 111-110 victory at Paycom Center.

The Thunder report card is not glittering for a game OKC dominated and should have won:

Closing lineup: D

Daigneault closed both halves without a center. He had Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams teamed with defensive dynamos Luguentz Dort, Cason Wallace and Alex Caruso. That lineup proved to be disastrous to end the game. OKC

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