Game One of the NBA Finals is tonight between the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Indiana is still a massive underdog to take the series, but head coach Rick Carlisle says the underdog role has been their identity all season long.
They take on a Thunder squad that won 68 games during the regular season.
“We’ve got a lot of work cut out for us,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “A lot of our guys have been through a lot of situations where they’ve been underdogs in the past. It’s simply going to come down to us being able to play our game at the best possible level. We’re going to need to take care of the ball because these guys turn people over at an historic rate, and we’re going to have to make some shots.”
Most sportsbooks have the Thunder as -750 favorites to win it all. The message from Pacer players on Media Day Wednesday is that being underdogs is nothing new to them.
“There’s no shortcuts to beating this team,” Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton said. “And we know the odds are stacked against us, but it is what it is. We want to be here. We want to play against the best, and this is the best. So we’re looking forward to the challenge as a group.”
Pacer guard TJ McConnell says they are not worried about the external noise.
“We know what we have to do to win, and we have to do it together. Anything outside of that, we’re not concerning ourselves with,” said McConnell.
The first two games of the series will be in OKC, while the next two after that will be in Indianapolis.
Game One tips off tonight at 8:30-eastern.
(WRBI will have coverage of all games played in the NBA Finals. Broadcast time for tonight’s Game One is 8 p.m.)
(Story by Network Indiana)