2025 NBA FINALS: #1 Oklahoma City Thunder vs #4 Indiana Pacers (Series tied 1-1)

[Castle Black]

A lot of overreactions to Game 1 in here tbh. Same thing that happened after Denver beat OKC at the buzzer in Game 1. Fun ending and it was impressive of Indy to steal it in dramatic fashion the way they did, no doubt. The Playoff run they're on is simply remarkable with some of these clutch finishes and Hali certainly deserves his flowers as well. But OKC dominated almost the entire game and showed they are clearly then better team imo. They just tend to show their youth at the end of games at times and become too timid. I expect Game 2 to be a blowout victory for them though, just like it was in Game 2 of the Denver series. They also have by far the best player in this matchup in SGA and the Pacers don't have anyone who can guard him. He's going to feast this series and will be your FMVP. OKC in 6.

[FlatearthZorro]

They let Ind won G1 just to make it look like they have a chance.

[FlatearthZorro]

A lot of overreactions to Game 1 tbh. Fun ending and it was impressive of Indy to steal it in dramatic fashion the way they did, no doubt. The Playoff run they're on is simply remarkable with some of these clutch finishes. But OKC dominated almost the entire game and showed they are clearly then better team imo. They just tend to show their youth at the end of games sometimes. I expect Game 2 to be a blowout victory for them. They also have by far the best player in this matchup in SGA and the Pacers don't have anyone who can guard him. He's going to feast this series and will be your FMVP. OKC in 6.

We've seen this movie 2-3 times, already. We outscored the Knicks by 20+(not sure the exact number) after 4 games and were down 3-1. We legit missed 21 WIDE open 3s in game 1 and lost by 3 I believe... The Cavs and Bucks were close to at least winning 2 vs IND and lost in bizzaro fashion.... the Knicks-Pacers game was pretty much the craziest thing I've seen with Nesmith making 6 3s in like 5 minutes?? It's time we let go of the "clearly the better team".

[Chuck Everett]

A lot of overreactions to Game 1 tbh. Fun ending and it was impressive of Indy to steal it in dramatic fashion the way they did, no doubt. The Playoff run they're on is simply remarkable with some of these clutch finishes. But OKC dominated almost the entire game and showed they are clearly then better team imo. They just tend to show their youth at the end of games sometimes and become too timid. I expect Game 2 to be a blowout victory for them though. They also have by far the best player in this matchup in SGA and the Pacers don't have anyone who can guard him. He's going to feast this series and will be your FMVP. OKC in 6.

What if they don't dominate like that again though (especially with regards to the turnovers)? You say they dominated the game (and I won't disagree) and they still ended up LOSING it.

[Castle Black]

A lot of overreactions to Game 1 in here tbh. Fun ending and it was impressive of Indy to steal it in dramatic fashion the way they did, no doubt. The Playoff run they're on is simply remarkable with some of these clutch finishes and Hali certainly deserves his flowers as well. But OKC dominated almost the entire game and showed they are clearly then better team imo. They just tend to show their youth at the end of games at times and become too timid. I expect Game 2 to be a blowout victory for them though. They also have by far the best player in this matchup in SGA and the Pacers don't have anyone who can guard him. He's going to feast this series and will be your FMVP. OKC in 6.

We've seen this movie 2-3 times, already. We outscored the Knicks by 20+(not sure the exact number) after 4 games and were down 3-1. We legit missed 21 WIDE open 3s in game 1 and lost by 3 I believe... The Cavs and Bucks were close to at least winning 2 vs IND and lost in bizzaro fashion.... the Knicks-Pacers game was pretty much the craziest thing I've seen with Nesmith making 6 3s in like 5 minutes?? It's time we let go of the "clearly the better team".

OKC are MUCH better than the Knicks.. I don't think it's particularly close. Does that mean you're picking the Pacers to win the Championship then?

[xxSnEaKyPxx]

Saw someone on Twitter say “No one ever said it would be Nembeasy.”

[Castle Black]

A lot of overreactions to Game 1 tbh. Fun ending and it was impressive of Indy to steal it in dramatic fashion the way they did, no doubt. The Playoff run they're on is simply remarkable with some of these clutch finishes. But OKC dominated almost the entire game and showed they are clearly then better team imo. They just tend to show their youth at the end of games sometimes and become too timid. I expect Game 2 to be a blowout victory for them though. They also have by far the best player in this matchup in SGA and the Pacers don't have anyone who can guard him. He's going to feast this series and will be your FMVP. OKC in 6.

What if they don't dominate like that again though (especially with regards to the turnovers)? You say they dominated the game (and I won't disagree) and they still ended up LOSING it.

What if they do? I like the Pacers a lot and have been pulling for them. I've been really impressed with their Playoff run and they're a lot go fun to watch, but I just think OKC are the better team. And it's obvious they have the best player in the series in SGA. And while it's not always the case, typically the rule of thumb is the team with the best player (and HCA) wins the series. Time will tell.

[Chuck Everett]

A lot of overreactions to Game 1 tbh. Fun ending and it was impressive of Indy to steal it in dramatic fashion the way they did, no doubt. The Playoff run they're on is simply remarkable with some of these clutch finishes. But OKC dominated almost the entire game and showed they are clearly then better team imo. They just tend to show their youth at the end of games sometimes and become too timid. I expect Game 2 to be a blowout victory for them though. They also have by far the best player in this matchup in SGA and the Pacers don't have anyone who can guard him. He's going to feast this series and will be your FMVP. OKC in 6.

What if they don't dominate like that again though (especially with regards to the turnovers)? You say they dominated the game (and I won't disagree) and they still ended up LOSING it.

What if they do? I like the Pacers a lot and have been pulling for them. I've been really impressed with their Playoff run and they're a lot go fun to watch, but I just think OKC are the better team. And it's obvious they have the best player in the series in SGA. And while it's not always the case, the rule of thumb is typically the team with the best player and HCA win the series. Time will tell.

SGA having huge scoring numbers alone isn't going to win this series. If he's the only one cooking, the Thunder will lose and it will be decisively. He needs those other guys to have big offensive games too. That's my only point. They can't win with him being a one-man band.

[CS707]

God damn. I turned it off last night and just found out Indy won. Shoulda known better I guess. Good stuff.

[Jailblazers7]

Ultimately, I still have more confidence in OKC because of that defense and their ability to pressure the rim. I also expect a bounce back from Chet he was flat out bad in game 1.

Can’t deny that Indy is starting to feel like a team of destiny tho.

[bisme37]

[FlatearthZorro]

A lot of overreactions to Game 1 in here tbh. Fun ending and it was impressive of Indy to steal it in dramatic fashion the way they did, no doubt. The Playoff run they're on is simply remarkable with some of these clutch finishes and Hali certainly deserves his flowers as well. But OKC dominated almost the entire game and showed they are clearly then better team imo. They just tend to show their youth at the end of games at times and become too timid. I expect Game 2 to be a blowout victory for them though. They also have by far the best player in this matchup in SGA and the Pacers don't have anyone who can guard him. He's going to feast this series and will be your FMVP. OKC in 6.

We've seen this movie 2-3 times, already. We outscored the Knicks by 20+(not sure the exact number) after 4 games and were down 3-1. We legit missed 21 WIDE open 3s in game 1 and lost by 3 I believe... The Cavs and Bucks were close to at least winning 2 vs IND and lost in bizzaro fashion.... the Knicks-Pacers game was pretty much the craziest thing I've seen with Nesmith making 6 3s in like 5 minutes?? It's time we let go of the "clearly the better team".

So you're picking the Pacers to win the Championship then? OKC are much better than the Knicks.. I don't think it's particularly close.

I'm trying to say that the stereotypes have been broken this postseason. You got 4-5 examples of that.
Again, Celtics were the better team before the series with the Knicks BY A COUNTRY MILE. Led the 1st 2 games by 18+ with like 9-10 mins to go in the 4th. Lost both by a combined 5 points. And we lost in 6.
Bucks looked like they were gonna be 2-2 headed to IND, but they didn't...
Knicks looked like they were gonna win up by double digits with 2 mins to go aaaand... they lost.
And yes, I like OKC, but I got the Pacers in 6 tops(maybe I'm biased and wrong, we will find out).

[Jailblazers7]

My big concern if I’m Indy is guarding those SGA PnRs. He was splitting those no problem and was having no problem finishing at the rim outside of a couple outstanding defensive plays by Indy. They can’t keep giving him open runways to the rim because eventually OKC will feast on those plays.

[shi-woo]

I always hate the over simplification we as fans make after every win/loss. We need to look at the game as fluid, it's not turn base, or as simple as we didn't do X game 1 so when we do X game 2, it will be so easy. It doesn't work like that.

Do people realize how ridiculous they sound? These are the last 30 pages since Hali GOATed himself last night:

"OKC isn't going to shoot that poorly from the floor again"
"IND isn't going to turn the ball over 20 times in the 1st half again"
"JDub and Chet aren't going to be that bad again"
"IND isn't going to make 50% of their 3's"
"IND isn't going to out rebound OKC again"
"Dort isn't going to shoot like Ray Allen again"
"Dags isn't going to play an 11 man rotation again"

Seems to me like both teams have a ridiculous amount of adjustments they can make going into GM 2. It's not as easy as just rebounding better. To make that adjustment, you are opening something up, and the other team might exploit it. We saw that last night when the Thunder went small, they sped up IND and forced a ton of TO's, but at the expense of their rebounding/size advantage. IND took the ball out of Hali's hands and put it in Nembhart's in the 2nd half, and that's what gave them breathing room on offense, and led to open shots.

This is why coaching is so damn important in the NBA, and why its most glaring on the highest stage. Yes, players need to do their part, but coaches need to read and react to what they are seeing in real time, and make the proper adjustments. Rick is an absolute legend at this point, and last night was another example, sticking with Obi after he was shook, and taking the ball out of Hali's hands and putting his faith in AN.

I expect both teams to make proper adjustments. We should expect to see more big lineups from OKC with more Caruso, and the rotation to get cut to 9 guys. We learned that they have the ability to match up with IND, force them out of their actions, and stop them from getting to the rim while forcing TO's. SGA is also going to be unstopable in this series, and IHart has a clear advantage in the post given his size and offensive IQ/passing. IND knows they will get open looks as OKC wants to swarm on driving and hedge on every screen, and they have the necessary athletes to make things difficult for them on defense.

Thunder could easily come out and turn it up another level, SGA getting a whistle from the gods, Thunder getting every board and start making shots, and this could all be an over reaction, but the fight from this IND team is ridiculous, and outside of OKC, this is clearly Americas team right now. I've never wanted to see a team outside of BOS win more in my life, and I hope they steal this series and put depth and pace and space at the forfront of the NBA.

[davidv2001]

The Pacers are one of the best teams in the NBA at protecting the basketball, and they just won game one despite turning it over 24 times (19 in the first half). That should scare the Thunder.

[Marrs-Law]

A lot to be optimistic about for game one. I think it's a very good sign that, in game one against the best defense of the NBA, against a defense you weren't entirely ready for, while Hali/Siakam were completely covered on offense, that Nembhard was able to successfully tread water running the offense. The Pacers won the third quarter by three, and they won the first six minutes of the fourth quarter by six (albeit with one mildly unsustainable side-step bank three by a certain Pacers center). I expect the series to go more like the third quarter (because the Pacers aren't going to play like they did in the last couple of minutes every time, nor are they going to give up 20 turnovers in the first half again), and that is very encouraging.

Game two should be very good. OKC will be looking to make a statement, while the Pacers know that winning the game could put them in the driver's seat and will go for it like they've tried all playoffs. I expect OKC to win, but how they win should tell us a lot. If they completely blow Indiana out of the water, then it suggests that OKC should be able to take control when they need to. But if it's a hard-fought game that OKC only wins by 8, I think that's a very good sign for Indiana.

There's probably a lot of truth to the idea that the fate of the series depends on whether OKC's supporting cast shows up or not. I'll take that as a Pacers fan. They just lost a lot of their cushion and now have to win 4/6 games. With that fact and the fact that Indiana can certainly win games on their own, this series just got a lot more interesting.

[vcdplaya3007]

The play of the game was not the Haliburton game winner to go up 1. It was actually a few minutes earlier when Andrew Nembhard went into his bag and pulled a double crossover stepback 3 over SGA down 6 to pull the game within 3 points. Rewatch that play it was incredible to see.

[holdenwait]

this was the expression on so many peoples faces last night when he made that shot I bet lol

[TheGOATWill]

SGA, Wallace, Williams, Dort, Caruso closing lineup? The Siakam put back was the play of the game before the play of the game. Pacers, dare I say, played Chet off the floor. Writing it off as game 1 of first finals. He has to have impact on both ends.

[Jailblazers7]

I thought OKC did a really bad job dealing with Indy’s ball pressure. Way too many times where they tried going coast to coast rather than crossing half court and running a set.