Young stars sparkle as Thunder and Pacers seek first NBA titles
NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Oklahoma City drives to the basket around two defenders for the Indiana Pacers, who will play the Thunder in the NBA Finals (William Purnell)
Powered by young star talent and deep rosters, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers open the NBA Finals on Thursday, each trying to bring their city a first-ever crown.
Oklahoma City, fancied by oddsmakers after an NBA-high 68 regular-season wins, will host game one in the best-of-seven championship series.
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Both teams are fast-paced squads with young star point guards, 26-year-old NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for the Thunder and Indiana's 25-year-old Tyrese Haliburton.
The Pacers seek the first NBA crown in their 58-year history while the Thunder, who moved from Seattle in 2008, took the franchise's only title as the SuperSonics in 1979.
"It's a new blueprint for the league," Pacers center Myles Turner said. "The years of the superteams and stacking, it's not as effective as it once was.
"The new trend now is kind of what we're doing. OKC does the same thing. Young guys, get out and run, defend and use the power of friendship."
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Oklahoma City's only prior NBA Finals appearance was in 2012, when Kevin Durant, James Harden and Russell Westbrook lost to LeBron James-led Miami.
Indiana's only prior trip to the NBA Finals came in 2000, a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, but the Pacers also won three 1970s titles in the American Basketball Association, which sent four teams into the NBA in 1976.
Gilgeous-Alexander could become the first league scoring champion to win an NBA title in the same season since 2000, when Shaquille O'Neal led the Lakers past the Pacers.
"SGA" averaged 32.7 points, 6.4 assists, 5.0 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.0 blocked shots a game in leading the Thunder to the NBA's best regular-season record at 68-14.
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With forwards Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren, Gilgeous-Alexander has formed a formidable trio. The Thunder swept Memphis in the first round of the playoffs, outlasted Nikola Jokic-powered Denver in seven games then dispatched Minnesota in five.
The Pacers went 50-32 behind 20.2 points and 6.9 rebounds a game from Pascal Siakam and 18.6 points, 9.2 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals a game by Haliburton, who helped the USA win Paris Olympic gold last year.
"What makes him very good is that he's very confident," Williams said of Haliburton. "It makes him a very dangerous individual."
Indiana eliminated Milwaukee and Cleveland in five games each and took out New York in six.
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Oklahoma City beat Indiana twice in the regular season with Gilgeous-Alexander averaging 39 points, eight assists and seven rebounds while Haliburton struggled, averaging 11 points, three rebounds and 5.5 assists.
The Thunder dominate defensively, leading the playoffs with 18 turnovers forced and 10.8 steals a game plus a 42.6% opponent shooting percentage from the floor.
The Pacers, however, average 117.4 points a game in the playoffs and own the top shooting percentage overall at 49.7% and from three-point range at 40.1%.
- 'Be who we are' -
Each team helped build their current lineup by trading NBA star Paul George. The Pacers sent him to the Thunder in 2017 for players that were later traded for Haliburton and draft picks that landed Andrew Nembhard and Ben Sheppard.
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"This franchise took a chance on me, saw something that other people didn't see in me," Haliburton said.
The Thunder traded George to the Los Angeles Clippers in 2019 in a deal that landed Gilgeous-Alexander and a draft pick that was used on Williams.
Oklahoma City has a player who won an NBA title in Alex Caruso, who helped the Lakers win the 2020 crown, while the Pacers boast Siakam from Toronto's 2019 title run.
"You don't have to do anything special," Caruso said of winning an NBA crown. "You just have to be who we are. That has worked for us throughout this whole year."
Indiana coach Rick Carlisle won an NBA title guiding the 2011 Dallas Mavericks and could become only the fourth coach to win NBA crowns with multiple teams.
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