The 2025 NBA Finals: A Battle of Wills and Skill Between Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder

The 2025 NBA Finals have been a thrilling and competitive series that has captivated basketball fans worldwide. The Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder have delivered a series that has been tight, entertaining, and full of surprises. With a seven-point difference in total points through six games, the series has been a true test of will and skill. The Thunder opened the series with a commanding performance, winning Game 1 by 97.7% of the time according to Mike Beuoy's charting at Inpredictable. However, the Pacers came back with a 12-2 run in the final 2:52 of Game 1 to steal the game and change the terms of engagement in the series. Since then, the series has been a back-and-forth battle, with each team winning a home game and a road game. One of the key statistics of the series has been the Thunder's inability to get up 3-point attempts. The team's 3-point attempt rate in the series is just 28.5%, a drop of more than 8% from their regular-season long-ball rate. This has been a significant issue for the Thunder, who have been limited from beyond the arc to an eye-popping degree that's out of step with the rhythm and offensive flow of the modern NBA. The Pacers have been able to limit the Thunder's 3-point attempts by their timely help, sharp rotations, and hellacious closeouts. This has forced Oklahoma City into more one-on-one attacks and fewer drive-and-kick, swing-swing, ball-finds-wide-open-shooter-in-rhythm trips that have punished the league for two years running. Another interesting statistic is the distance covered by both teams in the series. The Thunder and Pacers are covering an average of 38.33 miles per game, with Indiana moving at an average speed of 4.51 miles per hour and the Thunder at 4.39 miles per hour. This encapsulates the sheer physical demands of the series, with both defenses picking up ball-handlers in the backcourt and turning the full 94-by-50 expanse of the court into a battleground. One player who has stood out on both ends of the court is Pascal Siakam. The 31-year-old forward is averaging a team-leading 19.8 points and 8.3 rebounds per game in the Finals, while also adding 4 assists, 1.7 steals, and 1.3 blocks in 32.8 minutes a night. Siakam has been integral on defense as well, spending most of the first five games cross-matched against Oklahoma City's best perimeter defenders to provide secondary rim protection and swiping down for steals and deflections. The Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton has also been a key player in the series, with an on-court/off-court differential of 17.9 in the Finals. With Haliburton on the court, Indiana has outscored Oklahoma City by 3.9 points per 100 possessions, while without him,