DIFFERENT PATHS, SAME DESTINATION FOR THE THUNDER AND PACERS, WHO WILL FACE OFF IN THE NBA FINALS
Oklahoma City spent most of the regular season alone atop the Western Conference standings and just kept adding to its lead. Indiana didn’t spend a single day atop the Eastern Conference standings and was still under the .500 mark in early January.
Different paths, same destination.
It will be the Thunder and the Pacers squaring off when the NBA Finals start in Oklahoma City on Thursday night, a matchup of two clubs that weren’t exactly on similar paths this season.
“When you get to this point of the season, it’s two teams and it’s one goal and so it becomes an all or nothing thing,” Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said. “And we understand the magnitude of the opponent. Oklahoma City has been dominant all year long — with capital letters in the word ‘dominant.’ Defensively, they’re historically great and they got all kinds of guys that can score. It’s two teams that have similar structures, slightly different styles.”
The deep dives into the other side were beginning in earnest on Sunday, a day after the Pacers finished off their Eastern Conference title by ousting New York in six games. Indiana was taking a day off before getting set to return to work on Monday; the Thunder were practicing in Oklahoma City.
“We always talk about human nature in our locker room and the human nature way of thinking about it is ‘four wins away, four wins away.’ You kind of lose sight of the fact that you’ve got to win one to get to four,” Thunder guard Jalen Williams said Sunday. “You’ve got to stack wins. So, that’s how we’re looking at it. Let’s get prepared for Game 1 now and just go from there. And I think that does make it a little easier now that we know who we’re playing.”
The Pacers lost their 14th game of the regular season in early December; the Thunder lost 14 regular-season games this season, total. That would make it seem like this was an unlikely finals matchup.
But since Dec. 13, including regular-season and playoff games, the Thunder have the NBA’s best record at 61-13. The team with the second-most wins in the league over those last 5 1/2 months? That would be Indiana, going 52-21 over that span.
“We had expectations to be here and this isn’t a surprise to any of us because of what we wanted to do,” Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton said. “And I think obviously there’s a turning point there in December or January or whatever the case may be. But I just thought we did a great job of just being as present as possible, not living in the past, not worrying about what’s next, just worrying about what’s now.”
What’s now is the NBA Finals. The Pacers were a middle-of-the-pack pick to start the season, with 50-1 preseason odds to win the title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. The Thunder were only 9-1 entering the season, behind Boston and New York out of the East — and Denver and Minnesota, two teams that the Thunder eliminated in this season’s West playoffs.
“We’ve learned a lot,” Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein said. “We’ve had to learn how to handle a lot of situations. I think that’s going to help us now.”
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NBA FINALS GUIDE: WHEN THE GAMES ARE, HOW TO WATCH, WHAT THE ODDS ARE
The NBA Finals are set: It’s the Oklahoma City Thunder vs. the Indiana Pacers.
The Pacers clinched their trip with a win over the New York Knicks on Saturday night in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Thunder swept the two head-to-head meetings between the clubs this season. Game 1 of the finals is Thursday night in Oklahoma City.
Recapping the OKC-Indiana series
— Dec. 26: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scores 45 points and the Thunder erase an early double-digit deficit, pulling away in the second half to beat the Pacers 120-114. Andrew Nembhard scores 23 for Indiana, while Tyrese Haliburton is held to four points.
— March 29: Gilgeous-Alexander scores 33 and the Thunder win 132-111. Haliburton leads the Pacers with 18, and both teams have six players finish in double figures.
SGA is the MVP
A recap of Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s winning of the NBA MVP award.
The story: Gilgeous-Alexander tops Jokic for MVP award
The reaction: SGA tears up when talking about his wife
Steve Nash speaks: Canada’s 1st MVP thrilled to see SGA follow him
The notebook: Jokic finishes top-2 again, Giannis’ streak ends, LeBron gets votes
Betting odds
Oklahoma City (-700) is a big favorite to win the NBA title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. Indiana’s odds are set at +500.
The Thunder are an early 9.5-point favorite over Indiana for Game 1.
NBA Finals schedule
All games of the NBA Finals will be aired on ABC.
June 5 — Game 1, Indiana at Oklahoma City, 8:30 p.m. EDT
June 8 — Game 2, Indiana at Oklahoma City, 8 p.m. EDT
June 11 — Game 3, Oklahoma City at Indiana, 8:30 p.m. EDT
June 13 — Game 4, Oklahoma City at Indiana, 8:30 p.m. EDT
June 16 — Game 5, Indiana at Oklahoma City, if necessary, 8:30 p.m. EDT
June 19 — Game 6, Oklahoma City at Indiana, if necessary, 8:30 p.m. EDT
June 22 — Game 7, Indiana at Oklahoma City, if necessary, 8 p.m. EDT
(And good news: No NBA Finals games conflict with Stanley Cup Final dates!)
Key upcoming events
June 25 — NBA draft, first round.
June 26 — NBA draft, second round.
Stats of the day
— Indiana is the only team yet to face elimination in these playoffs.
— This is the second time a No. 1 seed (Oklahoma City) has met a No. 4 seed (Indiana) in the NBA Finals. Both previous times were Lakers-Celtics matchups, one in 2010 and the other in 1969. Both went seven games, both saw the Lakers as the No. 1 seed out of the Western Conference (or division, as they were called in 1969), the Celtics won in 1969 (Bill Russell’s final game as a player and 11th championship) and the Lakers won in 2010 (Kobe Bryant’s fifth and final title).
Quote of the day
“We’ve got our work cut out for us.” — Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton.
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2025 NBA FINALS: WHAT TO EXPECT IN THUNDER-PACERS SERIES
NBA.COM
This is a true David vs. Goliath series, or maybe a more appropriate description for the Pacers is “Hoosiers.” Much like tiny Hickory High School depicted in the Gene Hackman movie that slayed all the giants to win the Indiana state championship decades ago, the Pacers need to reassure themselves that the height of the rims are the same in the NBA Finals. It’s a “magical ride” as described by Pacers coach Rick Carlisle.
But will this 2025 drama have the same stirring ending? Indiana, which lost twice to Oklahoma City during the regular season, will need to play a near-perfect series to have a shot. And perhaps the Pacers will deliver in such a way. Maybe Tyrese Haliburton and his ability to be clutch helps him become 2011 Dirk Nowitzki, who surprisingly mowed down the Miami Big 3 Heat (and was coached by Carlisle).
Oh, by the way: Forget the small-market conversation that’s sure to follow this series. It’s not about market size — who cares. Hardcore fans will tune in regardless. It’s about players meeting the challenge to get casuals to watch and make for a compelling series.
What say you, Pacers?
TOP STORYLINE
Elite defense vs. explosive offense. This series presents a chance to witness what the Thunder’s relentless defense can do against the Pacers’ efficient offense. When the ball is on that side of the court, the outcome of games may rest on which top-rated unit gets the better of the other.
The Thunder were tremendous defensively against the Timberwolves, and actually through much of the playoffs. OKC brings two members of the league’s All-Defensive team — Lu Dort (first team) and Jalen Williams (second) — and so much more. That’s because through a generous portion of certain playoff games, Chet Holmgren and Alex Caruso were OKC’s better ball-stoppers.
With the Pacers, it’s all about Haliburton and whether he can create ample scoring chances for his teammates. He’s a throwback in this sense — a pass-first point guard who can spot teammates for easy baskets, leads the break and keeps the defense guessing. You don’t see many like him in today’s game.
Keep your eyes on
The big men matchup. This is seemingly in Oklahoma City’s favor because of rebounding. Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein are both capable of snatching double-digit boards. Meanwhile, Myles Turner is meek on the glass and Indiana lacks a beastly backup, so the blue-collar workload falls on Pascal Siakam, who leads the Pacers in rebounds during the postseason at a very average 5.8 per game.
If the Pacers manage to match OKC’s elbow grease with a collective effort, then that’s a big victory for Indy. Which won’t be easy. Holmgren is growing up fast in the postseason and I-Hart was brought to OKC specifically to be a difference-maker in the paint — so far, so good on that goal.
1 more thing to watch for each team
For Thunder. Will their depth once again give them an edge? In every playoff series to this point, OKC won that battle. The Thunder wore down the Nuggets who eventually were doomed by injuries, then ambushed the Timberwolves.
It’s soul-crushing for opposing teams when they see Caruso and Aaron Wiggins and Cason Wallace check in and immediately produce. OKC isn’t afraid to go eight, nine deep. When the bench produces there’s not so much pressure on the starters to be stars.
For Pacers. Siakam captured the Eastern Conference finals MVP over Haliburton, which might’ve caught a few folks by surprise. But Siakam was solid against the Knicks and very productive since he arrived in a trade from Toronto.
Of course, he won a championship there in 2019, so in this situation, he’s not scared. For the Pacers to insert drama in this series, he’ll need to duplicate that at the very least. And that will require A-game efforts against Williams and a team that managed to survive Nikola Jokić and Anthony Edwards.
So good luck to Siakam.
1 key number to know
8.5 – The Pacers have outscored their playoff opponents by 8.5 points per game in transition, according to Synergy tracking. That’s the best differential in these playoffs, and it includes a tally of 46-18 in transition in their Game 6 victory over the Knicks on Saturday.
The second best differential belongs to the Thunder, who’ve outscored their opponents by 8.1 points per game in transition.
The Pacers obviously love to run, and they’re led by Tyrese Haliburton, who led the league with 9.2 pass-ahead passes per game, according to Second Spectrum tracking. The Thunder, meanwhile, run off off turnovers, and they’ve led both the regular season (16.9) and playoffs (17.7) in opponent turnovers per 100 possessions.
But you don’t get differentials like that without also being good in transition defense. The Thunder lead the playoffs in the lowest percentage of their opponents possessions (13.6%) that have been in transition, while the Pacers have allowed the fewest points per possession (0.96) in transition, according to Synergy.
The primary battle in this series could be in the first five or six seconds of the shot clock.
— John Schuhmann
The pick
Oklahoma City carries the distinction of dominating the NBA all season and through much of the playoffs. Start with 68 wins, a record point differential, epic defense and XXL-depth. Will that suddenly vaporize here at the finish line, against a team that finished 14 games behind the top seed in the East? That seems unlikely. A more reasonable scenario has Shai Gilgeous-Alexander adding a championship trophy to his ample number of achievements this season. Give Haliburton a game, give OKC the ring. Thunder in 5.
