2025 NBA FINALS: #1 Oklahoma City Thunder vs #4 Indiana Pacers (OKC leads 3-2)

[GreenBloodedC]

Looked this up because of the discussion about defence wins championships.

Since 2004-05 only one team that wasn't top 10 in defensive efficiency during the season has won the NBA Championship, Denver in 2023, they were 11th that season in defensive efficiency.

Since 2004-05 only two teams have won the title without being at least top 10 in offensive efficiency, the Golden State Warriors in 2022 (13th but were missing Curry, Klay, and Draymond for extended stretches that season), and the Detroit Pistons in 2023-04 (16th in offensive efficiency).

For the record, this year Indiana was 15th defensive efficiency, 7th offensive efficiency, while OKC was 1st defensive efficiency an 3rd offensive efficiency.

Do we have the record for Indiana in the latter half of the season. That was when they got hot.

[TroubleS0me]

No NBA games on Father's Day smh bad move by the NBA and they wanna talk about ratings.

[durden_tyler]

The biggest problem right now in this series is that OKC HAS to win back to back.

The biggest problem for Indiana is they have to win in OKC where they are 9-2 in the playoffs. 9 wins by an average of 25ppg (5 of those wins by 26 or greater), and two losses on miracle gamewinners.

That said, Indiana is the best team they'ved played, so it could happen. I expect a close game at the very least.

I will also say that the back to back task is also tough, but less tough now knowing they've already won 1 of the 2 needed. Flipping a coin on heads is difficult (25%) but the chance of it flipping heads on the 2nd flip after a 1st heads flip is 50%. If OKC loses game 5, and needs to beat Indiana 2 times in a row in games 6 and 7? Yeah they're cooked.

Game 5 is going to be intense.

Thunder are -9.5 in Game 5. Vegas still showing no respect to Indiana, and expects a blowout. Sad for the Pacers, they really blew their chance at winning this series with that Game 4 choke.


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[Wingy]

No NBA games on father days smh bad move by the NBA and they wanna talk about ratings.

So many days off between. Kills the fan’s momentum for caring.

[Dadouv47]

The biggest problem right now in this series is that OKC HAS to win back to back.

The biggest problem for Indiana is they have to win in OKC where they are 9-2 in the playoffs. 9 wins by an average of 25ppg (5 of those wins by 26 or greater), and two losses on miracle gamewinners.

That said, Indiana is the best team they'ved played, so it could happen. I expect a close game at the very least.

I will also say that the back to back task is also tough, but less tough now knowing they've already won 1 of the 2 needed. Flipping a coin on heads is difficult (25%) but the chance of it flipping heads on the 2nd flip after a 1st heads flip is 50%. If OKC loses game 5, and needs to beat Indiana 2 times in a row in games 6 and 7? Yeah they're cooked.

Game 5 is going to be intense.

Thunder are -9.5 in Game 5. Vegas still showing no respect to Indiana, and expects a blowout. Sad for the Pacers, they really blew their chance at winning this series with that Game 4 choke.


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still don't understand those odds. I won't bet because I'm a thunder fan but the value on the Pacers is insane to me. Their odds to win the title are the same as there were before the series started and its a best of 3 now and Indiana showed how much they can bother OKC and that they are in better shape physically.

[OldeBoy]

The biggest problem right now in this series is that OKC HAS to win back to back.

The biggest problem for Indiana is they have to win in OKC where they are 9-2 in the playoffs. 9 wins by an average of 25ppg (5 of those wins by 26 or greater), and two losses on miracle gamewinners.

That said, Indiana is the best team they'ved played, so it could happen. I expect a close game at the very least.

I will also say that the back to back task is also tough, but less tough now knowing they've already won 1 of the 2 needed. Flipping a coin on heads is difficult (25%) but the chance of it flipping heads on the 2nd flip after a 1st heads flip is 50%. If OKC loses game 5, and needs to beat Indiana 2 times in a row in games 6 and 7? Yeah they're cooked.

Game 5 is going to be intense.

Thunder are -9.5 in Game 5. Vegas still showing no respect to Indiana, and expects a blowout. Sad for the Pacers, they really blew their chance at winning this series with that Game 4 choke.


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Well it was -11.5 in Game 2 so it has moved some. After these teams playing over 100 games Vegas isn't going to sway much off their evaluation based on a few games, unless there is some significant injury

[Slimjimzv]

I know there was a travel day, but the game should be tonight. So many more eyes in front of a television vs Monday night. NBA really needs to get their act together. I'm still confused about the lack of a Christmas game for OKC this year . . .

Either way, I think this is going to be an incredible game. These two teams have been throwing haymakers all series long. This is some of the best basketball I've ever watched.

[One Last Shot]

I know there was a travel day, but the game should be tonight. So many more eyes in front of a television vs Monday night. NBA really needs to get their act together. I'm still confused about the lack of a Christmas game for OKC this year . . .

Either way, I think this is going to be an incredible game. These two teams have been throwing haymakers all series long. This is some of the best basketball I've ever watched.

I'm not sure why you're confused, genpop dont give a damn about OKC and I don't think it will change a lot even if they win it all. People frown upon SGA with his foul-baiting antics, my friends call him FTA. I mean Thunder made the IST Finals against Bucks this season and the ratings down by 35% in comparison to last year's IST Finals between the Lakers against their Finals opponents now, the Pacers.

[Slimjimzv]

I know there was a travel day, but the game should be tonight. So many more eyes in front of a television vs Monday night. NBA really needs to get their act together. I'm still confused about the lack of a Christmas game for OKC this year . . .

Either way, I think this is going to be an incredible game. These two teams have been throwing haymakers all series long. This is some of the best basketball I've ever watched.

I'm not sure why you're confused, genpop dont give a damn about OKC and I don't think it will change a lot even if they win it all. People frown upon SGA with his foul-baiting antics. I mean Thunder made the IST Finals against Bucks this season and the ratings down by 35% in comparison to last year's IST Finals between the Lakers against their Finals opponents now, the Pacers.

I'm confused because the Thunder won the West in 2024, has a young core that could be promoted to increase ratings in the future, is likely going to be in contention for the next 5 years or so, and is accomplishing historic feats. Ratings aren't a result of people not liking the Thunder, they're a result of the NBA doing an awful job of promoting them.

[___Rand___]

Indy's half court went back to being lifeless was the end of that. They were trying to play that 3 man hand off game the ENTIRE TIME at the end of the game and OKC had that defended well. They tried nothing else.

Pascal is Indy's best ISO player. Pascal was stuck to the corner in that set, got never involved in the last 3 minutes of the game. That's on Carlisle IMO.

Indy needs to integrate Pascal's mid range game into their half court sets and not do just a simple spread out ISO. Way too static and easy for help defense to come.

Indiana had no intention of going straight iso in the final 3 minutes. As the ballhandler, Haliburton got stuck in iso when primary actions failed. Siakam was guarded by J.Dub, which makes him the less ideal screening partner for Hali, because what do they really get by J.Dub switching onto Haliburton (if a Siakam screen can impede Dort). They wanted Haliburton attacking Shai or Chet, meaning Nembhard and Turner were most involved.

I agree though, Siakam spent way too many possessions standing in the corner.

You just said what I said in different words. Pascal wasn't involved in anything. They got one Pascal play in half court that I've seen these entire playoffs. That's so pathetic.

[One Last Shot]

I know there was a travel day, but the game should be tonight. So many more eyes in front of a television vs Monday night. NBA really needs to get their act together. I'm still confused about the lack of a Christmas game for OKC this year . . .

Either way, I think this is going to be an incredible game. These two teams have been throwing haymakers all series long. This is some of the best basketball I've ever watched.

I'm not sure why you're confused, genpop dont give a damn about OKC and I don't think it will change a lot even if they win it all. People frown upon SGA with his foul-baiting antics. I mean Thunder made the IST Finals against Bucks this season and the ratings down by 35% in comparison to last year's IST Finals between the Lakers against their Finals opponents now, the Pacers.

I'm confused because the Thunder won the West in 2024, has a young core that could be promoted to increase ratings in the future, is likely going to be in contention for the next 5 years or so, and is accomplishing historic feats. Ratings aren't a result of people not liking the Thunder, they're a result of the NBA doing an awful job of promoting them.

SGA can win 3 of the next 4 MVPs like Jokic and still they won't be marketable the same way Duncan was not. It is what it is just look at it this way, In LeBron's 8 straight Finals run there's 18.18 million average viewers. Starting 2019 up to this Finals, there's only 10.96 million average viewers in 7 years. That's down 40% in TV ratings. This year's Finals series got 8.95 million average viewers, that might be the lowest Finals ratings ever if we don't include the Finals during the peak of global pandemic. NBA need their next LeBron, maybe it's Lakers Luka or Wembanyama even Cooper Flagg has a shot but I don't think it's SGA.

[Slimjimzv]

I'm not sure why you're confused, genpop dont give a damn about OKC and I don't think it will change a lot even if they win it all. People frown upon SGA with his foul-baiting antics. I mean Thunder made the IST Finals against Bucks this season and the ratings down by 35% in comparison to last year's IST Finals between the Lakers against their Finals opponents now, the Pacers.

I'm confused because the Thunder won the West in 2024, has a young core that could be promoted to increase ratings in the future, is likely going to be in contention for the next 5 years or so, and is accomplishing historic feats. Ratings aren't a result of people not liking the Thunder, they're a result of the NBA doing an awful job of promoting them.

SGA can win 3 of the next 4 MVPs like Jokic and still they won't be marketable the same way Duncan was not. It is what it is just look at it this way, In LeBron's 8 straight Finals run there's 18.18 million average viewers. Starting 2019 up to this Finals, there's only 10.96 million average viewers in 7 years. That's down 40% in TV ratings. This year's Finals series got 8.95 million average viewers, that might be the lowest Finals ratings ever if we don't include the Finals during the peak of global pandemic. NBA need their next LeBron, maybe it's Lakers Luka or Wembanyama even Cooper Flagg has a shot but I don't think it's SGA.

Only time will tell, but I can say with full confidence that it won't be SGA if the Thunder don't get played on national TV. They've had to brute force their way into the spotlight by winning at a higher level than anyone thought possible.

[tsherkin]

See, I really enjoyed that after action with Charles Barkley and Grant Hill. That was far, far better than when he's with Shaq. You need someone like Grant to match off Chuck, and it works really well. That was fun.

[WestbrookGOATed]

Read on Twitter

Here you can see the Refs getting offensive rebounds off OKC misses and gifting them 2nd chance points.

[ciueli]

Looked this up because of the discussion about defence wins championships.

Since 2004-05 only one team that wasn't top 10 in defensive efficiency during the season has won the NBA Championship, Denver in 2023, they were 11th that season in defensive efficiency.

Since 2004-05 only two teams have won the title without being at least top 10 in offensive efficiency, the Golden State Warriors in 2022 (13th but were missing Curry, Klay, and Draymond for extended stretches that season), and the Detroit Pistons in 2023-04 (16th in offensive efficiency).

For the record, this year Indiana was 15th defensive efficiency, 7th offensive efficiency, while OKC was 1st defensive efficiency an 3rd offensive efficiency.

Do we have the record for Indiana in the latter half of the season. That was when they got hot.

Indiana was 24th in Defensive efficiency at the end of 2024, 20th by the end of January 2025. So it looks like they improved as the season progressed, though it's hard to gauge something like that as it's possible an easier schedule helped them later in the season or the fact that a lot of teams try to tank to improve their draft position post trade deadline.

[bbms]

Watch on YouTube

congratz to elgee

[cupcakesnake]

Indy's half court went back to being lifeless was the end of that. They were trying to play that 3 man hand off game the ENTIRE TIME at the end of the game and OKC had that defended well. They tried nothing else.

Pascal is Indy's best ISO player. Pascal was stuck to the corner in that set, got never involved in the last 3 minutes of the game. That's on Carlisle IMO.

Indy needs to integrate Pascal's mid range game into their half court sets and not do just a simple spread out ISO. Way too static and easy for help defense to come.

Indiana had no intention of going straight iso in the final 3 minutes. As the ballhandler, Haliburton got stuck in iso when primary actions failed. Siakam was guarded by J.Dub, which makes him the less ideal screening partner for Hali, because what do they really get by J.Dub switching onto Haliburton (if a Siakam screen can impede Dort). They wanted Haliburton attacking Shai or Chet, meaning Nembhard and Turner were most involved.

I agree though, Siakam spent way too many possessions standing in the corner.

You just said what I said in different words. Pascal wasn't involved in anything. They got one Pascal play in half court that I've seen these entire playoffs. That's so pathetic.

Yeah wasn't disputing. Just discussing and adding context.

[og15]

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congratz to elgee

One could postulate that maybe some of the Pacers late game mistakes and stagnant offense, in addition to OKC's defense were also them getting tired from all the pressure they had been putting all game.

On one hand, we can't say, "well they should pressure less", because that's what is helping them build the leads and keep OKC uncomfortable, but we also have to acknowledge that all the pressure and energy can affect their level of energy later. Basically you have to hope you wear them down more than you are worn down.

Game 1 OKC was the on struggling late, Game 4 it was Indy.

Great to see all the adjustments both coaches are making. This is also why even if in general you want good team offense, in a tough series, you will have your sets jammed and broken up, and the value of a guy who can "go rogue" and create for himself and others off broken plays shines more.

[bbms]

Watch on YouTube

congratz to elgee

One could postulate that maybe some of the Pacers late game mistakes and stagnant offense, in addition to OKC's defense were also them getting tired from all the pressure they had been putting all game.

On one hand, we can't say, "well they should pressure less", because that's what is helping them build the leads and keep OKC uncomfortable, but we also have to acknowledge that all the pressure and energy can affect their level of energy later. Basically you have to hope you wear them down more than you are worn down.

Game 1 OKC was the on struggling late, Game 4 it was Indy.

Great to see all the adjustments both coaches are making. This is also why even if in general you want good team offense, in a tough series, you will have your sets jammed and broken up, and the value of a guy who can "go rogue" and create for himself and others off broken plays shines more.

it's a lot similar to football post guardiola and klopp revolution

[BlzMwt]

I'm not sure why you're confused, genpop dont give a damn about OKC and I don't think it will change a lot even if they win it all. People frown upon SGA with his foul-baiting antics. I mean Thunder made the IST Finals against Bucks this season and the ratings down by 35% in comparison to last year's IST Finals between the Lakers against their Finals opponents now, the Pacers.

I'm confused because the Thunder won the West in 2024, has a young core that could be promoted to increase ratings in the future, is likely going to be in contention for the next 5 years or so, and is accomplishing historic feats. Ratings aren't a result of people not liking the Thunder, they're a result of the NBA doing an awful job of promoting them.

SGA can win 3 of the next 4 MVPs like Jokic and still they won't be marketable the same way Duncan was not. It is what it is just look at it this way, In LeBron's 8 straight Finals run there's 18.18 million average viewers. Starting 2019 up to this Finals, there's only 10.96 million average viewers in 7 years. That's down 40% in TV ratings. This year's Finals series got 8.95 million average viewers, that might be the lowest Finals ratings ever if we don't include the Finals during the peak of global pandemic. NBA need their next LeBron, maybe it's Lakers Luka or Wembanyama even Cooper Flagg has a shot but I don't think it's SGA.

For you to chalk up NBA ratings being down purely to no marketable star is very narrow minded.

Sure the NBA would love to have their next LeBron but there are a multitude of factors to declining viewership ratings (cable subscriptions down, streaming product is garbage, more entertainment options, more parity, etc.)