Shai Gilgeous-Alexander did everything short of winning Game 1 himself. The 2025 MVP dropped nearly 40, swiped three steals, and kept the Thunder ahead for most of the night. But when the clock hit zero, it was Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers walking away with the win—and a stunned OKC left answering questions. One of the loudest critics? Veteran broadcaster Dan Patrick, who didn’t mince words as he tore into SGA’s supporting cast and threw some overdue credit toward Rick Carlisle’s quiet masterclass.

“It felt like they were standing around watching Shai Gilgeous,” Patrick said about the 10 OKC players not named Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander. “Like, hey, man, he’s putting up a lot of points here. These guys are committing turnovers. They’re not any good. Then all of a sudden, ‘It’s like, all right, chip away, chip away, chip away, chip away.’ Now, all of a sudden, that next possession is really important. And Shai Gilgeous got the shot that he wanted. He misses the shot. And then transition defense. I just can’t, for the life of me, can’t understand why you let Tyrese Halliburton have a shot,” concluded a befuddled Dan Patrick.

And Dan’s absolutely right to pin this one on Shai’s supporting cast. Sure, credit to the Pacers for responding—but the real story is how the Thunder let them back in. Indiana racked up 24 turnovers, yet OKC managed just 11 points off them. That’s a massive missed opportunity. The box score only deepens the frustration: among the Thunder starters, only Lu Dort and Jalen Williams cracked double digits, and even then, they combined for just 32—six fewer than what Shai Gilgeous-Alexander dropped on his own. Simply put, OKC’s offense in Game 1 was a one-man operation—and that’s never going to cut it at this stage.

That said, Dan Patrick thinks that this wasn’t the only reason behind the Oklahoma City Thunder faltering last night. He believes the Indiana Pacers’ head coach, Rick Carlisle had a huge role to play in his team’s comeback last night.

Dan Patrick gives Rick Carlisle credit for Pacers’ victory

The Indiana Pacers had 19 turnovers in the first half. Yes! 19 whole turnovers in 24 minutes! But then it looked like the Pacers woke up. They limited their turnovers to just 5 in the second half. This change majorly shifted how the game went as the Pacers scored 30+ in the final quarters to win the game. And Dan Patrick thinks Indiana have their head coach and his “calming influence” to thank for their win over Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s OKC Thunder.

“And give credit to Rick Carlisle, because there has to be a calming influence in that huddle. Has to be. And that’s Rick Carlisle. Not too high, not too low. The bench, Obi Toppin, who played terribly and then had five three-pointers. But it’s don’t panic. Don’t panic,” said Dan Patrick on his show. And it’s not difficult to see why Dan was so impressed by Carlisle.

19 turnovers in the first half of Game 1 of an NBA Finals series sounds like a death sentence for any team. But Carlisle was able to hold his team together. And the results were there for everyone to see. The Pacers conceded very few points off their turnovers. Moreover, they kept the pressure on the other end. And eventually, they won this battle of attrition against the Thunder thanks to Tyrese Haliburton‘s clutch game-winner.

All in all, the Pacers flipped the script on the Thunder thanks to Rick Carlisle’s influence and SGA’s teammates’ shortcoming. It will be interesting to see what both teams take away from this game heading into Game 2 on Sunday.