Many people were not looking forward to watching an NBA Finals with two small market teams in the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers. However, Game 1 proved to be as exciting as any large market teams could produce. The Thunder led the game pretty much from start to finish with the exception of the last 0.3 seconds. Tyrese Halliburton scored the game-winning jump shot after a miss from Shea Gilgeous-Alexander on the other end, leaving the Pacers with approximately 8 seconds to try to score. Gilgeous-Alexander had another 30+ game. He was the best player on the floor, but it wasn't enough to stave off the Pacers. Halliburton was effective in crunch time again after repeatedly dealing the knockout blows to the New York Knicks in their previous series.
This is encouraging for me as a fan of the Utah Jazz. The Jazz don't appear to be on the verge of landing a star player anytime soon. Indiana is a more balanced team and doesn't necessarily rely on stars either. Indiana, similar to Utah, isn't a free agent destination in the NBA either. In fact, the two organizations are remarkably similar. They have eerily similar histories. Neither organization has won a championship after coming close approximately 25 years ago.
The Pacers are in a much better position with their roster because they have drafted well and made effective trades to incrementally improve their roster. They haven't had extremely high draft picks either. They have made the most of their chances. The Pacers' GM deserves a ton of credit.
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