The Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder spent Christmas night time in Indianapolis in a bittersweet temper.
They wakened that day at residence with their households and opened presents with their youngsters earlier than a late afternoon flight for the street journey, which was optimistic. However they have been additionally irritated, whether or not they admitted it publicly or not, that 10 groups have been enjoying 5 video games on the NBA’s marquee day, they usually have been spectators.
They’d received a league-best 57 video games the season earlier than and had one of many supposedly marquee gamers within the league, earlier 12 months Most Precious Participant runner-up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, that the NBA maybe ought to’ve been that includes on their highest-profile day. They have been additionally 23-5 at that time, on an eight-game win streak and never enjoying on Dec. 25 was wanting sort of ridiculous.
Their hosts for a pedestrian non-national tv Dec. 26 recreation have been the Indiana Pacers. The Pacers had rolled their eyes 4 months earlier when the schedule learn that they weren’t on Christmas Day, regardless of making the convention finals. It was the twentieth consecutive 12 months they’d been deemed undeserving of a Christmas recreation.
Looking back, this was an ironic second within the NBA season; the 2 groups that may ultimately meet within the Finals have been collectively on the headline day for the league. They have been simply residing the lives of small-market underdogs.
They ended up staging a terrific recreation that everybody can be thrilled to see repeated over the following two weeks. The Pacers, nonetheless overcoming early-season accidents and malaise, have been nonetheless only a .500 workforce on the time however led the sport for many of the approach and by as a lot as 16 factors regardless that their star Tyrese Haliburton was held to only 4 factors.
However the Thunder, relentless of their precision, turned the ball over solely 3 times and lower off Indiana’s basic recreation plan of crushing the opponent’s errors. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tied his profession excessive with 45 factors, 16 of them coming within the fourth, together with a cold-blooded 3-pointer with slightly below a minute left with Benedict Matherin in his face.
It could’ve been an incredible showcase recreation had it been afforded the highlight. As a substitute, it is simply an fascinating footnote to the factoid uncovered by Yahoo! Sports activities that the Pacers and Thunder are the primary groups to make the Finals with out enjoying on Christmas since 2007.
The league had its causes and justifications — Christmas 2024 produced a number of superior video games and great tv rankings, it was a triumph for the NBA, however that did not imply it wasn’t a mistake. These have been at all times two of the most effective groups within the league this season, they usually’ve confirmed it over the past six weeks throughout very comparable dueling playoff runs.
Good level guards, distinctive depth, harassing defenses, killer transition play, shrewd recreation plans, various heroes, harrowing finishes, demonstrations of resilience, total dominance.
Name them small market, predict low rankings, mock the respective cities’ nightlife, or the journey challenges, and even the championship-hungry followers, all you need.
Underestimating the Thunder and Pacers has been a dropping ideology all season lengthy.
The matchup of the season was there all alongside and proper there on Christmas, even, hiding in plain sight. — Brian Windhorst
Our NBA insiders are setting the stage for the Finals — Sport 1 suggestions off Thursday, June 5 at 8:30 p.m. ET (ABC) — together with breakdowns of how every workforce acquired right here, an important matchups and the way every workforce can win all of it.
Street to the Finals | Final time they met
Largest questions | Matchup to look at
How they win all of it
MORE: Schedule and information | Offseason information
Street to the Finals
Following probably the most dominant common seasons in NBA historical past, the 68-win Thunder handed a stress check towards a confirmed championship workforce within the second spherical of the playoffs. In any other case, it made fast work of the Western Convention bracket.
After sweeping the Memphis Grizzlies within the first spherical, Oklahoma Metropolis blew a double-digit lead within the collection opener towards three-time MVP Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets and confronted a 2-1 deficit after three video games. The Thunder seen the adversity as a chance.
“I knew that they have been going to deliver greatness out of us,” Thunder reserve Alex Caruso, the lone participant on the roster with a championship ring, stated the day earlier than Sport 4 in Denver.
“Denver is a great workforce, an skilled workforce. I do know that that is the problem that is going to push us to be nice.”
Led by MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder closed out tight wins within the subsequent two video games, answering questions on their capacity to execute in clutch conditions after cruising to double-digit wins in 54 of their regular-season victories. Oklahoma Metropolis blew out the Nuggets in Sport 7, with Gilgeous-Alexander recording 35 factors in a 32-point win.
Oklahoma Metropolis wanted solely 5 video games to complete off the Minnesota Timberwolves within the West finals, capping that collection with a 30-point victory. It was the Thunder’s fourth win by a margin of 30 factors or extra throughout this playoff run — probably the most by any workforce in a single postseason, based on ESPN Analysis.
As good as Gilgeous-Alexander is offensively, averaging 29.8 factors and 6.9 assists per recreation this postseason, protection drives the Thunder’s dominance. Oklahoma Metropolis had the top-ranked protection throughout the common season and tightened the screws much more throughout the postseason, reducing its defensive effectivity to 104.7 factors allowed per 100 possessions. The Thunder have compelled 18.0 turnovers and transformed them into 23.8 factors per recreation throughout the playoffs, each will increase over their league-leading regular-season numbers (17.0, 21.8).
5 Oklahoma Metropolis gamers — Caruso, Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Cason Wallace and Luguentz Dort — have averaged greater than a steal per recreation within the playoffs, whereas Chet Holmgren has averaged 2.0 blocks per recreation. The Thunder’s protection is a exceptional mix of relentless strain, swarming assist, elite playmaking and togetherness.
“Fifteen puppets on one string,” Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards stated, describing Oklahoma Metropolis’s defensive chemistry. — Tim MacMahon
It could have been straightforward to miss the Pacers initially of the postseason, however after a thrilling run as an underdog by the Jap Convention discipline, they will not be so simply dismissed anymore.
The Pacers received 50 video games and entered the playoffs as a No.4 seed, however a gradual begin masked their true contender qualities. It wasn’t obvious once they dispatched new rival Milwaukee Bucks in 5 video games within the first spherical, however once they made a 64-win Cleveland Cavaliers workforce look peculiar and the Pacers introduced their ascent from younger, up-and-comer to convention elite.
“They’re up right here, guys,” Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson stated, elevating his hand towards his head for emphasis, after his top-seeded workforce was eradicated from the convention semifinals.
“I do know from the info, I do know from watching movie, they’re up right here they usually can maintain it. I give them a lot credit score for with the ability to maintain that sort of depth for therefore lengthy.”
It arrange a matchup within the Jap Convention Finals with Indiana’s best rival, the New York Knicks, the identical franchise the Pacers beat of their solely different journey to the Finals in 2000. Indiana’s elite offense — led by Tyrese Haliburton, who has had a star-making playoff run, averaging 18.8 factors 9.8 assists and 5.7 rebounds within the postseason to associate with just a few enormous clutch pictures; Pascal Siakam, who was named Convention Finals MVP after placing up three 30-point video games within the collection; and coach Rick Carlisle, a champion with the Dallas Mavericks in 2011, who Haliburton has termed a “savant” — overwhelmed the Knicks in six video games.
The Pacers have posted the second-best offensive effectivity within the playoffs at 117.7 factors per 100 possessions. They’ve a deep bench and play quick for a full 48 minutes, which has allowed Indiana to drag off three of probably the most unbelievable comebacks in playoff historical past throughout this run. They have been down by seven within the final 40 seconds of Sport 5 within the first spherical towards the Bucks. They trailed once more by seven within the ultimate 50 seconds of Sport 2 within the second spherical towards the Cavaliers. And in Sport 1 towards the Knicks, they have been down 14 with 2:51 remaining. Indiana got here again to win every recreation.
“It is how we orchestrated this workforce,” stated Pacers middle Myles Turner, the longest tenured participant on the workforce. “It is not the flashiest, sexiest workforce. We simply get outcomes.” — Jamal Collier
Final time they met
The Thunder — who went 29-1 towards the Jap Convention, the most effective interconference report in NBA historical past — received each head-to-head conferences this season, however their victory at Indianapolis on Boxing Day required a fourth-quarter comeback. Down 4 with 3:42 to play after a 7-0 Pacers run, Oklahoma Metropolis ripped off eight consecutive factors to take management, with Jalen Williams scoring half of them. Gilgeous-Alexander was nonetheless the standout with 45 factors on 15-of-22 capturing, together with 4 3-pointers in 5 makes an attempt, plus an ideal 11-for-11 night time on the foul line.
There was little such drama when the Thunder hosted Indiana on March 29. Oklahoma Metropolis opened up a 22-point lead after three quarters. The Thunder knocked down 17 3-pointers, together with six from Lu Dort and 5 off the bench from Isaiah Joe. — Kevin Pelton
What number of instances will this Oklahoma Metropolis core get to this stage?
The NBA is on the peak of parity, making ready to crown a brand new champion for the seventh straight season, however the Thunder have dynasty potential. That is the second-youngest workforce (common age: 25.6 years) to advance to the Finals, trailing solely the Portland Path Blazers’ 1976-77 championship workforce, based on the Elias Sports activities Bureau. A deep Thunder roster is constructed round a 26-year-old MVP in Gilgeous-Alexander, a 24-year-old All-NBA choice in Williams and a 23-year-old potential future Defensive Participant of the Yr in Holmgren. Plus, normal supervisor Sam Presti has collected 13 first-round picks over the following seven drafts. Oklahoma Metropolis’s final Finals workforce — which featured MVPs Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden — is a case examine in future success by no means being assured within the NBA. However Oklahoma Metropolis enters the Finals as a heavy favourite, and it is easy to check the Thunder changing into June regulars. — MacMahon
Can Indiana win a power vs power battle?
The Thunder’s protection will simply be the hardest problem for the Pacers to unravel — a wholesome, swarming juggernaut unit with youth and pace that may match, and maybe, thrive in Indiana’s up-tempo model. The Pacers have benefited from seemingly catching every of their playoff opponents abruptly with their pace, placing the opposite workforce on its heels and forcing them into uncharacteristic kinds and errors. Indiana will enter the collection with extra expertise and Carlisle will proceed to try to discover a solution to dictate the phrases of the collection prefer it has in every of the earlier three rounds. However the hole between the highest of the West and the East has appeared broad for many of the season, which is why Oklahoma Metropolis enters the collection as heavy favorites. The Pacers have thrived of their underdog position all postseason. Can they discover a solution to pull off yet one more huge upset? — Collier
Matchup to look at for the collection
Tyrese Haliburton vs. Luguentz Dort
The All-NBA guard towards the first-team All-Protection stopper. Haliburton is the engine that makes the Pacers go, however he hasn’t labored that approach towards Dort. During the last two seasons, Haliburton averaged simply 12 factors per recreation towards the Thunder, his fewest towards any opponent, and he tried pictures at a decrease price when guarded by Dort than some other defender, based on GeniusIQ monitoring.
If the Thunder can gradual Haliburton like they’ve within the common season, and thereby gum up the works of Indiana’s offense, this collection will not final very lengthy. If Haliburton can clear up Dort’s bodily protection and hold the Pacers buzzing, nonetheless, Indiana has an opportunity to shock the world and upset the title favorites. — Zach Kram
How the Thunder can win all of it
By doing what they have been doing all through the common season and playoffs. A Finals win would full a historic season for Oklahoma Metropolis, which posted the most effective level differential ever within the common season (plus-12.9 PPG) and has the most effective for any workforce heading into the Finals (plus-10.8) since each the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors in 2017.
Extra particularly, the Thunder will win this collection so long as they proceed controlling the turnover differential, which has confirmed a key stat all through the playoffs. Oklahoma Metropolis is concurrently forcing way more turnovers than some other workforce (18.0 per recreation) whereas averaging fewer on offense than any workforce that superior previous the primary spherical (11.6). That benefit of 6.4 per recreation can be the best for a workforce that performed a number of collection because the league started monitoring workforce turnovers in 1973-74. — Pelton
How the Pacers can win all of it
Indiana’s path to the Larry O’Brien Trophy includes three steps.
First, the Pacers cannot lose the turnover battle by as drastic a margin as each different Thunder opponent. There are encouraging indicators right here: Haliburton ranks as one of many lowest-turnover guards within the league, and Indiana ranked third in each the common season and postseason in lowest turnover price. Taking good care of the ball will restrict Oklahoma Metropolis’s demoralizing, game-breaking transition sequences.
Second, the Pacers have to win the 3-point battle by a large margin. Once more, there’s cause for hope right here, as Indiana leads all playoff groups with a 40.1% 3-point mark, whereas Oklahoma Metropolis’s shooters have collectively struggled (33.6% this postseason).
And eventually, the Pacers need to win shut video games. The Thunder are sufficiently dominant that they need to count on a blowout win or two within the Finals; they’ve received at the very least one recreation by 30-plus factors in each collection to date. But when Indiana can win the non-blowouts, an upset is feasible. The Pacers are 7-1 in clutch video games within the playoffs. — Kram
