Rising Underdogs: Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunders Journey to the 2024-25 NBA Finals
In the 2024-25 NBA season, two small-market teams, the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder, faced off in a thrilling battle for NBA supremacy. The Pacers, who finished 18 games behind the Thunder in the regular-season standings, rallied from a 10-15 start to secure a spot in the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Thunder, who won a record-breaking 68 games, were led by system-grown players like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams. The Thunder's journey to the NBA Finals was not without its own setbacks. After reaching the NBA Finals in 2012 with a trio of future league MVPs—Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden—the team struggled to maintain their momentum. However, this year's iteration of the Thunder, now the youngest Finals team since 1977, didn't take long to build under general manager Sam Presti. He hit the reset button after the 2020 bubble, and his team was taking the league by storm four seasons later. The Pacers' rebuild started in February 2022 when they dealt Caris LeVert to the Cavaliers for picks that became Andrew Nembhard and Ben Sheppard. The next day, they traded star big man Domantas Sabonis to the Sacramento Kings for Tyrese Haliburton. A year later, they acquired versatile forward Obi Toppin from the New York Knicks. In January 2024, they acquired multi-time All-Star Pascal Siakam from the Toronto Raptors. The Pacers' path to the NBA Finals was not without its own challenges. They started against the Milwaukee Bucks, whom they defeated in five games. The Cavaliers did much of the same in the Eastern Conference but were shorthanded in their conference semifinals series against the Pacers. The Pacers stole two games on the road, including a game-winning 3-pointer from Haliburton with 1.1 seconds left. The Thunder's path was far more predictable but just as entertaining. They waltzed past the Memphis Grizzlies in four games before nearly bowing out of the playoffs in the conference semifinals for the second year in a row against the Denver Nuggets. However, they rallied to win in seven games, with Gilgeous-Alexander scoring 35 points and holding Nikola Jokić to just 20 points on five field goals in Game 7. In the Western Conference finals, the Thunder took down the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games with Gilgeous-Alexander pouring in at least 30 points in each of those wins. However, they laid an egg in Game 3 against the Timberwolves, suffering a head-scratching 143-101 loss. The best NBA Finals moments so far have been filled with drama and comebacks. In Game 1, Haliburton's 21-foot jumper with 0.3 seconds remaining gave the Pacers a 111-110 victory. In Game 2
