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The NBA finals begin Thursday night in a battle of two teams of small markets that have shown that they belong.
The title will be extended by Oklahoma City, when the Thunder, the number 1 sown at the West Conference, is the host of the Indiana Pacers.
OKC had 68-14 during the regular season with the MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leading the way.
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Oklahoma City Thunder Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, #2, leads to the basket next to the guard of Indiana Pacers, Tyrese Haliburton, #0, during the second quarter in Paycom Center. (Alonzo Adams-Imagn images)
As for the Pacers, they are the heavy losers, since they have won 18 games less. However, his 50-32 record was good for the room in the east.
Indiana is in its first finals since 2000, and the story was repeated this year. Like that team 25 years ago, they defeated the New York Knicks to get here. They had previously defeated their rivals of the division in the Milwaukee Bucks and the Cleveland Cavaliers in five and six games, respectively, before demolishing New York in six competitions.
It is a bit of a magic carpet for the Pacers, who have had miraculous returns in this postseason. In almost 1,500 playoff games since 1997, only four times a team wins again after continuing for seven points at the last minute of the last quarter or extra time: the papers have won three of those games this season alone. A victory would be his first NBA title, but won three ABA championships in the early 1970s.
The Guard of the Indiana Pacers, Tyrese Haliburton, #0, makes a strangulation movement towards the New York Knicks after hitting at the end of the last quarter of game 1 of the final of the East Basketball Conference of the NBA on Wednesday, May 21, 2025 in New York City. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Rick Carlisle de Pacers reacts after Knicks rules out Tom Thibodeau: “I thought it was a false thing of AI”
However, thunder are a different animal: they had, with much, the best defensive qualification in the association. They had problems with the Denver Nuggets, hitting them in seven games in the second round, but they took care of the businesses against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the western conference finals in five games.
They swept the Grizzlies of Memphis to start their search for playoffs.
OKC is in its first finals since Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden lost to the Miami Heat, who were in their second year of the three great compounds by LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. The OKC three-headed monster four years later an advantage of the 3-1 series at 73-9 Golden State Warriors (James returned the favor to the Cleveland Cavaliers), and in recent years since then, it has been a great fight for Thunder.
However, this is, with much, the best team they have had since they moved from Seattle in 2008, and a victory would be the first since he headed east. The Supersonics won the title in 1979.
Oklahoma City Thunder Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, #2, and striker Chet Holmgren, #7, celebrate after a play against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the third quarter during the game two of the western conference ends for the NBA playoffs of 2025 at the Paycom center. (Alonzo Adams-Imagn images)
The final format is 2-2-1-1, with games 1 and 2 in Oklahoma City on Thursdays and Sundays, and games 3 and 4 in Indianapolis next Wednesday and Friday. If necessary, game 5 will take place on June 16 in Oklahoma, with game 6 in Indy three days later. Game 7 would return to OKC on June 22.
