Twenty-five years ago, Shaquille O’Neal dominated the Indiana Pacers in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, steamrolling them with 43 points, 19 rebounds, and an aura of pure dominance. The Diesel was in his prime, and there was no stopping him. Fast forward to 2025, Shaq no longer dominates on the hardwood, but he still throws down in the studio—and this time, it was Chet Holmgren who caught the heat. The irony? Shaq expected a blowout again in Game 1. Only this time, it was Indiana that flipped the script.

“I did not expect this. I thought it should’ve been a blowout,” Shaq said on NBA TV, visibly stunned by OKC’s collapse.

And make no mistake—Shaq wasn’t sugarcoating things when it came to Holmgren’s performance.

“Chet had a horrible game,” he said bluntly. “Two for nine for six points. But listen, Indiana, they definitely stole one. And nobody expected this.”

Holmgren’s stat line—6 points, 6 rebounds, 2-of-9 shooting—did little to match the moment. Shaq, who once redefined what it meant to be a dominant big in the Finals, didn’t hesitate to point out the glaring gap.

“I was sitting there on the floor and I was like, okay, they’re about to blow them out. Wait. Okay. They’re about to blow them out again. And then it kept happening.”

What kept happening was a storm no one saw coming.

OKC, leading by 15 with under 10 minutes to go, looked poised to continue their perfect 36-0 run at home with double-digit leads this season. But Rick Carlisle, the same coach who orchestrated Dallas’ 15-point Game 2 comeback against Miami in the 2011 Finals, pulled a trick from the same bag.

Down 15, with 9:42 left on the clock in the fourth quarter, Carlisle benched his entire starting five. What followed was a 15-4 run that cut it to 98-94 and the Pacers never looked back.

Tyrese Haliburton’s game-winner with 0.3 seconds left gave Indiana its only lead of the night—111-110. One shot, one lead, one game stolen from a Thunder team that had the Finals opener in a chokehold.

Shaq called it like he saw it. “I think when it was like 102 to 98, they had two wide open threes that they missed and I was like, man… OKC couldn’t, you know, score enough.”

Chet Holmgren wasn’t the only Thunder player to come up short, but in a game decided by the slimmest of margins, his underwhelming night stood out. Especially under the gaze of someone who knows a thing or two about delivering under pressure when the lights are brightest.

Game 2 is set for Sunday night in Oklahoma City—and if Chet wants to silence the comparisons and criticism, he’ll need to bring a lot more than 6 points.

Because Shaq’s already made his call, and it wasn’t pretty.

Rick Carlisle: The Giant Killer Strikes Again — And This Time, Shaq and OKC Watched It Happen

But do you know what’s pretty? It’s how Rick Carlisle strikes in the fourth quarter — not once, not twice, but on a chillingly consistent basis.

For the second time in his career, Carlisle has authored a fourth-quarter masterclass that stunned basketball royalty. Back in 2011, he outfoxed the Miami Heat’s Big Three to win it all with Dallas. Now in 2025, he’s doing it again — except this time, with a team that wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near June.

After the Thunder built a 15-point lead early in the fourth, most figured Game 1 was wrapped. But Carlisle had other plans. He called a timeout, emptied the bench, and rolled the dice.

What followed? A 15-4 Pacers run, capped by a Myles Turner three that sliced the deficit to just four with 6:16 left. That wasn’t a lucky break. That was Carlisle turning the screws.

And here’s the kicker — this wasn’t new. It’s been happening all postseason.

• April 29 vs Milwaukee: down 7 with 34.6 seconds left. Win.
• May 6 vs Cleveland: down 7 with 48 seconds. Win.
• May 21 vs New York: down 9 with 51.1 seconds. Win.
• Now, Game 1 of the NBA Finals: down 15. Win.

People have started noticing — and they’re not just any people.

Richard Jefferson said it plainly during the playoffs: “So I think some of the tools that he has, Rick Carlisle are different, not better, not this, but they’re different than the other tools that I think other coaches have.”

Big Perk chimed in too, he pointed out how the none of the players from Dallas’s 2011 run had a lot of positive to say when it came to Rick Carlisle : “The point of a great coach is to max out your players, (2:25) right? To get the best out of your players. He is doing that right now.”

And Isaiah Thomas? He didn’t waste time dressing it up:

“Gotta give a big S/o to Coach Rick Carlisle. Outcoached every coach they played so far. Got Them boys hoopin.”

See, Carlisle’s greatness isn’t about noise. It’s about timing, adjustment, and belief. In 2011, he dismantled Kobe’s Lakers and LeBron’s Heat. In 2025, he’s dismantling egos, momentum, and expectations.

So as Game 2 inches closer, Shaq’s Oklahoma City isn’t just trying to beat Indiana.

They’re trying to defeat Rick Carlisle — the man who knows how to kill giants.