Inside the Numbers: Pacers, Thunder Set to Play Game 7 for NBA Title on Sunday Night
For the 20th time, there will be a Game 7 in the NBA Finals. Indiana will play at Oklahoma City on Sunday night in the final game of the season, with the winner getting the Larry O'Brien Trophy. Home teams are 15–4 in Game 7 of the finals, but a road team – Cleveland over Golden State – won the most recent of those games in 2016.
A look inside some numbers surrounding this matchup: Odds are nobody's scoring 40. There have been only two 40-point scoring performances in Game 7 of the NBA Finals – and both came in losing efforts. Jerry West scored 42 points in Game 7 of the 1969 series, but the Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Boston Celtics in Bill Russell's final game. And Elgin Baylor scored 41 points in Game 7 in 1962 – another Lakers-Celtics matchup – but Boston prevailed in that one as well. Bob Pettit had the third-highest scoring total in a Game 7. He had 39 for the St. Louis Hawks against the Celtics in 1957… and Boston won that game as well. The highest-scoring Game 7s in a winning effort? Those would be by Boston's Tom Heinsohn in that 1957 game against St. Louis and Miami's LeBron James in the 2013 series against San Antonio. Both had 37. Heinsohn's was a double-overtime game; James got his in regulation.
And no team might break 100 either. Yes, these are high-scoring teams. Oklahoma City was No. 4 in points per game in the regular season (120.5 per game), and Indiana was No. 7 (117.4). The Thunder are second in that category in the playoffs (115.2), just ahead of No. 3 Indiana (115.1). In Game 7, that might not matter much. No team has reached 100 points in Game 7 of the NBA Finals since 1988. Or even topped 95 points, for that matter. The last five Game 7s:
– 2016: Cleveland 93, Golden State 89
– 2013: Miami 95, San Antonio 88
– 2010: Los Angeles Lakers 83, Boston 79
– 2005: San Antonio 81, Detroit 74
– 1994: Houston 90, New York 84
The last finals Game 7 to see someone hit the century mark was when the Lakers beat the Pistons 108–105 in 1988. Expect a close one. The average margin of victory in Game 7 of an NBA Finals: 6.9 points. Each of the last eight such games have been decided by single digits. Only four have been double-digit wins: Boston over St. Louis by 19 in 1960, Minneapolis over New York by 17 in 1952, Boston over Milwaukee by 15 in 1974, and New York over the Los Angeles Lakers by 14 in 1970. The closest Game 7 in the finals was Syracuse beating Fort Wayne 92–91 in 1955. That was one of six finals Game 7s decided by three points or less.
By seed: The Thunder are the 22nd No. 1 seed to play in Game 7 of an NBA Finals. Their 21 predecessors on that list are 12–9 in the ultimate game; seven of those games have been ones where both teams entered the playoffs as No. 1 seeds. The Pacers are the fourth No. 4 seed to make Game 7 of the title round. Their three predecessors went 1–2 (Boston beat the Lakers in 1969, Seattle lost to Washington in 1978, and the Celtics lost to the Lakers in 2010).
Game 7 experience: It'll be the fourth Game 7 for Indiana forwards Pascal Siakam and Myles Turner. Siakam's teams have gone 2–1 in Game 7s; Turner's have gone 1–2. Indiana's Aaron Nesmith is 2–0 in the pair of Game 7s in which he has played, with Indiana winning at New York last year and Boston beating Milwaukee in 2022. Both of those wins were in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the league's reigning MVP, has averaged 27 points in two previous Game 7s. Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton scored 26 points in his lone Game 7 to this point. No player on either side has previously been part of a Game 7 in the NBA Finals.
New for some refs, too. The NBA doesn't announce referee assignments until game day, so it won't be known until Sunday morning who the three-person crew is for Game 7. This much is certain: for at least two of the referees, it'll be the first time on the Game 7 finals stage. Scott Foster – who would seem a likely pick this year – worked Game 7 of the finals in 2013 alongside Dan Crawford and Monty McCutchen, and Game 7 of the title series in 2010 with Dan Crawford and Joe Crawford. The most recent Game 7 of the finals was in 2016, and the crew for that game was Dan Crawford, McCutchen, and Mike Callahan. Outside of Foster, no referee in this year's pool has been on the floor for a Game 7 in the NBA Finals.
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