Who will win NBA Finals? Pacers vs. Thunder expert picks, predictions: 'Wouldn't be surprised if it's a sweep'

Indianapolis Star

2 days ago

There are at least a couple of ways of looking at it. The most prevalent is, the Indiana Pacers have no chance to win the NBA Finals. The other, they have an endless supply of bulletin board material to carry them past the Oklahoma City Thunder.
No one is doubting the Pacers' worth. They were one of the league's best teams in this calendar year and beat the Nos. 1 and 3 seeds in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
It's just that the Thunder have been so good all season. They won 68 regular-season games, led the league in many important statistical areas, and have maintained that excellence in the Western Conference playoffs.
These predictions may bring dread or spark a flame, but here they are.
via BetMGM
via BetMGM
Game 1 favorite: Thunder by 9.5 points
Over/under: 230.5 total points
Moneyline: Pacers +310, Thunder -400
Steve Aschburner: "Both have wildly exuberant fan bases, eminently respected coaches and tightly bonded cores. But one won 68 games, the other 50. One was 29-1 against the opposite conference (OKC), the other wasn't. They are on different tiers as this begins and will be when it ends."
Brian Martin: "OKC never lost four games in any seven-game span this season and Denver came closest to accomplishing that feat … before losing to the Thunder in Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals."
Shaun Powell: "I love underdog stories and crave for once-in-a-generation moments and therefore would be a sucker for a Pacers' upset and Tyrese Haliburton getting the last 'overrated' laugh. This would be more captivating than what Norman Dale and Jimmy Chitwood pulled off in 'Hoosiers.' But picking the Pacers to climb those odds seems foolish. Trust what your eyes have told you for months: OKC is a monster on a mission."
John Schuhmann: "The Thunder are, simply, the best team in basketball."
"The Pacers are a fun team and a great story. They have one of the best lead playmakers in the world. They have an all-time great coach. They play a brand of basketball that keeps the ball and players moving.
"They're an underdog worth rooting for.
"But they're also about to run into the most statistically dominant team the NBA has ever seen."
Brad Botkin, Thunder in 5: "Oklahoma City is another animal entirely than anything Indiana has faced. The Thunder are too deep and the defense is too much. I expect more than one 20-point win, and wouldn't be surprised if it's a sweep."
James Herbert, Thunder in 6: "While I'm not going to predict that we'll see one of the biggest Finals upsets in recent memory, I'm comfortable saying Indiana can make this interesting."
Jazmyn Wimbish, Thunder in 6: "Playing against OKC reminds me of a scene from 'Black Widow' where the titular character played by Scarlett Johansson fights Taskmaster for the first time and quickly finds out that she's capable of mimicking the fight style of any opponent, making Taskmaster virtually impossible to defeat. The Thunder are Taskmaster, specifically their defense, and while I'll give Indiana and coach Rick Carlisle enough credit to know the Pacers are capable of outsmarting OKC enough times to win a couple games in this series, I don't think they have enough up their sleeve to win four times."
"The Thunder want to get out and run, especially since they have the best defense in the NBA. While the Pacers were a top-10 defensive team after the All-Star break, they don't have the elite wing defenders that OKC possesses up and down the roster."
HEY-OH! We got a live one.
"Will the Thunder cement Gilgeous-Alexander's MVP season with a championship? The team will need its superstar to really lead the pace on offense and its stonewall defense to do its part, as the Pacers have flashed so many ways to score in their playoff run. It's that Indiana offense's completeness that really wows you, even though Oklahoma City has so much star power and have plenty of ways to find the basket, too.
"We're going to guess this series goes the full seven games, and that Haliburton and the Pacers ultimately emerge victorious on the power of their offensive depth and the general momentum they've built in this playoff run to give the franchise its first proper NBA title.
"Maybe it's controversial with how good the Thunder has been this season, but Pacers in 7."