2025 NBA FINALS: #1 Oklahoma City Thunder vs #4 Indiana Pacers (IND leads 1-0)

[ibraheim718]

You gotta give Hali a little bit more time to adjust

[Patches Perry]

Either the speed and ball movement will be kryponite to OKC's defense, or OKC's propensity to turn teams over will actually act as a multiplier against a team that moves the ball a lot (more movement equals more passes and more opportunities for turnovers).

Said this a couple days ago. So far, the latter has been the case with the rapid ball movement acting as a turnover multiplier. I expect Indiana to adjust though.

[Jailblazers7]

ESPN will never convince me that these panelists like each other. That half the reason the TNT guys are good - they’re genuinely friends hanging out and talking basketball.

[doogie_hauser]

Them TNT boys should be the only crew that does the halftime show for the Finals (period).

Agreed but that is not going to happen any more

Hopefully Michael Jordan will be doing the finals coverage for NBC next season

[scrabbarista]

What network consultants decided we should have to listen to Perk and Stephen A Smith shout over each other?

Bro, the only person who decided that is you.

[GrandTheftRondo]

Some of you will complain about anything.

There are no more super teams and there IS parity.

Two small market teams in the finals.

Just a few things posters have cried about since my Warriors ran roughshod over the association.

Not sure why you’re bringing up small market teams when my post was talking about the finals logo, lettering etc.

For the last 4-5 years watching the finals broadcast has been like watching a regular season game

It was the Adam Silver reply to your comment.

And he’s clearly talking about the broadcast itself.

There’s no denying Adam Silver has completely sold out the NBA to ESPN when it comes to the finals and allowed them to turn it into a steaming pile of over commercialised junk.

Go back and watch a finals game from 2008-2015 compared to now and the difference in broadcast quality and feel for the finals is mind boggling.

[Doranku]

Jokic really took this OKC team to 7 with Jamal Murray and a bunch of junkyard trash

Aaron Gordon played like a star level player in playoffs w/ this insane shooting leap he all of a sudden had. Denver had a shallow cast but their rotation was good. Murray, Gordon, Russ, Braun, Watson, Mpj. Mpj was the weak link w/ his injury

Denver won a game that series w/ Jokic shooting 32% from the field, 0/10 from 3 and 8 turnovers only 6 assists he was one of their worst players that game and they won lets not act like he has the Utah Jazz around him lol its not a strong supporting cast but not this junkyard trash either

don't give attention to those trolls, gordon was nuggets best player and jokic played bad that series

Jokic: 28/14/6 on 59% TS
Gordon: 14/9/3 on 59% TS

Yeah, Jokic was bad and Gordon was better... and I'm the troll.

[Chuck Everett]

We've seen more comebacks in this playoffs than possibly any in history. Now a 12 point lead is insurmountable apparently. Why even watch these games? Just wait for the YouTube highlights, I guess.

[xBulletproof]

I don't know if they'll make the adjustments at halftime, but I'd guess by game 2 they have some changes for OKC.

I knew Haliburton would have an uphill battle given how OKC will keep him out of the paint. We have to run more, and guys who aren't primary ball handlers have to stop putting themselves in bad spots. I'm looking at you Obi, Myles and Nesmith. You're play finishers, not creators.

What I wasn't prepared for is how awful the refs were in the 1st quarter. One McConnell drive, the OKC player straight up grabbed his hips with both hands as he was getting passed, and pulled him backwards. Nothing. Was blatant as can be. There were several instances of that. Sheesh. In the grand scheme, fix what you can and ignore the refs as much as you can.

[PierceFan4ever]

Them TNT boys should be the only crew that does the halftime show for the Finals (period).

Halftime is just 2 minutes of talking about the game and 13 minutes of ads when it comes to abc/espn

[Special_Puppy]

Celtics really sold the viewing experience folding vs the Knicks

[bbms]

again don't pay attention to the troll

[Chuck Everett]

Them TNT boys should be the only crew that does the halftime show for the Finals (period).

Agreed but that is not going to happen any more

Hopefully Michael Jordan will be doing the finals coverage for NBC next season

NBC doesn't have the Finals. ABC/ESPN does. NBC will alternate conference Finals with Amazon.

[Wooderson]

SGA now officially the best player in the league and you will never convince me otherwise, as great as Joker is, the torch has been passed.

What convinced you?

Been amazing these playoffs and just regular season, he is so consistent and resilient.

He very rarely plays a bad game. Can't remember the last time he laid an egg.

He is almost impossible to defend. He is going to get his bag no matter who you put on him.

I think he is a better defender than many give him credit for too.

Like 3 games ago against Minny lol

[doogie_hauser]

Chet is not having a great game so far.

[Jailblazers7]

Chet has been flat out bad on offense

[2weekswithpay]

Chet isn't having any success trying to score on Turner.

[ArksNetsSince99]

What network consultants decided we should have to listen to Perk and Stephen A Smith shout over each other?

Bro, the only person who decided that is you.

[GeorgeSears]

As Chris Finch noted, you have to avoid the 5-minute meltdown vs OKC. When they go up double-digits, it's really tough to catch up.

[G R E Y]

Perk and SAS for an NBA finals halftime? Yuck

Absolutely awful. Doubling down on worst commentators.

Ppl dont realize this is the new normal going forward w/ Tnt gone. Even w/ Inside guys moving and still there we just finished the golden age of sports media and coverage. Its only downhill from here w/ Nbc and Espn

I guess we'll see. Sometimes it feels like the absolute worst get rammed down your throat and other like fan feedback gets us more of what we want.

The in game trio is terrific - shout out to standout Doris once again.

Then they allow buffoonery at half time. I like a change of tone, go for funny or whatever, but I've had a 13.5hr day. I don't want to be screamed at and with nonsense to boot.

By all means have a different tone but don't downgrade the quality so much.

I can almost hear someone say use the mute button and it's true. But that's a damning move on the halftime crew.