OKLAHOMA CITY — It started with 30 teams, most of them fairly optimistic about their chances when the NBA’s 2024-25 season began eight months, 1,320 games, 35,543 3-pointers and 299,608 points ago.
Only two teams remain. For one game. Game 7.
The season ends Sunday night, when the Indiana Pacers visit the Oklahoma City Thunder to decide which team will hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy and become the league’s seventh franchise to win a title in this seven-year stretch. It’s the first winner-take-all game in the NBA Finals since 2016, when the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Golden State Warriors.
ABC will the televise the decisive matchup at 8 p.m. Eastern.
“I’m very much looking forward to Game 7,” said Indiana’s Rick Carlisle, who is trying to lead the Pacers to their first NBA title and get his third.
Carlisle was a reserve guard for the Boston Celtics — who last season won their record-breaking 18th league championship — when they topped the Houston Rockets in the 1986 NBA Finals. He was at the helm for the Dallas Mavericks when they beat the Miami Heat for the championship in 2011.
Each of those best-of-seven series finished one game short of going the distance, and the Thunder had the same opportunity Thursday night in Indianapolis. Carlisle’s Pacers clearly had other ideas, as shown by their 108-91 victory in Game 6, and now they have an opportunity.
“These are special moments, certainly for both teams, but for our league, for the game, for the worldwide interest in the game,” Carlisle said. “It’s a time to celebrate.”
Yes, but only one team will celebrate Sunday night.
For the Pacers, winning the franchise’s first NBA title would be the capper to a season that began with them banged up during a 10-15 start, which is part of the reason why they wound up fourth in the Eastern Conference despite surging over the final month of the regular season to finish 50-32. No team in NBA history has ever been below .500 at the 25-game mark and went on to win a championship.
For the Thunder, it would be their franchise’s first NBA title in its current incarnation — the Seattle SuperSonics, who won the 1979 championship, moved to Oklahoma City in 2008 — and wrap up a season in which they scored more points than any other club in NBA history and posted the best record not just in the Western Conference but the entire league during the regular season.
“We have to understand the work is done, and we have to trust the work,” Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault said Saturday, the final practice day of the season. “The muscle is built. We have to flex that muscle. That’s what tomorrow will come down to for us.”
It has been the epitome of a back-and-forth battle, with each team holding the series lead at some point. Indiana led 1-0 and 2-1, while Oklahoma City led 3-2 after a home win Monday night before getting blown out on the road three days later.
So here we are, tied 3-3, one game away from a decision.
“Grateful for the opportunity,” Thunder guard Jalen Williams said. “That’s one thing I can say is throughout the whole entire thing, you always have to remain grateful for where you are, because there’s a lot of NBA players that will trade their spot with me right now. That’s how I look at it. But as far as history, I want to be on the good side of that, for sure.”
Oklahoma City has looked every bit the part of a championship contender all year; going 68-14 in the regular season cemented the Thunder into the favorite’s role. Being the best team in the regular season is for this very privilege, to play host for Game 7.
The Pacers peaked at the right time and took the more circuitous route here. And they started this series with a win in Oklahoma City, so they see no reason why it can’t end the same way.
“I think we just have done a great job of just staying together,” Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton said. “There’s not a group of guys I’d rather go to war with. I’m really excited to compete with these guys in a Game 7, and it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
As for his health, the strained right calf he played through in Game 6, when his status wasn’t decided until hours before tipoff, is still something he’s dealing with. No one should be surprised he expects to be on the court for the finale just the same.
“I’m pretty much in the same standpoint I was before Game 6,” said Haliburton, who had 14 points, five assists and two steals that night. “A little sore. Good thing I only had to play like 23 minutes. I’ve been able to get even more treatment and do more things. Just trying to take care of it the best I can. But I’ll be ready to go for Game 7.”
The intention is the same for the Thunder.
Counting all games this season, Oklahoma City’s two lowest-scoring outputs were 81 points against the Milwaukee Bucks on Dec. 17 in Las Vegas and 91 points against Indiana on Thursday with a chance to clinch.
The 97-81 loss to the Bucks was at the in-season NBA Cup tournament final so in the two championship chances the Thunder have have had so far this season, they averaged 86 points per game. In all other games, they averaged 119.7.
“We obviously have to get better offensively,” said Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a former prep standout for Chattaooga’s Hamilton Heights Christian Academy. “Last game, clearly, was not good enough and not going to cut it, and we know that.
“We watch film for those type of things. You have games like that. Now, it sucks to have it at that stage obviously, but we know we have to be better, for sure.”