The first few days of the 2025-26 NBA season have been rather odd. The Oklahoma City Thunder have been involved in two double-overtime games to start the new campaign, and they've also been at the center of a timeout controversy in each of those contests. But on Thursday night, in an NBA Finals rematch against the Indiana Pacers, the Thunder were the ones to benefit from a timeout decision from the officials.
With 22.5 seconds remaining in the game, Pacers forward Obi Toppin drove the ball all the way to the hoop and made a layup to cut the Thunder's lead to four, 139-135. Now, the Pacers' chances of winning the ballgame were very slim. But Indiana is a team that tries until the very end. Toppin, in particular, pulled off a crazy steal on an inbounds attempt from Chet Holmgren towards Shai Gilgeous-Alexander from along the baseline — or so Indiana thought.
Just as Toppin had corralled the basketball, the officials called a timeout for the Thunder from the opposite end of the court, much to the Pacers' fury. Head coach Rick Carlisle, in particular, was livid and protested this decision animatedly.
Refs give the Thunder a time out right when the Pacers steal the inbound pass. Rick Carlisle is fuming pic.twitter.com/NCpRpKNCf2
— Rate the Refs (@Rate_the_Refs) October 24, 2025
The Pacers, more likely than not, would have still lost the game even if Toppin's steal ended up counting and he managed to convert that into two quick easy points. The Thunder would have still had a two-point lead (139-137), and they could have advanced the ball to the frontcourt, which would have set up an opportunity for the unstoppable Gilgeous-Alexander, who finished with a career-high 55 points on the night.
Pacers fans express anger towards timeout call in the end
In an all-familiar story, the Pacers, despite giving the Thunder their best shot, ended up falling short of their goal of defeating OKC. They were already facing long odds to defeat the Thunder amid Tyrese Haliburton's injury. But to see this decision go against them has angered fans all the more.
“Free throws is crazy, but ultimately it was the timeout that screwed the pacers. No matter what team you root for you can’t defend them giving the thunder a timeout while another team had possession,” @KrandonMartin wrote.
“dude obi toppin intercepted an inbound with the pacers down 6 with 25 seconds left and the refs called a whistle to give the thunder a timeout AFTER the interception that game was not real 😭😭😭,” @caistealan added.
“FBI needs to investigate SGA and the Thunder immediately. Felt exactly like the Finals where he got every call while the Pacers got nothing. That was absolutely insane how Toppin got the inbound steal only for the refs to call a timeout while they didn't have possession. Bulls**t,” @MeowsclesKitty furthered.
