In the end, and we never thought it would come as the Pacers and Thunder played a marathon, foul-filled double-overtime game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, this is who was on the floor for the home team.
Pascal Siakam. Obi Toppin. Jarace Walker. Taelon Peter. Johnny Furphy.
We already know the Pacers will be without Tyrese Haliburton all season and T.J. McConnell won't be back until November, but to add insult to injury, Andrew Nembhard hurt his shoulder in the first half when his arm got tangled with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as SGA made a spin move in the lane. This was a game of attrition, a game of whistles, so many whistles, and soon enough, Benn Mathurin and Aaron Nesmith fouled out, leaving the game in the hands of several players who reside on the edge of the rotation.
Like Peter, a tantalizing rookie, a second-round draft pick from Liberty.
Like Furphy, the summer-league dynamo, who sat for 55 minutes and then saw the floor in the final two minutes.
In winning time.
No surprise, ultimately: The Thunder outlasted the Pacers, 141-135, in double overtime. Gilgeous-Alexander was marvelous, dropping the quietest 55 points you've ever seen. Twenty-three of those points came on 26 free-throw attempts.
That spelled doom for the Pacers, who still want to play at a breakneck tempo but spent a good part of the night pulling the ball out of the net after made free throws.
"That's at least 25 times when we're unable to get any tempo going because we're standing there and they're setting their defense," coach Rick Carlisle said. "They did a lot of good things to get to the line, but I'm not going to talk about the refs..."
He wanted to address the subject, but demurred. "If I talk about the refs, I'll be fined an exorbitant amount of money," he said.
Based on the boos and sweet nothings the crowd aimed at the officials, I'm guessing they would pass a hat for the coach.
Despite the loss, there was a whole lot to like. Carlisle said it when he addressed the media -- "disappointed but proud." Siakam was spectacular, scoring 32 points with 15 rebounds. Mathurin had 36 points and 11 rebounds while guarding SGA most of the second half. Obi Toppin, who played a tick under 40 minutes, finished with 20 points, five rebounds and two steals. Jarace Walker showed great promise, scoring 13 points with four assists and two steals. And Ben Sheppard was terrific, scoring 15 points with eight rebounds and four assists.
In the end, they ran out of bodies. Of course, it should be mentioned OKC was playing without Jalen Williams, Cason Wallace and Alex Caruso, so they had their own issues. But the Pacers were down to (checks notes) no point guards. In overtime and double overtime, either Siakam or Mathurin brought the ball up court.
"I mean, this group is (about) grit, and grit is what our makeup is going to have to be this year," Carlisle said. "There are going to be a lot of challenges and we've just got to be willing to take on these challenges on a long-term basis. There's not going to be any sugar pill or panacea to solve the challenges that are going to come every night. So we're just going to have to have an attitude of loving the challenge of how difficult the NBA is when you're not whole. And right now, we're down playmakers."
You could have gotten long odds on the possibility Taelon Peter would be the first guard off the bench, although this probably isn't the best day to be talking about gambling and odds.
As the game wore on, and on, and on, the Pacers were playing a two-man game with Mathurin and Siakam, something they've never utilized before. Like, ever. Just put it together on the fly.
"We invented it in the second half in a timeout," Carlisle said. "We're going to have to be inventive on a lot of things because this thing with Drew's shoulder, we'll find out more tomorrow, but this is going to potentially present some big challenges."
One thing became abundantly clear through just one game: The Pacers are really going to miss Myles Turner. A lot, a whole lot. The three centers (Isaiah Jackson, Jay Huff and Tony Bradley) combined for seven points, four rebounds and two blocked shots. Whatever you think of Turner's exit, and there are a lot of bruised feelings within the organization and the fan base, he was a fine stretch-5 who fit the Pacers attack perfectly.
You don't lose a player with his skillset and expect to fill his place easily.
As much as the Pacers could really use a center, they REALLY need a point guard. Nembhard and the team should learn a lot more tomorrow, but if we're being honest, it sounded rather ominous. Stay tuned.
Bob Kravitz is an award-winning columnist who has been in the sports journalism business for 43 years. He's worked at Sports Illustrated, the Indianapolis Star, The Athletic and other publications, and is now an Indiana-based publisher at Roundtable Sports. You can follow him on X @bkravitz.