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

[bbms]

The Pacers are scary with their speed, length and experience (Turner, Pascal). They can go toe-toe with OKC in terms of length and speed and while the overall talent advantage rests with Oklahoma, Indiana is a tough, intelligent and very skilled opponent that can easily win.

Siakam vs Chet might be the deciding factor in this series-Can OKC stop the Pacers transition game? Can JDub withstand the pressure from Nembhard and Nesmith without turning the ball over?

Indiana is the scariest team in the league to me (now that Boston is eliminated). Carlisle is a demon (in the same league as Spo IMHO) and a massive advantage for any franchise.

Head says Pacers in 6 but heart says OKC in 7

why do you think they'll match chet on siakam?

i bet this matchup will happen less than 10% overall possessions

[PaulKellerman]

The Pacers are scary with their speed, length and experience (Turner, Pascal). They can go toe-toe with OKC in terms of length and speed and while the overall talent advantage rests with Oklahoma, Indiana is a tough, intelligent and very skilled opponent that can easily win.

Siakam vs Chet might be the deciding factor in this series-Can OKC stop the Pacers transition game? Can JDub withstand the pressure from Nembhard and Nesmith without turning the ball over?

Indiana is the scariest team in the league to me (now that Boston is eliminated). Carlisle is a demon (in the same league as Spo IMHO) and a massive advantage for any franchise.

Head says Pacers in 6 but heart says OKC in 7

why do you think they'll match chet on siakam?

i bet this matchup will happen less than 10% overall possessions

I think the only way to stop Siakam is through speed/length.

[bbms]

The Pacers are scary with their speed, length and experience (Turner, Pascal). They can go toe-toe with OKC in terms of length and speed and while the overall talent advantage rests with Oklahoma, Indiana is a tough, intelligent and very skilled opponent that can easily win.

Siakam vs Chet might be the deciding factor in this series-Can OKC stop the Pacers transition game? Can JDub withstand the pressure from Nembhard and Nesmith without turning the ball over?

Indiana is the scariest team in the league to me (now that Boston is eliminated). Carlisle is a demon (in the same league as Spo IMHO) and a massive advantage for any franchise.

Head says Pacers in 6 but heart says OKC in 7

why do you think they'll match chet on siakam?

i bet this matchup will happen less than 10% overall possessions

I think the only way to stop Siakam is through speed/length.

which is why siakam will always be jdub/caruso task

i rolled my eyes everytime i red takes on chet x randle matchups. those were never happening lol

[PaulKellerman]

why do you think they'll match chet on siakam?

i bet this matchup will happen less than 10% overall possessions

I think the only way to stop Siakam is through speed/length.

which is why siakam will always be jdub/caruso task

i rolled my eyes everytime i red takes on chet x randle matchups. those were never happening lol

Randle has far too much size/weight on Chet. Caruso is a good 5 inches shorter than Pascal and would have big trouble contesting. Who would Chet guard on the opposing side?

[Iwasawitness]

I’m very curious as to how OKC is going to deal with Siakam. He’s been a major matchup problem throughout the playoffs, and I see no reason as to why he doesn’t have his way with Chet in this one. And that depth of Indy is going to be unlike anything OKC has ever dealt with.

On the other side though, OKC is going to be without question the toughest defensive resistance Indy will be facing in these playoffs. It’ll be interesting to see what Indy does if they’re struggling with the perimeter defensive pressure.

SGA vs Haliburton is going to be a war. Can’t wait to see it.

I can see Chet causing a lot of issues to the pacers. I think OKC in 5, but would love an upset

Offensively, yes. Defensively? I have some concerns.

[bisme37]

From NBA.com:

"It's two teams and it's one goal."

Seven simple words from Pacers coach Rick Carlisle on the stakes of the upcoming NBA Finals after his team clinched the East to set up a matchup with the Thunder beginning on Thursday in Oklahoma City.

1 vs. 4: This marks the second Finals matchup between a 1-seed (Thunder) and a 4-seed (Pacers) since the expanded Playoff format in 1984

The Last Time? The 2010 Finals between the 1-seed Lakers and the 4-seed Celtics, which L.A. won in seven games (Mod note: boo!!)

History In Play: The Pacers can become the first 4-seed to win the title since Playoff expansion

But this isn’t a typical 1 vs. 4 matchup. Since the calendar flipped to 2025, the Thunder and the Pacers have been the best two teams in the entire NBA.



Oklahoma City swept the two-game regular season series – overcoming a 15-point deficit behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's 45 points on Dec. 26 and a 21-point win behind SGA’s 33 points on March 29.

SGA On Fire: Shai averaged 39.0 ppg, 8.0 apg, 7.0 rpg, 3.5 3pg, 55.6% FG, 63.6% 3P in two games against Indy – his second-highest scoring average against any opponent this season

Beast vs. East: The Thunder finished the regular season with an NBA-record 29-1 record against Eastern Conference teams

At the center of this matchup is the All-NBA point guard clash between OKC’s SGA and Indiana’s Haliburton.

The Scorer: SGA – the Kia NBA MVP – won his first scoring title this season (32.7 ppg) and enters the Finals as the top scorer in the Playoffs (29.8 ppg) among players with over five games played

The Playmaker: Haliburton finished third in assists this season (9.2 apg), increasing his production in the postseason, leading all players with 9.8 dimes



Both players are the fulcrum of their respective offenses – which both rank top three in the Playoffs entering the Finals.

Pacers Edge: Indiana ranks 2nd in the postseason with a 117.7 offensive rating, while OKC ranks 3rd at 115.9

Thunder Edge: OKC’s advantage comes on the other end of the court as the Thunder owned the top defense during the regular season (106.6) and tightened it in the Playoffs (104.7)

[bbms]

I think the only way to stop Siakam is through speed/length.

which is why siakam will always be jdub/caruso task

i rolled my eyes everytime i red takes on chet x randle matchups. those were never happening lol

Randle has far too much size/weight on Chet. Caruso is a good 5 inches shorter than Pascal and would have big trouble contesting. Who would Chet guard on the opposing side?

vs timberwolves they just played him as free safety allowing mcdaniels to be in soft coverage.

probably nesmith or nembhard will see soft coverage in two big lineups

[PaulKellerman]

which is why siakam will always be jdub/caruso task

i rolled my eyes everytime i red takes on chet x randle matchups. those were never happening lol

Randle has far too much size/weight on Chet. Caruso is a good 5 inches shorter than Pascal and would have big trouble contesting. Who would Chet guard on the opposing side?

vs timberwolves they just played him as free safety allowing mcdaniels to be in soft coverage.

probably nesmith or nembhard will see soft coverage in two big lineups

I think Nesmith and Nembhard are scarier than Mcdaniels as offensive options

[bucknut]

Dog quotient

Pacers dogs. Nembhard mcconnell neismith and shephard

OKC dogs. Caruso

[Raps in 4]

Dog quotient

Pacers dogs. Nembhard mcconnell neismith and shephard

OKC dogs. Caruso

This is true.

[bbms]

Randle has far too much size/weight on Chet. Caruso is a good 5 inches shorter than Pascal and would have big trouble contesting. Who would Chet guard on the opposing side?

vs timberwolves they just played him as free safety allowing mcdaniels to be in soft coverage.

probably nesmith or nembhard will see soft coverage in two big lineups

I think Nesmith and Nembhard are scarier than Mcdaniels as offensive options

they'd better be


key aspect is if pacers will be able to play thunder's two big lineups off the court, because mard d will love to keep pounding the offensive glass

[bbms]

Dog quotient

Pacers dogs. Nembhard mcconnell neismith and shephard

OKC dogs. Caruso

in what world mcconnel (is this guy playable?) is a bigger dog than dort cason chet jdub

[slick_watts]

losing more than 1 game in this series would be surprising and embarrassing imo for okc. they are vastly more talented and 100% healthy.

[NyKnicks1714]

I think the whole sports world knows OKC is winning this series in exactly 5 games.

[DreamTeam09]

These two teams combined payroll is less than what PHX paid this year

According to Bobby Marks

[3ddman23]

I'm just not seeing how the pacers can win this series. I get it. Ya are gonna say don't sleep on them there scary,but we have seen this story over and over again. When was the last time we seen a team like this pacers team win a championship? Maybe 04 pistons? I'm leaning on history and going with OKC here. MVP, best team all season, loaded with depth (just like Indiana). 2 Mobile big guys to handle siakim & turner....

[shi-woo]

Like everyone else I don't see the answers for the Pacers other than an extreme melt down by the Thunder. We all saw how much of an impact Mitch had in that last series against the Pacers, now they are going to have to do it again with Hartenstein, who can actually stay on the floor because he's a solid offensive player. I expect that dude to have huge impact this series.

Add in Chet and Williams as big bodies, and they are going to feast on the boards.

Pacers need to make a nice amount of their 3's to take a few games, and Nembhart needs to do what he did against BOS last year in a couple of these games. They can't let Dort or the OKC bench have a huge impact on offense, especially above the 3pnt line.

OKC just needs to not fold under pressure, and hit a respectable amount of their shots to win this.

Pacers need to do so much, and even if they do all those things, rebound shoot from 3 well and get role players to step up, they still might get smoked.

[bisme37]

These two teams combined payroll is less than what PHX paid this year

According to Bobby Marks

First Finals where neither team is a luxury taxpayer.

[DreamTeam09]

These two teams combined payroll is less than what PHX paid this year

According to Bobby Marks

First Finals where neither team is a luxury taxpayer.

That's impressive / owners better pay the tax in the future

[Rust_Cohle]

I’m very curious as to how OKC is going to deal with Siakam. He’s been a major matchup problem throughout the playoffs, and I see no reason as to why he doesn’t have his way with Chet in this one. And that depth of Indy is going to be unlike anything OKC has ever dealt with.

On the other side though, OKC is going to be without question the toughest defensive resistance Indy will be facing in these playoffs. It’ll be interesting to see what Indy does if they’re struggling with the perimeter defensive pressure.

SGA vs Haliburton is going to be a war. Can’t wait to see it.

I can see Chet causing a lot of issues to the pacers. I think OKC in 5, but would love an upset

Offensively, yes. Defensively? I have some concerns.

Chet is an elite defender in fairness