Game 1 of the NBA Finals was one for the ages as the Indiana Pacers pulled off another miraculous comeback win, this time over the Oklahoma City Thunder. It was quite the opposite of what the Memphis Grizzlies did when they blew a 29-point lead in Game 3 of their first-round series to the Thunder.
Unlike the Western Conference opponents the Thunder knocked out in the Grizzlies, Denver Nuggets, and Minnesota Timberwolves, the Pacers present a different threat level. The Pacers rally from a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter of Game 1 was spearheaded by this threat that confirms how the Grizzlies should approach their offseason.
Shooting is a premium from two-way players
Pacers star point guard Tyrese Haliburton will get all the shine after his fourth consecutive series with a game-winning or game-tying shot to cap off a comeback win. However, he had plenty of help to get to that point from his teammates, who altogether constituted the best three-point shooting team in the NBA playoffs.
Indiana shot 18-39 from three in Game 1, including 6-10 in the fourth quarter. Andrew Nembhard, Myles Turner, and Obi Toppin all made clutch threes in the fourth while playing solid defense on an Oklahoma City team that shot 39.8%.
The best game the Grizzlies had shooting from three against the Thunder in their first-round series was 38.7% (12-31) in Game 4, while the lowest they held them in field goal percentage was 43.3% in Game 2. Missing All-Rookie first-team member Jaylen Wells made a difference, but it showed the lack of alternate options the team had available to fill in the need for their top 3-and-D wing.
No matter how the NBA Finals conclude, the Thunder is the team to beat in the Western Conference, and it took one game for the Pacers to show what is needed to compete with them. Ja Morant remaining healthy would've likely gotten the Grizzlies at least one win against the Thunder, but their season-ending to them was inevitable.
Two-way players who can shoot at a high level are what the Grizzlies need more of to compete against the Thunder, and they have avenues to correct that this offseason. Watching how the Indiana Pacers operate in the NBA Finals should be at the top of the Grizzlies' priority list, as they present a model of how they should likely assemble their team to compete at the level it would take to defeat a team of that caliber.