Pacers vs Thunder NBA Finals live updates: Time, TV, odds for Game 1
Meanwhile, the Pacers are back in the NBA Finals for the first time since 2000, thanks in part to All-NBA Third Team guard Tyrese Haliburton, who averaged 21.0 points, 10.5 assists and 6.0 rebounds in six games vs. the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Thunder swept the Pacers in the regular season, winning both matchups. Gilgeous-Alexander had 45 points in the Thunder's 120-114 win over the Pacers in Indiana on Dec. 26 and dropped 33 at home in Oklahoma City's 132-111 win over Indiana on March 29.
It all adds up to a must-see Game 1. USA TODAY Sports will provide the latest updates, highlights, wild plays, analysis and more throughout the game. NBA reporter Jeff Zillgitt is in Oklahoma City. Follow along:
The Oklahoma City Thunder host the Indiana Pacers for Game 1 of the NBA Finals at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City. The game is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET.
How to watch Indiana Pacers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder Game 1
Time: 8:30 p.m. ET
8:30 p.m. ET Location: Paycom Center (Oklahoma City)
Paycom Center (Oklahoma City) TV: ABC
ABC Stream: Fubo, Sling TV
Watch the NBA Finals with Fubo
Where is Game 1 between Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder?
The Oklahoma City Thunder host the Indiana Pacers at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City for Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, an hour-and-a-half before his team was set to face the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, opened his pre-game news conference to offer support for ESPN analyst Doris Burke.
A New York Times report from Wednesday, June 4 indicated that ESPN was evaluating the future of the network's No. 1 NBA team -- namely Burke and fellow analyst Richard Jefferson -- after the finals.
"She has changed the game for women in broadcasting," Carlisle said Thursday, June 5, of Burke. "I have a daughter who just turned 21, who is in her second year at (the University of Virginia). She's not in the basketball industry, but Doris is a great example of courage and putting herself out there.
"It was just so sad to see these reports leaked, really unnecessarily before such a celebrated event. Doris is a friend. I've asked her many times why she doesn't get into coaching; she has such great knowledge."
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Asked if he reached out to anyone in the coaching fraternity to discuss coaching in the NBA Finals and handling the spectacle of the series, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said, "I don't have a lot of friends. I'm embarrassed. Never been more embarrassed in my life."
He added: "I haven't, like, scanned the coaching circles. I don't have Phil Jackson's number."
Daigneault did chat with Billy Donovan. Daigneault was an assistant for Donovan at Florida and with the Thunder.
"I talked to Billy Donovan right after we clinched (the Western Conference)," Daigneault said. "He's somebody obviously I've worked with, that's played on high-level stages (and) got some insight from him."
OKLAHOMA CITY -- The email hit my inbox with the subject line "Will viewers watch Pacers-Thunder?"
The headline in the newsletter from Front Office Sports: "History shows Pacers vs. Thunder may draw record-low ratings." It's not the first time and won't be the last time that TV ratings accompany a discussion of this season's NBA Finals between Indiana and Oklahoma City.
The small-market matchup has generated this idea that there isn't or won't be interest. The NBA biosphere seems to thrive on debate and criticism with an emphasis on how some aspect of the game isn't good enough and can be better.
The reflexive contempt for teams not from the coasts or bigger markets is odd. It's not my job to sell this series. That's on the NBA and its TV partner, Disney's ABC, which is televising the Finals.
The Pacers and Thunder are on the cutting edge of today's NBA. They emerged as the two best teams in the league - rosters assembled with a savvy eye on making the parts fit. The matchup should be celebrated and appreciated. Read Jeff Zillgitt's full column here.
The NBA's 3-point shot has enemies.
Too many 3s, they say. The shot is ruining the game, they say.
And those critics of the 3-point shot found ammunition in the Eastern Conference semifinals of this season's playoffs when the Boston Celtics attempted 60 3-pointers and missed 45 against the New York Knicks. The guffawing ignored the fact that Boston's 3-point shooting was instrumental in its 2023-24 championship season and in its 61-21 record this season.
Regardless of your aesthetic view of how basketball should be played and what it should look like, the 3-point shot has turned divisive but remains vital to winning championships.
USA TODAY's Jeff Zillgitt takes a deeper look at this controversial shot.
The Thunder were the best team in the regular season and have been the best team in the playoffs. The Pacers have been impressive the past two seasons, but this has seemed like Oklahoma City's year since the first game in October.
Find out who has the edge in various categories with Jeff Zillgitt's NBA Finals breakdown.
In the NBA playoffs, the outcome often rests on the underrated.
Certainly, the performances of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Tyrese Haliburton will be scrutinized and big games can propel their respective teams to victories. But it's often the role players, sometimes off the bench, erupting on a scoring streak or clamping down on defense, who can make the difference between winning and losing.
USA TODAY's Lorenzo Reyes gives three X factors for the Thunder and Pacers in this NBA Finals preview.
The 2025 NBA Finals is, in many ways, a celebration of the point guard.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the NBA's Most Valuable Player and the Oklahoma City Thunder superstar, and Tyrese Haliburton, the pass-first point guard with a penchant in the clutch, are each franchise's hope to win the Larry O'Brien Trophy.
Though they likely won't match up directly all the time, the responsibility of guarding the other likely falling to more specialized defenders, Gilgeous-Alexander and Haliburton are reshaping the image of the point guard in the modern NBA.
USA TODAY's Jeff Zillgitt and Lorenzo Reyes look at the Pacers and Thunder's biggest stars.
In the NBA playoffs, the outcome often rests on the underrated.
Certainly, the performances of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Tyrese Haliburton will be scrutinized and big games can propel their respective teams to victories. But it's often the role players, sometimes off the bench, erupting on a scoring streak or clamping down on defense, who can make the difference between winning and losing.
USA TODAY's Lorenzo Reyes gives three X factors for the Thunder and Pacers in this NBA Finals preview.
If the impending NBA Finals matchup of the league's 23rd and 27th-ranked media markets is supposed to spell doom for the league, it is a doom the NBA's owners intentionally brought on themselves.
While two glitz-free Midwestern cities in the Finals might not have the celebrity pull the NBA has largely enjoyed through its historically successful franchises, it was an inevitable outcome once the league designed a collective bargaining agreement that dismantled its traditional cycle of superteams and dynasties.
Welcome to the new NBA, where championship windows are smaller, the life cycle of a roster is shorter and the number of teams that can win a title in any given year is beyond anything we've seen in our lifetimes. -- Dan Wolken
Read Wolken's full column here.
Oklahoma City Thunder guard and league Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic were unanimous selections from a panel of 100 global reporters and broadcasters who cover the NBA voted on the squad. View the complete list.
Winners over the past 20 years. For a full list of champions, visit NBA.com.
2023-24 -- Boston Celtics
2022-23 -- Denver Nuggets
2021-22 -- Golden State Warriors
2020-21 -- Milwaukee Bucks
2019-20 -- Los Angeles Lakers
2018-19 -- Toronto Raptors
2017-18 -- Golden State Warriors
2016-17 -- Golden State Warriors
2015-16 -- Cleveland Cavaliers
2014-15 -- Golden State Warriors
2013-14 -- San Antonio Spurs
2012-13 -- Miami Heat
2011-12 -- Miami Heat
2010-11 -- Dallas Mavericks
2009-10 -- Los Angeles Lakers
2008-09 -- Los Angeles Lakers
2007-08 -- Boston Celtics
2006-07 -- San Antonio Spurs
2005-06 -- Miami Heat
2004-05 -- San Antonio Spurs
The Oklahoma City Thunder are favorites to take a 1-0 lead over the Indiana Pacers in Game 1 of the 2025 NBA Finals, according to BetMGM (odds as of Wednesday, June 4):
Spread : Thunder (-9.5)
: Thunder (-9.5) Moneyline : Thunder (-450); Pacers (+340)
: Thunder (-450); Pacers (+340) Over/under: 231.5
The Oklahoma City Thunder enter Game 1 as the favorite to win the 2025 NBA Finals over the Indiana Pacers, according to BetMGM (odds as of Wednesday, June 4)
Series winner: Thunder (-700); Pacers (+500)
USA TODAY: Every expert picks the Thunder
All of the NBA experts at USA Today Sports picked the Oklahoma City Thunder to beat the Indiana Pacers in the 2025 NBA Finals
Scooby Axson: Thunder in five
Thunder in five Cydney Henderson: Thunder in six
Thunder in six Jordan Mendoza: Thunder in six
Thunder in six Lorenzo Reyes: Thunder in six
Thunder in six Heather Tucker: Thunder in five
Thunder in five James Williams: Thunder in six
Thunder in six Jeff Zillgitt: Thunder in five
ESPN: 14 out of 15 experts pick Thunder
14 out of 15 of ESPN's NBA experts pick the Oklahoma City Thunder to win the 2025 NBA Finals against the Indiana Pacers.
NBA.com: Every expert picks the Thunder
John Schuhman writes, "The Thunder are, simply, the best team in basketball. Their No. 1 defense has been ridiculously good in the playoffs, holding the Grizzlies, Nuggets and Wolves to 19.6, 15.0 and 4.2 fewer points per 100 possessions, respectively, than they scored in the regular season. (Take away the Game 3 blowout and the Wolves' discrepancy would also be in the double-digits.) The Indiana offense vs. Oklahoma City defense could be the best one-end-of-the-floor matchup that we've seen in the Finals in a long time, but the Thunder should have the edge on that end of the floor and the other."
NBC Sports: Experts pick Thunder
Kurt Helin writes: "Here's Indiana's problem: Tyrese Haliburton is outstanding, but Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is just better; Indiana's defense is improved and can force turnovers, but OKC's is elite and just better; Myles Turner is good, but Chet Holmgren is just better (especially paired with Isiah Hartenstein); the Pacers bench was good enough for the East, but the Thunder bench is just better. And so it goes down the line. Indiana is a quality team that's about to get overwhelmed."
The Oklahoma City Thunder host the Indiana Pacers at 8:30 p.m. ET with coverage on ABC.
Game 1, June 5: Pacers at Thunder
Pacers at Thunder Game 2, June 8: Pacers at Thunder | ABC, Fubo | 8 p.m.
Pacers at Thunder | ABC, Fubo | 8 p.m. Game 3, June 11: Thunder at Pacers | ABC, Fubo | 8:30 p.m.
Thunder at Pacers | ABC, Fubo | 8:30 p.m. Game 4, June 13 : Thunder at Pacers | ABC, Fubo | 8:30 p.m.
: Thunder at Pacers | ABC, Fubo | 8:30 p.m. Game 5, June 16 : Pacers at Thunder | ABC, Fubo | 8:30 p.m.*
: Pacers at Thunder | ABC, Fubo | 8:30 p.m.* Game 6, June 19 : Thunder at Pacers | ABC, Fubo | 8:30 p.m.*
: Thunder at Pacers | ABC, Fubo | 8:30 p.m.* Game 7, June 22: Pacers at Thunder | ABC, Fubo | 8 p.m.*
All times Eastern; *-if necessary
Eastern Conference finals
No. 4 Indiana Pacers def. No. 3 New York Knicks, 4-2
Western Conference finals
No. 1 Oklahoma City Thunder def. No. 6 Minnesota Timberwolves, 4-1
NBA Finals
No. 4 Indiana Pacers vs. No. 1 Oklahoma City Thunder
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NBC News
4 hours ago
- NBC News
The pressure is on the Thunder, but Oklahoma City has been here before
Game 1 of the NBA Finals could have been an especially crushing defeat for a young Oklahoma City Thunder team had they not dealt with nearly the exact same scenario earlier in these same playoffs. On Thursday, the Thunder led by as many as 15 points in the fourth quarter before they became the latest group to succumb to an improbable Indiana Pacers comeback, losing by virtue of a Tyrese Haliburton pull-up jumper that fell through the net with 0.3 seconds remaining. The loss was eerily similar to Game 1 of the second round, when Oklahoma City led the Denver Nuggets by as many as 13 points in the fourth quarter, but ultimately lost because of an Aaron Gordon 3-pointer that sank with 2.8 seconds remaining. Both games were largely dominated by the Thunder. And both times they lost after subpar late-game execution and game-winning shots coming on broken plays. 'The playoffs take you to the limit,' Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault said after Game 1 when asked if Thursday's loss was reminiscent of the Nuggets game. 'They put your back against the wall, in games, in series. If you make it this far, you have to endure to do that. It gives you rich experiences that you can draw on.' Thunder forward Jalen Williams put it more bluntly: 'It sucks, but we have been here before.' He added: 'Regardless, if it's the finals or Round 1, Round 2, you still have to win four games. We'll take that and be ready for Game 2.' How Oklahoma City adjusts for Game 2 will be interesting. The Thunder, particularly defensively, did many things right Thursday. They forced the Pacers into 25 turnovers. They limited the scoring and assist opportunities for Haliburton, who was quiet before his final basket, finishing with 14 points and six assists. Even when you concede that Oklahoma City was not crisp offensively (the team shot only 39.8% from the field and assisted on only 13 field goals), the Thunder still did not trail until 0.3 seconds left in the game. One adjustment is a lever teams pull in the postseason all the time: Play better, especially when desperate. Oklahoma City is no stranger to this. The Thunder haven't lost back-to-back games in the playoffs, and they followed up that Denver loss with a 43-point victory in the series' next game. Another option for Oklahoma City will be to return to its normal starting lineup. Notably, the Thunder pre-adjusted to Indiana on Thursday, swapping out starting center Isaiah Hartenstein for guard Cason Wallace to match up better with the smaller, quicker Pacers. As a result, both Hartenstein and big man Chet Holmgren had smaller roles in the rotation, each playing fewer minutes than their playoff average so far. 'We've been pretty fluid with the lineup throughout the course of the season,' Daigneault said. 'Cason started 40-something games. We changed the lineup a million times. We haven't in the playoffs. That's why we do it during the regular season, so that it's not earth-shattering when we do it.' He added: 'We'll see how the series goes. We have a lot of optionality. We'll look at everything. We'll look at anything we can to try to give ourselves the best chance to win.' Oklahoma City's new starting five ultimately outscored the Pacers by only 2 points in 16 minutes in Game 1. Meanwhile, Hartenstein and Holmgren didn't share the floor together for a single possession. Whatever the Thunder decide to switch up (if anything) for Game 2, they did not seem overly distraught after such a shocking defeat Thursday night. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander even offered a similar refrain to what he said after the Game 1 loss to Denver. 'The series isn't first to one, it's first to four,' the MVP said, before adding: 'It's that simple. It's not rocket science.'
Daily Mail
4 hours ago
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Jay-Z places staggering bet on NBA Finals... but it's already on the brink of losing
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The Independent
8 hours ago
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It's a Thunder rule: To work in OKC, you must learn about OKC and what the bombing meant to the city
Isaiah Hartenstein was born in 1998, three years after Oklahoma City changed forever. It was April 19, 1995, when a truck bomb detonated outside a federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people in the deadliest homegrown attack on U.S. soil. Hartenstein didn't know much about the bombing when he joined the Oklahoma City Thunder last year. And then — like everyone else who wears the Thunder logo — he had to learn. 'I think it just helped me kind of understand what the city's been through," Hartenstein said. "And from that, I learned how connective and supportive the city is.' The Thunder didn't even exist in Oklahoma City when the bombing happened; the franchise that had been known as the Seattle SuperSonics didn't relocate to America's heartland until more than a decade later. But it has been part of the steadfast commitment that the team shows the city; the bombing still resonates deeply here, and the Thunder have taken great pains to not ignore the impact it had, and has, on Oklahoma City. That is why every newly acquired player, even those on tryout contracts or just training camp deals, and every person who gets a job with the organization, has to go to the memorial. They see the 168 chairs, one created for every person who died in that bombing. They see pictures, they hear stories, they see how Oklahoma City reacted in the immediate aftermath and the months and years that followed. 'I was on that tour within a month of working here," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. "There's literally no one that has ever put a (Thunder) logo on their chest that has not been through there, because it's just such a big part of the story of the city. The kindness, the compassion that this city has, this community has, not only for the team but for one another ... it's probably born out of that shared experience this community has had.' There is no NFL team in Oklahoma City, nor is there Major League Baseball (though the city does have a rich baseball history and streets named for all sorts of greats like Mickey Mantle, Joe Carter and Johnny Bench), or an NHL team. When it comes to the four major pro U.S. sports, the Thunder are the only game in town. And the fans simply love their team. They come early, they leave late. The clapping is in rhythm, as are the 'O-K-C' chants (which sometimes get replaced now by 'M-V-P' chants for NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander). 'I mean, this crowd is amazing,' Indiana star Tyrese Haliburton said after the Pacers rallied in the final second and beat the Thunder in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night. 'They are all standing up doing claps and synchronized clapping to the beat before the game. I mean, this is an unbelievable crowd. It's the best crowd we've seen on the road all playoffs.' Put simply, Oklahoma City is a place where people have each other's back. Hartenstein said one of the things that sticks with him, when he learned about the bombing, was that so many OKC residents flooded the area out of a willingness to help that some had to be told to go back home. 'At that time in this country, there was nothing like that," Daigneault said. "It was completely unprecedented and really rocked not only this city to its core, but the country to its core at a time where there was a lot more innocence around something like that in the world and in the country. It was a real shaping event, not only for the city, but the country.' Thunder guard Alex Caruso remembers his tour as well; it came not long after he signed an Exhibit 10 contract and played for the franchise's G League affiliate. What he saw, and what he learned, sticks with him even now. 'You just have so much empathy and sympathy for people that you know went through it and have to live with the consequences of that,' Caruso said. "I think the cool thing about the organization is no matter how big, small, what your role is on the team, you make a trip out there just to learn about the history of it, how it did impact the community and understand why the relationship is so tight between this team, the organization and the community.' ___
