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

[The Corey's]

I'm so **** tired of the Pacers hate.

Win or lose they did it the right way.

Where are the backdoor sweep guys now? Where are the thunder in 4? (Note: I don't mean thunder fans. Just randoms who decided to speak on the thunders behalf)

The pacers have been good for two years and the only team to give the Celtics a competitive series during last year's run.

They may not win this series but anyone paying attention should not know it wasn't going less than 6 and wouldn't be easy.

[Calinks]

Elite offense>Elite defense.

[GreenBloodedC]

The pacers are just better in crunch time. OKC needs double digit leads into the 4th quarter and down the stretch.

And the lead is still not safe

[jokeboy86]

I am shocked that Indiana is doing this man lol

That RuPaul gif never gets old.

[jbsays]

If OKC loses this, Bucks are getting one hell of an offer.

Let's not put that into the air.

Giannis on OKC just wouldn't be fair..

What exactly would the offer be? I'd think 3 of OKC's rotation players. Obviously SGA would be untouchable. Would it be Chet, Jalen Williams, and picks?

[darkse1d]

ChOKC cursing the scheduling maker that game 4 isn't in 36 hours.

[Raps in 4]

The Ringer loves themselves some white american players. They can't wait for Flagg.

Ever considered not being racist?

Imagine being offended by this.

[Marrs-Law]

I ain't counting OKC out. Without TJ and Mathurin having the games they did tonight, Pacers were in trouble.

Yea, I really am not sure that this kind of win is going to be replicated in the series. The Pacers will need to keep winning the adjustment battle. Regardless, all Indy has to do is win game four to be completely in the driver's seat. Now that should be much watch tv!

[thelead]

So the questions regarding how the young Thunder would play on the road in a close game with the championship on the line remains a legit concern, even if the media just completely glossed over it.

Not sure anyone really played poorly tbh. To me, the offense was fine but it looked more like the refs didn't allow OKC to grab, hug, and foul Indy all night long.

[Deathray]

The Pacers are two wins away from a championship.

I mean I've just never seen a team like the Pacers be two wins away from a title. This is crazy lol such a unique team

The Pistons were the last to win the title simply because of what they were as a team instead of individual greatness.

[jkvonny]

Turner has had a great playoffs, remember all those years of trade rumours about him

I agree, excellent audition for the Lakers.

No

[HotelVitale]

Chet is kinda meh, not gonna lie...

Nah, he's good. Just has no business at all trying to force iso drives against a guy like Turner.

[Optms]

OKC is a great team but they're not unbeatable....if Nuggets can take them to 7 games then Pacers also have a shot.

7?

Pacers may not need 7.

[picc]

I remember talking heads talking about the Pacers putrid title odds at the season mid-point and how betting on them to win the title at that payout would be smart.

Obviously they sounded like idiots at the time, but imagine being a gambler and missing out on this opportunity. Like missing out on bitcoin. (potentially)

[Dadouv47]

I think OKC lost those finals in game 1. In a vacuum I think we are the better team but Pacers at home are better than Thunder on the road so I don't see us coming back from this deficit. Pacers is six is the likely outcome.

[guynumber45]

If OKC loses this, Bucks are getting one hell of an offer.

Let's not put that into the air.

Giannis on OKC just wouldn't be fair..

What exactly would the offer be? I'd think 3 of OKC's rotation players. Obviously SGA would be untouchable. Would it be Chet, Jalen Williams, and picks?

I don't see why the Thunder should blow up their current team. They had one of the best regular seasons in NBA history and are 3 wins away from the finals, despite fielding the 2nd youngest roster in the NBA. By all intents and purposes, they are way ahead of schedule. Most championship teams usually have to go through 2-3 runs before they finally break through. Guys like Jdub and Chet aren't even close to their cielings yet. I would continue building what they have.

[ball_takes23]

they have 0 road blowouts so far this postseason.

I weigh the talent discrepancy more than trends. I hope I'm wrong though. I'd like to see the Pacers really test OKC.

Quoting you because I don't mind being wrong. Regardless of how the last minute plays out, Pacers impressed tonight.

OKC has an extreme discrepancy between home/road in these playoffs, likely due to the way they are reffed playing such an important factor in their games (refs tend to favor home teams, even if subconsciously)

just eyeballing the scores it looks like they are around a +20 net rating at home and a -6 net rating on the road in these playoffs. Indy probably not winning another game in OKC but have a real shot to win 4 and 6 at home

[picc]

Which Pacer will pull a 20 pt game out of their ass next game?

[ForeverTFC]

I ain't counting OKC out. Without TJ and Mathurin having the games they did tonight, Pacers were in trouble.

Yea, I really am not sure that this kind of win is going to be replicated in the series. The Pacers will need to keep winning the adjustment battle. Regardless, all Indy has to do is win game four to be completely in the driver's seat. Now that should be much watch tv!

The difference in game 2 was Aaron Wiggins…

This whole thing about every Pacers win being an outlier and every Thunder win being the natural order of the world is really weird

[ArksNetsSince99]