OKLAHOMA CITY — In these NBA Finals, one team is four wins away from getting the last laugh.
Ask anyone on the roster for the Indiana Pacers or the Oklahoma City Thunder if they’re still fueled by doubters, and the answer is probably going to be immediate and in the affirmative. Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the league MVP for the first time this year, went 11th in the 2018 draft (and was traded by the Los Angeles Clippers a year later); Pacers counterpart Tyrese Haliburton went 12th in the 2020 draft (and was traded by the Sacramento Kings two years after that). Indiana and Oklahoma City both have undrafted players in their rotation.
Now here they are in the NBA Finals, with the best-of-seven championship series tipping off Thursday in Oklahoma City and ABC televising the matchup at 8 p.m. Eastern. The Thunder have, by far, the NBA’s best record for the 2024-25 season; the Pacers have the league’s second-best record since Jan. 1, including the postseason. And both teams have rolled through the playoffs, with each going 12-4 in the first three rounds.
“I’ll continue to tell you guys in certain moments that it doesn’t matter what people say, but it matters — and I enjoy it,” Haliburton said. “I think the greats try to find external motivation as much as they can, and that’s something that’s always worked for me.”
It’s not like more motivation is needed. Not for the next couple of weeks, anyway. Indiana is fresh off its second Eastern Conference championship a quarter-century after its first was followed by disappointment in the NBA Finals that started a run of three titles in a row for the Los Angeles Lakers. Oklahoma City — technically — is also seeking its first; the franchise formerly known as the Seattle SuperSonics won it all in 1979, but the Thunder are in the NBA Finals for just the second time and first since 2012.
These are teams that combined to win 49 games just three seasons ago, and now they’re the last two standing.
“Staying true to who we are is the reason why we’re here,” said Gilgeous-Alexander, a Toronto native who was a prep standout at Chattanooga’s Hamilton Heights before suiting up for the Kentucky Wildcats in his lone college season. “We’d be doing ourselves a disservice if we changed or tried to be something we’re not once we got here. We’ve had success doing so.
“If we want to keep having success, we have to be who we are. It’s organic. It’s nothing we have to think about or force. It’s just who we are, no matter the moment.”
The Thunder are enormous betting favorites in the series, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, and understandably so. They’re 80-18 including the regular season and the postseason, went 29-1 in the regular season against Eastern Conference clubs (including 2-0 against the Pacers) and have more double-digit wins — 61 and counting — than any team in any season in NBA history.
“We’ve got a lot of work cut out for us,” said Rick Carlisle, who is in his fourth season at the helm in Indianapolis and has won NBA titles as a player (with the Boston Celtics in 1986) and a head coach (with the Dallas Mavericks in 2011).
“A lot of our guys have been through a lot of situations where they’ve been underdogs in the past. It’s simply going to come down to us being able to play our game at the best possible level. We’re going to need to take care of the ball, because these guys turn people over at a historic rate, and we’re going to have to make some shots.”
The Thunder want no part of hearing this series will be easy. The way Indiana, which was the No. 4 seed in the East after finishing with a regular-season record of 50-32, got through the first three rounds without ever being on the must-win side of an elimination game has Oklahoma City’s full attention.
“Their attack is very simple. The theoretical way to stop it is simple,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “In reality it’s very difficult to do, as you can see from the way that they’ve really had their way with everybody. … They pump a 99 mph fastball at you. You can prepare all you want for that. When you’re in the batter’s box, it’s different when it’s time to hit it.”
There are four players on these teams with NBA Finals experience. Indiana’s Pascal Siakam averaged 19.8 points in six games to help the Toronto Raptors win the title in 2019, Oklahoma City’s Alex Caruso averaged 6.3 points in six games for the Lakers when they won it all in 2020, Aaron Nesmith of the Pacers was with the Celtics when they lost to the Golden State Warriors in 2022, and Indiana’s Thomas Bryant got in one game in for the Denver Nuggets won they won the NBA Finals for the first time.
The Thunder are the youngest team to make the NBA Finals in 48 years, according to data provided by the league. With an average age of 25 years and 7 months, they’re the youngest league finalist since the Portland Trail Blazers in 1977.
That said, hearing about it is getting, well, old.
“Young or not, when you can learn from whatever situation you’re thrown in, that makes you better,” Thunder guard Jalen Williams said. “I think that’s why we’re here in this moment.”