The Oklahoma City Thunder earned the NBA championship. They made it through the fierce gauntlet that is the Western Conference and then needed seven games to beat the Indiana Pacers, one of the hardest-playing teams in the league.
The Thunder put together a 68-win regular season and were favorites to win the title even though they had never advanced beyond the conference semifinals with this group before this season. They learned what was required to finish the job through wins and losses, through sweeps and seven-games series.
Indiana enters the offseason with one of the worst what-ifs. What if Tyrese Haliburton hadn’t sustained a lower right injury in Game 5 and had not left Game 7 in the first quarter after further injuring his leg?
Injuries always impact the playoffs to some degree, and the Thunder were healthy enough and talented enough to survive.
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Here are winners and losers from the Pacers-Thunder NBA Finals:
WINNERS
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Against the Pacers, he averaged 30.3 points, 5.6 assists, 4.6 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 1.6 blocks and shot 44.3% from the field, including 49.6% inside the 3-point line, and in Game 7, he had 29 points, 12 assists, five rebounds and was 11-for-12 on free throws.
Sam Presti
The Thunder executive vice president and general manager has sought this moment for almost 20 years. He came close with the Thunder squad featuring Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden, but when that era crumbled with Durant’s departure in 2016 and Westbrook’s trade in 2019, Presti embarked on another plan to build a contender. He succeeded with a slew of savvy draft picks, trades and free-agent signings. The second-youngest team to win a title in the past 50 years, the Thunder will be favorites to win the title again in 2025-26.
Jalen Williams
Williams, 24, emerged as an All-Star, All-NBA performer and All-Defensive selection in his third season in 2024-25. He is one of the league’s best two-way players and his best years are in front of him. He averaged 23.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists in the Finals and had a spectacular 40-point performance in Game 5.
Oklahoma City, the city
Hurricane Katrina forced the New Orleans Hornets’ relocation to Oklahoma City for the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons. It gave the city a taste of pro basketball and revealed that a major pro sports franchise could thrive there. The unfortunate part is that Seattle lost a team when it moved to Oklahoma City in 2008 (and that injustice can be rectified if and when the NBA expands). Thunder fans love the team, and the players appreciate the support.
Mark Daigneault
In his fifth season as Thunder coach, Daigneault won a title and has demonstrated he’s one of the best coaches in the league. His steady approach resonates with players, is quick to adapt and is a thinking-man’s coach.
Thunder roster
With this team, it’s difficult to name just a few players because it receives so many contributions from so many players. Alex Caruso won his second title, Chet Holmgren showed why he’s important to the Thunder success, and players through the roster (Lu Dort, Cason Wallace, Aaron Wiggins, Isaiah Joe, Isaiah Hartenstein, Ajay Mitchell, Kenrich Williams, Jaylin Williams) had their moments for Oklahoma City this season.
LOSERS
Indiana’s future takes a hit
This loss will sting, yes, but Indiana’s outlook for the immediate future might have just become far grimmer. If the Pacers fears about a torn Achilles tendon manifest, Indiana would be at a disadvantage next season — assuming Haliburton is able to return next season.
The third and fourth quarters Sunday night proved how challenging it will be if Haliburton misses extended time; he sets the pace of Indiana’s offense, finds open players and became one of the all-time clutch players. If he’s indeed out for several months, the Pacers will sorely miss Haliburton.
Pacers turnovers cost them the game
Indiana, simply put, lost the game because of turnovers. Credit the Thunder, a historically great defense, but the Pacers committed 23 turnovers, while Oklahoma City gave it away just eight times. That led to a massive 32-10 discrepancy in points off turnovers.
It also started to tilt the balance in the third quarter; the Pacers committed eight turnovers in the period, leading to 18 Thunder points off turnovers in the third alone. The Pacers were outscored by 14 in the period.
Some key Pacers fail to show up
Any game in which a star player goes down early — let alone Game 7 of the NBA Finals — the path to victory was always going to require role players and reserves to step up. And while it’s tough to blame a few players for Indy’s defeat, Obi Toppin (who had posted some pretty big games these Finals), Aaron Nesmith and Myles Turner each struggled, combining to go 3-of-13 (23.1%), for nine points. Toppin was held scoreless and committed three turnovers.
Hoops fans robbed of epic Game 7
This was looking like the setup for an epic Game 7. Tyrese Haliburton had finished games strongly, but slow starts had been an issue. Not Sunday night. Haliburton was hyper-aggressive and sought his shot, draining three deep 3-pointers to score nine points through seven minutes before he got hurt.
The Pacers hung in, but it was clear they were missing their star player to generate offense. Perhaps the Pacers still lose even if Haliburton finishes the game. In any case, it would’ve made for a far more compelling watch.
“You just hate to see it in sports in general, but in this moment, my heart dropped for him,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I couldn’t imagine playing the biggest game of my life and something like that happening. It’s not fair. But competition isn’t fair sometimes.”