{"id":82014,"date":"2025-06-07T01:15:16","date_gmt":"2025-06-07T01:15:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/82014\/"},"modified":"2025-06-07T01:15:16","modified_gmt":"2025-06-07T01:15:16","slug":"richard-jefferson-claims-thunder-were-lost-and-fatigued-late-in-game-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/82014\/","title":{"rendered":"Richard Jefferson claims Thunder were \u2018lost and fatigued\u2019 late in Game 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

The post Richard Jefferson claims Thunder were \u2018lost and fatigued\u2019 late in Game 1<\/a> appeared first on ClutchPoints<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After the Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> let a 15-point fourth-quarter lead slip away in a 111-110 loss to the Indiana Pacers in Game 1 of the NBA Finals<\/a>, former NBA forward and ESPN analyst Richard Jefferson<\/a> offered his take on the collapse, reflecting on what he saw courtside as part of the Game 1 commentary crew.<\/p>\n

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Speaking on the Road Trippin\u2019 podcast Friday, Jefferson recapped a key moment<\/a> he discussed with broadcast partner Doris Burke during the final stretch of the game. He noted how unfamiliar Oklahoma City looked in the closing minutes as Indiana stormed back.<\/p>\n

\u201cOKC just looked a little fatigued,\u201d Jefferson said. \u201cAnd the last thing I\u2019ll say is, I said to Doris during the broadcast, with like a minute to go, three minutes to go, that was the first time I\u2019ve seen OKC look like they were trying to figure out what to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe guys with the ball in their hands, they were just kind of looking around like, \u2018okay where do we want to go?\u2019 Normally they\u2019re locked in; this is how we\u2019re going to attack, and this is how we\u2019re going to play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tyrese Haliburton lifts Pacers to stunning Game 1 win over Thunder\"Alonzo<\/p>\n

Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the recently named MVP, led all scorers with 38 points<\/a>, along with five rebounds, three assists, and three steals. He shot 14-of-30 from the field, 3-of-6 from three-point range, and 7-of-8 from the free-throw line across 40 minutes of action.<\/p>\n

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Jalen Williams added 17 points, six assists, four rebounds, and one steal while shooting 6-for-19 from the floor. Luguentz Dort contributed 15 points, four rebounds, four steals, two blocks, and one assist, finishing 5-for-10 from the field and 5-for-9 from beyond the arc.<\/p>\n

Oklahoma City forced 25 turnovers \u2014 including 19 in the first half \u2014 but struggled to convert those opportunities, shooting just 39.8% from the field as a team. The Thunder led 94-79 with 9:32 left in regulation before Indiana closed on a 32-16 run. The Pacers took their only lead on Tyrese Haliburton\u2019s game-winning jumper with 0.3 seconds remaining<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While the loss was not Oklahoma City\u2019s first at home this postseason, it marked their first home defeat to an Eastern Conference opponent since March 12, 2024 \u2014 also against Indiana. The result gives the Pacers a 1-0 lead in the NBA Finals as the series continues.<\/p>\n

Related: 3 adjustments Thunder must make after NBA Finals Game 1 catastrophe vs. Pacers<\/a><\/p>\n

Related: Pacers-Thunder Game 1 hits record low in views for Finals<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The post Richard Jefferson claims Thunder were \u2018lost and fatigued\u2019 late in Game 1 appeared first on ClutchPoints.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":82015,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3783],"tags":[7,13027,126,364,183,6,1220,310,475,179,3966,3965,1912,209,312,278],"class_list":{"0":"post-82014","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oklahoma-city-thunder","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-doris-burke","10":"tag-indiana-pacers","11":"tag-jalen-williams","12":"tag-luguentz-dort","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-nba-finals","15":"tag-oklahoma","16":"tag-oklahoma-city","17":"tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","18":"tag-oklahomacity","19":"tag-oklahomacitythunder","20":"tag-richard-jefferson","21":"tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander","22":"tag-thunder","23":"tag-tyrese-haliburton"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114639439387219950","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82014\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}