The NBA Finals are underway, and basketball fans were treated to another miraculous comeback from the Indiana Pacers, who somehow managed to turn a 15-point deficit into a 111-110 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder to take Game 1. But despite the win, Dwyane Wade is worried about some big issues that the Pacers had that might spell disaster for them over the course of the series.
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The Heat legend spoke about the Pacers’ turnover woes on the latest edition of his podcast on the WY Network.
“It boils down to one major stat,” said Wade regarding Indiana’s biggest issue. “It’s turnovers, dawg.” Even with the Eastern Conference champions turning the ball over so much, Wade did point out some great things they did to keep OKC at bay.
“The Pacers have done an incredible job of holding OKC to about 40% from the field,” Wade stated. “The Pacers have more free throws than OKC. It comes down to they got about 25 turnovers. You cannot win no game that way.”
This portion of the podcast was recorded before Indy’s miraculous comeback, something that has become a staple for them in their 2025 run. That’s not to say that Wade isn’t making some excellent points. The series is far from over, and the Thunder have already bounced back from a heartbreaking loss during the Nuggets series.
D-Wade later expressed his hope that the Pacers’ coaching staff takes the good things they did in Game 1 and applies them to a game plan for Game 2. “As a coaching staff, you come in and say, ‘Alright guys, we got to clean this up.’ But look at what we did. Look at the positive that we did.”
“The Pacers are doing some good things they can take to Game 2, and allow their coaching staff to put together a better game plan for them with the things that they’ve done very well today,” preached the three-time NBA Champion.
One thing that Wade didn’t mention was how the Pacers’ deep bench once again proved to be the most effective weapon. Six players dropped double-digit points, with none surpassing 20. Indiana is so dangerous because on any given night, one of their teammates can go off.
We are 24 hours away from Game 2. Will OKC bounce back from the first haymaker landed by Tyrese Haliburton’s heroics? Will the Pacers take Wade’s advice and clean up their turnover issues? Only time will tell.
