RealGM

The Oklahoma City Thunder won their first NBA championship in franchise history, defeating the Indiana Pacers 103-91 in Game 7 of the NBA Finals to cap a historically dominant 68-win season.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander earned Finals MVP honors with 29 points and 12 assists in the decisive game. The victory completed a rare quadruple for the league MVP, who also claimed scoring champion and NBA champion honors in the same season. Gilgeous-Alexander's co-stars also played well in Game 7 as Chet Holmgren dominated defensively and scored an efficient 18 points. Jalen Williams struggled in the first half, but settled in to finish with 20 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Game 7 was overshadowed by Tyrese Haliburton's devastating left Achilles injury suffered with 4:55 remaining in the first quarter. Haliburton was ruled out for the game with a suspected Achilles injury. Haliburton converted three of his four three-point attempts before suffering the injury.

Indiana managed to take a 48-47 halftime lead despite losing their best player. Oklahoma City seized control in the third quarter, outscoring the Pacers 34-20 to build a 13-point advantage they never surrendered.

The Pacers mounted a late comeback attempt, cutting a 22-point deficit to 10 on Andrew Nembhard's three-pointer with under two minutes remaining. 

"It doesn't feel real," Gilgeous-Alexander said after the game. "So many hours. So many moments. So many emotions. This group worked for it. This group put in the hours and we deserve this."

Via RealGM Staff Report

Zzzzzzzzzzzz...who cares lol. No X Factor

Pretty ugly game both ways. Both teams just pass the ball once, go 1 on 1, then pass the ball again if that didn't work, and 1 on 1 again. Oh yeah you mix in a few pick and roll here and there, but a pretty boring game overall.

hyberx wrote:Pretty ugly game both ways. Both teams just pass the ball once, go 1 on 1, then pass the ball again if that didn't work, and 1 on 1 again. Oh yeah you mix in a few pick and roll here and there, but a pretty boring game overall.

Yep... over the course of a series between 2 good teams, scoring drops as teams start to figure each other out. By game 7, offensive schemes start to break down, and you wind up with more isos. But the ball movement was reasonably decent overall, though certainly not great.

But the only way you'd think this was a "pretty boring game" is if you know nothing about about defense, and how hard it is to play consistent, coordinated team defense against a quality offensive team.

One of the best series I’ve seen in quite some time.

Congrats to OKC

The best part of this series & matchup is that now the league has 2 vastly different blueprints to build a championship caliber roster. The good “old” days of high volume threes may be left in the dustbin.

OKC - Ultra Physical defense / midrange & @ basket shots / 1 superstar / 2 near all stars / depth of essentially same type of players ( hard nosed defenders )

Indiana - fast paced offense / 2 all stars / versatile roster depth with complimentary role players / balance of threes, middies & layups

Would have been intriguing to see Tyrese healthy but tip the hat off to OKC.

Two "good to average" teams in the final. If it was the time of the Big Three's Heat, GSW 73-9, Duncan's Spurs or Kobe and Shaq's Lakers, both teams could probably go to the second round and nothing more. NBA is going through a transitional phase. But congratulations to the finalists, who have nothing to do with it.

Cyclonus12 wrote:

hyberx wrote:Pretty ugly game both ways. Both teams just pass the ball once, go 1 on 1, then pass the ball again if that didn't work, and 1 on 1 again. Oh yeah you mix in a few pick and roll here and there, but a pretty boring game overall.

Yep... over the course of a series between 2 good teams, scoring drops as teams start to figure each other out. By game 7, offensive schemes start to break down, and you wind up with more isos. But the ball movement was reasonably decent overall, though certainly not great.

But the only way you'd think this was a "pretty boring game" is if you know nothing about about defense, and how hard it is to play consistent, coordinated team defense against a quality offensive team.

Saying good defense is reason for all the iso means you know nothing about professional basketball. That might be true if you were playing street ball or in college, not the NBA level. Just look at 2022 Warriors vs. Celtics game 6, the last game with two actual great teams with great defense (both tied for best defense rating) and figured each other out. The last poster said it best. It's more about these young teams running out of energy and imagination at the end, rather than them being actually great compared to past truly great teams. That's boring if you know real basketball.