Haliburton game-winner stirs NBA Finals frenzy

JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY— Tyrese Haliburton’s game-winning shot that shocked the fancied Oklahoma City Thunder, 111-110, Thursday (Friday Manila time) and propelled the underdogs Indiana Pacers to a 1-0 series lead in the NBA Finals has been the talk of the town.

But fans have also wondered why Haliburton’s game winner did not get Mike Breen’s signature call “BANG!”

The longtime ESPN play-by-play anchor, who also does color commentary for the New York Knicks games at MSG Network, explained to Sports Illustrated why the Pacers star did not get it.

“We were so happy with such a fun game and a great comeback,” said Breen, “and now there’s obviously juice to the series and I liked the Haliburton call and then I find out later that I’m getting destroyed because I didn’t say ‘BANG!’”

Breen said his signature call is reserved only for game-winning three-point shots. He only recalled once in his career that he used it on a two-pointer.

“I think in all these years I only said bang for a two-pointer once. It was a Kobe Bryant game-winner in the playoffs when he hit a shot against Phoenix, and it was the only time. That’s the only time. I save it for threes.

“In hindsight, because of the magnitude of the shot, it certainly would’ve worked and made people happy, but I don’t premeditate the call and it was such an unbelievable shot. If he was beyond the 3-point mark, I probably would’ve said ‘BANG!’”

Nevertheless, Haliburton’s shot has made him and the Pacers a must-see TV after authoring another comeback in what is shaping up to be a Cinderella run for the Eastern Conference’s No. 4 seed.

The Pacers’ thrilling Game 1 victory was the least watched NBA Finals opener since 1988, outside of the two COVID-era seasons, per Sports Media Watch. It only drew an average of 8.9 million viewers, which pales in comparison to last year’s Game 1 between the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks, which averaged close to 11 million viewers.

However, according to Nielsen data, 11 million viewers tuned in to the final minutes of Game 1 when the Pacers staged another furious fourth-quarter comeback capped by Haliburton’s heroics.

The Pacers became the first team out of 122 teams in NBA history to come back from a nine-point deficit with three minutes left to play in a Finals game.

It was also Haliburton’s fourth game-winning or game-tying shot in this captivating Pacers’ postseason run. But despite all these, the Pacers are still -10.5 underdogs in Game 2 at 30bet, one of the top recommended casino sportsbooks by  About Slots.

The Thunder had the lead until Haliburton’s 21-foot jump shot in the final 0.3 seconds of the game. The home team battered the Pacers 46-34 inside the paint with 12 more attempts at the rim.

Indiana had to overcome a jittery start marred by 24 turnovers to steal the game at Oklahoma City.

“That’s going to be a big point of emphasis when we watch film, is how can we take shots more, get more shots at the rim,” Haliburton said after Game 1. “That puts us in a better position to win. I mean, you have [24] turnovers, you usually don’t win those games. Your odds are probably really low. Just got to stick with it, stay confident as a group, and yeah, we look forward to Game 2.”

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Alder Almo is a former senior sportswriter for Philstar.com and NBA.com Philippines. He is now based in Jersey City, New Jersey, and writes for US-based publication Heavy.com.