The Thunder were considered heavy favorites going into the Finals, and they’ve played like it for almost the entirety of the series thus far — but Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers just won’t go away.
In Game one, the Thunder’s suffocating defense managed to force the most (19) turnovers ever recorded in a half of an NBA playoff game, but that was quickly overshadowed by Haliburton’s fourth game-winner of this year’s playoffs: a contested 21-foot jumper with 0.3 seconds left that capped off a 15-point comeback and gave the Pacers a shocking 111-110 victory.
Oklahoma City was able to dominate through the final buzzer in Game two, winning the game 123-107 behind 15 or more points from five players, led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 34.
After splitting Games one and two of the NBA Finals in Oklahoma City, both the Thunder and the Pacers seek to capture the huge advantage that comes with a 2-1 lead as the series moves to Indianapolis for Game three on Wednesday, June 11 at 8:30pm.
Game three is especially important – in 1-1 NBA Finals series, the team that wins Game three has gone on to win the championship 80% of the time (32/40), making Wednesday’s matchup in Indianapolis seem like a must-win for both sides.
On paper, the Thunder are the better team: they won a league-best 68 games, hold the highest net rating in NBA history at 12.7, led the league in team defense and are led by the league’s leading scorer and MVP in Gilgeous-Alexander.
The Pacers — a 4-seed — have a much milder résumé — but they push the pace of the game, stay clean in limiting turnovers (besides for Game one) and just seem to find ways to win as evidenced by their five big comeback wins in the postseason.
Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle is no stranger to conquering as an underdog, as he coached a modest 2011 Dallas Mavericks team to one of the biggest upsets of all time: a 4-2 Finals win over the Miami Heat and the three-headed monster of LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh.
While Carlisle seeks his second ring as a head coach, this would be the Pacers’ organization’s first NBA Championship; it would also be the first Finals win for Mark Daigneault, head coach of the Thunder and 2024 NBA Coach of the Year, and for the Thunder since their days as the Seattle SuperSonics.
On the court, only the Pacers’ Pascal Siakam (Raptors, 2019) and the Thunder’s Alex Caruso (Lakers, 2020) bring legitimate Championship-winning experience to this year’s Finals, making this the least experienced NBA Finals matchup of the 21st century.
One team will be handing out a lot of first-time rings — but which will it be?
Jimi’s Pick: The Oklahoma City Thunder win the NBA Finals 4-3
Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers seem to have that magic; comeback after comeback, game-winner after game-winner, things have gone their way in the 2025 NBA Playoffs.
More important than “that magic,” though, is being good at basketball — and the Oklahoma City Thunder are very good at basketball.
Haliburton’s apparent winning gene and Coach Carlisle’s giant-slaying Finals experience will keep things interesting — but the Pacer can only lead the race for so long, and the Thunder are the high-performance machine designed to win it all.
The Thunder’s elite defense, designed to slow down fast-paced offenses with four elite defenders who can guard almost anyone on the court, is poised to suck the life out of the Pacers — who love to play fast and score early in their possessions.
The Pacer’s half-court offense is no slouch, but playing outside of their comfort zone should catch up to them, especially with how seamlessly and effectively the Thunder defenders switch their matchups in any given possession.
The Thunder’s offense is fluid and adaptable. When they aren’t scoring off of the turnovers and transitional opportunities that their pesky defense creates, they’re running an efficient pick and roll centered around Gilgeous-Alexander, kicking it out to Alex Caruso or Lu Dort for three, or letting Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren get into their respective bags.
The Pacers are fun, truly. They’ve slayed giant after giant in dramatic fashion: the Bucks, led by one of the best players in the world in Giannis Antetokounmpo, a Cleveland squad who looked unbeatable in the regular season and a Knicks team who might hold the most complete starting five in basketball.
Haliburton, Carlisle and the Pacers seem to feel right at home playing the role of David, but I fear that this Goliath may stand a little too tall for them.