NBA Finals Game 7: Thunder beat Pacers for NBA title behind big game from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander after injury to Tyrese Haliburton

Yahoo

4 hours ago

The Oklahoma City Thunder are NBA champions.
Oklahoma City capped a thrilling NBA Finals Sunday night with a dominant second half in Game 7 to secure a 103-91 win over the Indiana Pacers and the franchise's first NBA title since it moved from Seattle to Oklahoma City in 2008.
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A Pacers team that rallied for multiple unlikely wins throughout the playoffs kept pressure on in the fourth quarter after digging a 22-point hole. But without injured star Tyrese Haliburton, they couldn't complete the comeback.
The win caps a brilliant season in which the Thunder posted a league-best 68 wins and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was named league MVP for the first time. Gilgeous-Alexander powered the Thunder effort Sunday night to put away a Pacers team that pushed them to the brink.
SGA caps historic season with Finals MVP
Gilgeous-Alexander was Oklahoma City's only reliable source of offense in the first half with 16 points, as his teammates struggled to produce against an aggressive Pacers defense that carried Indiana to a one-point halftime lead.
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He continued to pace the Thunder after halftime as they seized control of the game and finished Game 7 with 29 points, 12 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks and 1 steal. It marked a fitting end to one of the great individual seasons in NBA history.
The result in addition to securing the NBA title was a Finals MVP trophy for Gilgeous-Alexander to add to his trophy case.
"It doesn't feel real," Gilgeous-Alexander told ESPN after the game. "So many hours. So many moments. So many emotions. So many nights of disbelief. So many nights of belief.
"It's crazy to know that we're all here. This group worked for it. This group put in the hours. And we deserve this."
Pacers keep fighting after Haliburton injury
The game was marred by a significant injury to Haliburton in the first quarter. Haliburton had hit three quick 3s and appeared on pace for a big game with a team-high nine points early on. But devastation struck late in the quarter.
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Haliburton fell to the floor after reinjuring the same leg that previously sustained a calf strain in Game 5. He was in immediate and obvious pain, prompting his teammates to surround him on the court.
He needed help off the floor with the aid of a trainer and teammate. He couldn't put weight on his injured right leg as he was helped to the tunnel with a towel over his face.
Before halftime, his father, John Haliburton confirmed the fear to ESPN's Lisa Salters that Haliburton had sustained an Achilles tendon injury. The precise nature of the injury wasn't made clear, but a ruptured Achilles tendon could sideline Haliburton for a significant part, if not all, of the 2025-26 season.
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His night in the biggest game of the NBA season and the biggest game of his career was clearly done. And without his services in the second half, the Pacers were overwhelmed.
The Pacers didn't wilt in the aftermath of the injury and continued to push the Thunder through the first half en route to a 48-47 halftime lead. But a Pacers team playing without its star didn't have enough in the tank to compete after the break.
OKC's defense does it again to secure NBA title
The swarming defense that has become Oklahoma City's trademark took over after halftime as the Thunder repeatedly turned Pacers turnovers into transition points.
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For the game, Oklahoma City won the turnover battle 21-7 while securing 14 steals. The result was a 32-10 advantage in points off turnovers for the Thunder.
As usual, it was a team effort with OKC's top defenders taking turns in frustrating Indiana's offense. Alex Caruso (10 points, three rebounds), Cason Wallace (10 points, two rebounds) and Luguentz Dort (nine points, seven rebounds) came up with three steals each, and each player in Oklahoma City's starting lineup logged at least one.
And after posting just five points each in the first half, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren joined the party after halftime to help bring the title home. Williams finished the game with 20 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Holmgren added 18 points and 8 rebounds and was a defensive force at the rim with 5 blocks.
The result was a 34-20 OKC edge in the third quarter that turned Indiana's one-point halftime lead into an 81-68 Pacers deficit. The largest lead of the game at the time set up the fourth quarter as a coronation for the Thunder in front of a raucous home crowd.
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The Thunder delivered with a 9-0 run to start the fourth that added up to a knockout blow to an otherwise sensational Pacers season that ends in the heartbreak of a Game 7 loss and an injury to their star player that could cast a pall over the 2025-26 season.
Haliburton injury too much for Pacers to overcome
The Pacers got this far as the No. 4 seed in the East thanks to a remarkable playoff run that featured repeated remarkable comebacks from double-digit deficits. Those rallies were capped by Haliburton shots to win or force overtime in a win in each round of the playoffs, including Game 1 against Oklahoma City.
Indiana continued to fight after trailing by as many as 22 points at 90-68 in the fourth quarter and cut the OKC lead to 10 points. Bennedict Mathurin picked up the slack from Haliburton's absence with a team-high 24 points and 13 rebounds off the bench.
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Pascal Siakam (16 points, 4 rebounds), Andrew Nembhard (15 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists) and T.J. McConnell (16 points, 6 rebounds, 7 turnovers) helped keep the Pacers in the game early. But without Haliburton, they didn't have the firepower to complete the rally that they have so many times before in this postseason.
The Thunder held on to celebrate the first major professional championship in Oklahoma City history in front of their home crowd.