Finals Game #1 Pacers vs Thunder

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Too good to wait. Content to follow.

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https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6391912/2025/05/31/thunder-pacers-preview-prediction-nba-finals/

The NBA Finals matchup is set. One team seemed destined to be here all season long. The other is hoping April and May momentum leads to hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy in June.

The Oklahoma City Thunder, the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, and the Indiana Pacers, the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference, are the two teams whose title dreams haven’t been dashed this season. We’re still five days away from Game 1 in Oklahoma City, but The Athletic’s Eric Nehm and Kelly Iko got together a little early to provide a look at the series ahead.

NBA Finals schedule (All times ET; all games on ABC)


• Game 1: June 5, 8:30 p.m., at Oklahoma City
• Game 2: June 8, 8 p.m., at Oklahoma City
• Game 3: June 11, 8:30 p.m., at Indiana
• Game 4: June 13, 8:30 p.m., at Indiana
• Game 5*: June 16, 8:30 p.m., at Oklahoma City
• Game 6*: June 19, 8:30 p.m., at Indiana
• Game 7*: June 22, 8 p.m., at Oklahoma City
* if necessary Season series: Thunder won 2-0

Early prediction


Nehm: Thunder in 6 … This Pacers team deserves respect. They have been able to find solutions to every problem presented to them this postseason because of the talent on their roster and the cohesiveness of their group, fostered by Rick Carlisle, one of the NBA’s best coaches. All of that, however, might not end up being enough against the Thunder, who ran away with the league’s best regular-season record and breezed through the West bracket.

Iko: Thunder in 5 … The West semifinals against the Denver Nuggets, which went seven games, will be the closest any team will get to eliminating Oklahoma City. This will be an entertaining series, and I believe the Pacers have what it takes to shock the world and steal Game 1 on the road. But the Thunder’s utter dismantling of the Wolves in five games should serve as a reminder of the two-way wrecking ball that this team is. SGA is on another level, Williams has ascended as well, and their defense is simply too aggressive, too dominant and too versatile to fail.

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https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/2025-nba-finals-odds-oklahoma-city-thunder-are-biggest-favorites-in-franchise-history-vs-indiana-pacers-025804319.html

The Oklahoma City Thunder are in the NBA Finals for the first time since 2012 after dispatching the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games. They will face the Indiana Pacers, who knocked off the New York Knicks in six games on Saturday night, and the Thunder are overwhelming favorites in the series. In fact, Oklahoma City is the biggest Finals favorite in franchise history.

The Thunder opened as -800 favorites in the NBA Finals at BetMGM, with the Pacers as +550 underdogs.

[RWB]

Considering our bench beat the Wolves maybe we might be a little better.

[Ichi]

I'm really excited to see if our defense can bother OKC. We've played better offensive teams, and have been winning despite star players putting up 30s and 40s on us. Now scoring is going to be a really tough task at times, but at least they've seen Mikal/OG - two really good defenders to warm up to this point. Pacers also showed they can keep going through bad whistles, which will be absolutely key.

[Slick Pinkham]

The OKC Thunder and Indiana Pacers are both DEEP teams with superb star players, excellent complimentary role players, and outstanding bench players.

Here are each team’s 12-man rotation who played significant roles in this year’s playoffs:

OKC THUNDER:
📊 36.7 MINS - Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
📊 34.7 MINS - Jalen Williams
📊 29.5 MINS - Chet Holmgren
📊 27.2 MINS - Lu Dort
📊 24.3 MINS - Isaiah Hartenstein
📊 22.4 MINS - Alex Caruso
📊 22.3 MINS - Cason Wallace
📊 13.9 MINS - Aaron Wiggins
📊 10.9 MINS - Isaiah Joe
📊 9.4 MINS - Kenrich Williams
📊 9.3 MINS - Jaylin Williams

INDIANA PACERS:
📊 35.3 MINS - Tyrese Haliburton
📊 33.4 MINS - Andrew Nembhard
📊 33.3 MINS - Pascal Siakam
📊 31.4 MINS - Myles Turner
📊 30.4 MINS - Aaron Nesmith
📊 16.5 MINS - Obi Toppin
📊 16.4 MINS - T.J. McConnell
📊 16.0 MINS - Bennedict Mathurin
📊 12.9 MINS - Ben Sheppard
📊 9.8 MINS - Thomas Bryant
📊 9.6 MINS - Jarace Walker

Usually, playoff rotations are only 8-players deep and goes up to about 10-players for their whole run due to cross-matchups from series-to-series depending on team needs. The Thunder and Pacers just raised that ceiling to another level.

Both teams are beautifully built. We may be entering an era where the meta is a deep-roster + top-heavy lineup archetype. This is beautiful TEAM-oriented basketball and I'm in for it!

Reposted from a social media group

[yoadknux]

I must be dreaming if we reached this point

[idioteque]

Haven’t watched much OKC this year but they have been incredible when I have watched them.

Denver taking them to 7 games confuses the heck out of me, Jokic is of course amazing but they have a huge talent drop off afterward. Apparently Adelman ran circles around their coach that series, if Carlisle is dialed in which he of course will be that improves our chances immensely. There is no coach I would rather have for our team this series.

[imawhat]

This Thunder team is so much like the Pacers, but slightly better. Their two best defenders will be on Tyrese and Pascal. Shai is a bigger free throw merchant than Brunson, but is an easier matchup for Nembhard. Jaylen Williams is a load and will cause us the most problems.

If the Pacers are to win, then Myles, Nembhard and/or Mathurin will need big series. Myles and Mathurin are our biggest advantages on them.

I don't think we can do it, but our team is really special. You never know!

**edit**-for fun context: Andrew Nembhard and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander played on the Canadian team together in the Olympics. SGA called Nembhard 'the perfect true point guard', and separately was asked to build the perfect NBA player. When asked about passing, he said Nembhard. Now he will see how good defensively he is.

[712Jefferson]

[ErikD.]

I’m not saying I think he’d play much of a factor in a game, but if we’re short on bigs (Walker and possibly Bradley), I hope we get to see James Johnson bumping up against Holmgren’s skinny frame for at least a few minutes at some point.

[MagicRat]

woot

[712Jefferson]

woot

Finals birth bringing out some PD OGs!

[LongTimePacerFan]

I don't understand why OKC are such prohibitive favorites.

If Cleveland made the finals, would it have been this extreme? We beat that team. Handily. We've been better then them for like 6 months.

I think this Pacers team is clearly the best team in the East and the 2nd best team in the league. We shouldn't be favored, obviously, but the odds are mental.

[RWB]

woot

Wow, heard you had been eaten by a bear. Now if you see Unclebuck out there in the wilderness let us know.