2025 NBA Finals

• 1. 0.3 Seconds

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  The 2025 NBA Finals opened on the 5th of June with a shot the statistics said should never have happened. Oklahoma City held a 96.4% win probability with nine points and 2:52 remaining in Game 1. Tyrese Haliburton pulled up from 21 feet over Cason Wallace with 0.3 seconds on the clock and put Indiana ahead 111-110. That was the final score.

  The Thunder came into this series with the league's best regular season record, at 68-14. The Pacers were the fourth seed, at 50-32. Their combined television markets totaled fewer than two million households. Indianapolis ranked 22nd among the league's 28 markets; Oklahoma City ranked 26th. How a fourth-seeded team could flip a 96.4% probability in Game 1 was the first question the series posed. Whether Oklahoma City's regular season dominance would translate into a championship was the second.

  After Game 1, Gilgeous-Alexander put his view of the Pacers plainly. "It's a 48-minute game," he said, "and they teach you that lesson more than anyone else in the league the hard way."

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• 2. Two Trades, One Finals

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  On the eve of free agency in 2017, Indiana traded Paul George to Oklahoma City for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis. George played two seasons with the Thunder, finishing third in both MVP and Defensive Player of the Year voting during 2018-19. The team fell in the first round in both of his seasons there. On the 10th of July, 2019, Oklahoma City sent George to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, five first-round picks, and the rights to swap two additional first-round selections. One of those picks was later used to select Jalen Williams.

  Indiana's path to Tyrese Haliburton also ran through that same set of trades. Domantas Sabonis, along with other players, was traded to the Sacramento Kings before the 2022 trade deadline. Indiana received Haliburton and additional pieces in return. Both teams, in effect, had assembled their championship rosters through separate transactions that each began with Paul George.

  Among Finals teams since 2005, only the 2018 Golden State Warriors had entered with shorter pre-Finals betting odds than Oklahoma City. The gap in regular season wins between the two teams was 18, the largest among Finals participants since 1981, when the 62-win Celtics faced the 40-win Rockets. The 2025 Finals was also the first since 2002 to feature no luxury tax team. For the first time since 2006, both cities were seeking their first NBA championship.

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• 3. Oklahoma City's Season

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  Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the NBA in scoring at 32.7 points per game during 2024-25, adding 6.4 assists and five rebounds per game. He won the regular season MVP award. Oklahoma City's margin of victory over opponents during the regular season was 12.9 points per game. That broke the previous record of 12.3, set by the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers.

  Third-year forward Jalen Williams improved across every major statistical category from the previous season, earning his first All-Star appearance and a third-team All-NBA designation. The Thunder added depth: center Isaiah Hartenstein joined via free agency, and guard Alex Caruso arrived via trade. Luguentz Dort was named to the All-Defensive first team; Williams earned All-Defensive second team honors. Together with second-year center Chet Holmgren, they formed a defensive unit that led the league in most major defensive categories. Executive vice president Sam Presti received the NBA's Executive of the Year award for assembling the group.

  Oklahoma City finished 16 games ahead of the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference, the largest margin between first and second seed in NBA history. In the playoffs, the Thunder swept the Memphis Grizzlies in four games and defeated the Denver Nuggets in seven. They beat the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games to advance. The Thunder were the youngest team to reach the Finals since the 1977 Portland Trail Blazers. This was the franchise's second Finals appearance since relocating from Seattle, after losing to the Miami Heat in 2012. Alex Caruso was the only player on the roster who had previously played in an NBA Finals, having won a championship with the Los Angeles Lakers.

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• 4. Indiana's Comeback Trail

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  After a loss to Charlotte on the 8th of December, Indiana's record stood at 10-15. Tyrese Haliburton, who was central to the team's offense, was struggling and acknowledged personal problems off the court. The Pacers went 10-2 in January and then 20-9 after the All-Star break. Their finish gave Indiana its first 50-win regular season since 2014.

  Indiana set an NBA postseason record with five comebacks of at least 15 points. Against Milwaukee in Game 5 of the first round, the Pacers rallied seven points in the final 40 seconds of overtime. In Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against top-seeded Cleveland, Haliburton made a game-winning three-pointer after Indiana trailed by seven with 46 seconds remaining. Against the New York Knicks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Indiana overcame a 14-point deficit with 2:45 left to win in overtime. No team in the play-by-play era, which dates to 1996-97, had ever done that before. The Pacers defeated the Knicks in six games.

  Rick Carlisle, the Indiana head coach, was seeking his third championship in three different roles. He had won as a player on the 1986 Boston Celtics and as a head coach on the 2011 Dallas Mavericks. This was Indiana's second Finals appearance; their only previous visit came in 2000, when they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers. Pascal Siakam was one of three Indiana players with Finals experience, having won a championship with the 2019 Toronto Raptors. Aaron Nesmith had appeared with the 2022 Celtics. Thomas Bryant, a December trade acquisition, had won with the 2023 Denver Nuggets. From the low point of 10-15, Indiana went 52-21 the rest of the way. That stretch covered the remaining regular season games and the entire playoff run.

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• 5. Stars and Records

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  In Game 2, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander followed his 38-point Finals debut with 34 more points, eight assists, and five rebounds. His combined total of 72 points across the first two games broke Allen Iverson's record of 71, set in the 2001 Finals. It was also his ninth consecutive home playoff game with at least 30 points, matching a record previously set by Wilt Chamberlain. Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren combined for 34 points in Game 2 after struggling in Game 1.

  Bennedict Mathurin scored 27 points in 22 minutes off the Indiana bench in Game 3. That was the most points by a reserve in an NBA Finals game since Jason Terry scored 27 in 2011. T. J. McConnell added five steals and five assists. Indiana outscored Oklahoma City 49-18 in bench points.

  Game 4 required Gilgeous-Alexander to score 15 of his 35 points in the final 4:38 to complete a comeback from a 10-point deficit. Chet Holmgren added 14 points and 15 rebounds. Tyrese Haliburton contributed 18 points and seven assists but left without a free throw attempt. His three-game Finals point total reached 53 without a single trip to the line. That surpassed a record previously held by Kobe Bryant, set in the 2000 Finals.

  Jalen Williams scored a career playoff-high 40 points in Game 5, with Gilgeous-Alexander adding 31. Per ESPN Research, the pair scored or assisted on 103 of Oklahoma City's points. That was the most by any Finals duo in a single game over the previous 50 years. Haliburton strained his right calf in the first quarter and was limited the rest of the night. T. J. McConnell led the Indiana rally, scoring 13 points in just under seven minutes. Oklahoma City held on for a 120-109 victory and a 3-2 series lead.

  Game 6 brought a reversal of fortunes. Gilgeous-Alexander committed eight turnovers, a career high. Jalen Williams finished with a plus-minus of -40, the worst single-game mark in Finals history for one player. Indiana controlled the game throughout, winning 108-91. Their victory set up a seventh game, the first in the Finals since 2016, scheduled for the 22nd of June.

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• 6. Game Seven

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  The 20th Game 7 in Finals history began with an injury five minutes into the first quarter. Tyrese Haliburton drove toward the basket without contact from any Thunder defender and came down with a torn right Achilles tendon. Before the injury, he had made three of his four three-point attempts. Indiana's entire bench left the court to gather around him; he was helped off the floor and ruled out minutes later.

  Despite losing Haliburton, Indiana led 48-47 at halftime. The third quarter proved decisive. Three consecutive Oklahoma City three-pointers gave the Thunder a 65-56 lead midway through the period. Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams combined for 16 points in the quarter. T. J. McConnell scored Indiana's final 12 third-quarter points, but the Pacers trailed 81-68 entering the fourth. Indiana's first basket of the fourth quarter came from Pascal Siakam with 7:29 remaining. The Pacers narrowed the gap to 10 points but got no closer.

  Oklahoma City won 103-91. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 29 points and 12 assists. Chet Holmgren had 18 points, eight rebounds, and five blocks. Jalen Williams scored 20 points. With 103 points, Oklahoma City became the first team to reach that total in a Finals Game 7 since 1988. That year, both the Los Angeles Lakers and Detroit Pistons crossed the mark. It was the franchise's second championship and the first since their 2008 move to Oklahoma City from Seattle. The previous title came in 1979, when the franchise was still the Seattle SuperSonics. The victory was also the first major professional sports championship in the state of Oklahoma.

  Gilgeous-Alexander was voted Finals MVP. He became the first player since LeBron James in 2013 to win both the regular season and Finals MVP in the same year. He was also the fourth player ever to win the league scoring title alongside both MVP awards in one season. The last to do so was Shaquille O'Neal in 2000.

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• 7. After the Trophy

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  On the 24th of June, Oklahoma City held its championship parade in the downtown district. Around 500,000 people attended, and the celebration concluded outside the Paycom Center.

  A day after Game 7, it was confirmed that Haliburton would miss the entire 2025-26 season. Damian Lillard and Jayson Tatum had each suffered the same injury earlier in that postseason. Haliburton became the third player wearing jersey number 0 to sustain it.

  Brian Windhorst of ESPN offered a reflection on what the injury had cost. "I'd hate to even say this," he said, "but he might have scored 40 points in this game. We'll never know, but he had nine points in seven minutes. The Thunder were looking a little shaky. It's possible he has a game that is an all-time classic."

  Indiana opened the following season with a 1-12 record, the worst start in the history of any team coming off an NBA Finals appearance. The Pacers finished 19-63, the worst record in franchise history. Oklahoma City's 2025-26 start took a near-opposite shape. The Thunder went 24-1 in their first 25 games, tying the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors for the best such start in league history. Jalen Williams missed much of the year with a recurring hamstring strain; they finished 64-18. Their bid to repeat as champions ended in the Western Conference Finals. The San Antonio Spurs, led by Victor Wembanyama, eliminated them in seven games.

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