The NBA Finals are set: It'll be Thunder vs. Pacers, starting Thursday night
Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) celebrates during the second half of Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the New York Knicks in Indianapolis, Saturday, May 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2), front, celebrates with teammates after Game 5 of the Western Conference finals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2), front, celebrates with teammates after Game 5 of the Western Conference finals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)
Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) celebrates during the second half of Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the New York Knicks in Indianapolis, Saturday, May 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2), front, celebrates with teammates after Game 5 of the Western Conference finals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)
The seeds for the 2025 NBA Finals began getting planted unknowingly in 2017, back when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was about to enroll at Kentucky and Tyrese Haliburton was getting ready for his senior year of high school in Wisconsin.
That was the year the Indiana Pacers traded Paul George to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Pacers landed Domantas Sabonis out of that deal. The Thunder would trade George in 2019 to the Los Angeles Clippers for a package that included Gilgeous-Alexander. The Pacers would trade Sabonis in 2022 to Sacramento for a package that included Haliburton.
Advertisement
And here we are.
Gilgeous-Alexander is the NBA's MVP and Oklahoma City's best player. Haliburton is an Olympic gold medalist and Indiana's best player. They'll lead their teams into Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night — Indiana at Oklahoma City, the start of a series that will decide who hoists the Larry O'Brien Trophy.
'Man, I'm just so proud of this group,' Haliburton said in the on-court televised interview with TNT after the Pacers' 125-108 victory over the New York Knicks on Saturday in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals. 'I don't even have words right now. It's really exciting. We'll enjoy this one for now. There's four more, there's a lot more work to do, against a really tough team.'
The Thunder — depending on how you count — are in the finals for either the second time or the fifth time. The franchise, when it was in Seattle, lost what was then called the NBA World Championship Series to Washington in 1978, then won the title in a rematch against the then-Bullets in 1979 and lost in the NBA Finals to Chicago in 1996. Oklahoma City got to the finals in 2012, losing to Miami.
Advertisement
The Thunder are 80-18 this season, after going 68-14 in the regular season and then 12-4 in the playoffs — sweeping Memphis in Round 1, surviving seven games against Denver in Round 2 and then ousting Minnesota in five games for the Western Conference title.
'When you win, that's a special thing,' Thunder forward Chet Holmgren said. 'It's not guaranteed in this league. If everybody was guaranteed to win, it'd be a participation trophy instead of a Larry O'Brien. So, you have to kind of take it in and understand what you've accomplished to that point, but then the next day you have to start turning the page, get rid of the emotions and start focusing on preparation and what you have to do to conquer the next step. And that's where we're at.'
Indiana is in the NBA title round for the second time, having lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2000. The Pacers franchise won ABA titles in 1970, 1972 and 1973. They got out of the Eastern Conference as the No. 4 seed, beating Milwaukee in five games in Round 1, beating top-seeded Cleveland in five games in Round 2 and then beating New York in the conference finals.
The Pacers were 10-15 through the first 25 games of the season — then went 40-17 to finish the regular season. They are the fourth team to start 10-15 or worse and go on to win a conference title, joining Seattle in 1977-78 (8-17), the 1956-57 St. Louis Hawks (10-15) and the 1958-59 Minneapolis Lakers (10-15). None of those teams went on to win the NBA title.
Advertisement
'In 49 states, it's just basketball,' Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. 'But this is Indiana. ... Our guys earned this. Congratulations to our guys.'
Oklahoma City swept the season series with Indiana 2-0, part of a regular season where the Thunder — who finished with the NBA's best record — went 29-1 against the Eastern Conference. That doesn't include a loss to Milwaukee in the NBA Cup final, a game that didn't count in any standings.
So, the matchup is set. It's the Paul George finals, albeit without Paul George — who had arguably the best season of his career with the Thunder, averaging 28 points and finishing third in the MVP voting for 2018-19 — starting at OKC on Thursday.
'Obviously, he wasn't here long but he had great years here,' Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said Saturday when asked about George's impact. 'I mean, one of the best years of his career was here, one of the best individual seasons a player's had here — which is saying something here with the guys they've had. So, I have a lot of respect for him.'
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
8 minutes ago
- New York Times
Reds beat Brewers on TJ Friedl's walk-off home run robbery
CINCINNATI — The question is absurd and has no correct answer, but what's better, a walk-off home run or a walk-off home run robbery? 'Granted, I don't have a walk-off catch, I don't know the experience with that, but I would say a walk-off home run is the (ultimate) thing you can do in a baseball game,' said Will Benson, whose first career big-league home run was a walk-off homer against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Advertisement Cincinnati Reds center fielder TJ Friedl has a pair of walk-off hits, both singles, not homers, but Tuesday he got the chance to walk off the game on defense, robbing Milwaukee Brewers pinch hitter Jake Bauers of a score-tying home run with two outs in the ninth inning in the 4-2 Reds victory. 'This is tops,' Friedl said after the victory. 'This tops my other walk-offs for sure. To end a game like that, you dream of that as an outfielder growing up and in your backyard robbing home runs.' Of course, either one will do. Tuesday's victory didn't need dramatics to make it feel significant, even if it didn't hurt. The win not only snapped the Reds' three-game losing streak but also the Brewers' eight-game winning streak. With the win, the Reds have a chance to take a series from the Brewers for the first time in 12 series. Since the start of 2023, the Brewers have won 23 of 32 games against the Reds and 30 of 41 games at Great American Ball Park since Sept. 24, 2019. Baseball seasons are long, with highs and lows, but sometimes patterns start to emerge. It's not just that the Reds have struggled to win games against the Brewers, it's how they've lost them, losing leads, costly mistakes, hard-hit balls finding gloves — just about everything that could go wrong had, and often it was against the team that's won the National League Central the last two years and made the playoffs in six of the last seven seasons. To make too much of one game is foolish, even in September, much less at the beginning of June. That said, Tuesday's win, featured a pair of opposite-field homers and a sacrifice fly to go along with Friedl's dazzling defensive play and starter Hunter Greene's pumping in strike one to all 23 batters he faced. The Reds, who still don't have a walk-off hit this year, have the fifth-most runs in baseball through the first six innings of games and the ninth fewest after the sixth inning. Advertisement Tuesday, the Reds not only took the lead in the seventh but also added on in the eighth inning with Benson's sixth home run of the season. All of that, though, was nearly lost when shortstop Elly De La Cruz made his 10th error of the season, tying him with Manny Machado of the San Diego Padres for the most in baseball. The Reds also lost Greene after five innings when he felt the hamstring that put him on the injured list earlier this year grab on the final pitches of the fifth. He is scheduled to have an MRI on Wednesday. As Caleb Durbin stood at second base after De La Cruz's attempted game-ending throw sailed well over the head of Spencer Steer at first and into the first-base camera well, it felt like another bad loss for a Reds team that started the season with a blown save on Opening Day. Too often this season, the team has managed to grab defeat from the jaws of victory. To make matters worse, Reds closer Emilio Pagán got behind Bauers 2-1 when the Brewers pinch hitter jumped on his four-seam fastball and hit it 106.2 mph with a launch angle of 26 degrees. It was, Friedl thought, about as well as you could hit a ball without its going out. Would it have gone out had Friedl's glove not gotten in the way? After seeing just one replay, Friedl said he wasn't sure, but he knew he got his glove over the wall and then felt the ball hit the webbing. It was a play the team had practiced just the day before, with outfielder coach Collin Cowgill shooting baseballs from a pitching machine for Friedl, Benson and Jake Fraley to practice catching at the wall. 'We literally worked on it yesterday,' Friedl said after Tuesday's victory. 'In 2023 when I robbed that one in center, we worked on it that day. Then it just so happens we worked on it yesterday. … Maybe we should work on it more often.' Is this the dagger? #ATOBTTR — Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) June 4, 2025 Friedl said he was so excited he initially forgot to show the ball to second base umpire Nic Lentz until he noticed Lentz staring at him. Reds manager Terry Francona, who might have said some words he wouldn't repeat in the postgame news conference while watching the flight of Bauers' ball, said he wasn't sure whether Friedl caught the ball until he saw his reaction. Advertisement 'You may have seen a grown man crying,' Francona said, referring to himself. It was the type of play that has seemed to go against the Reds so far this year. Just the day before, with the Reds trailing 3-2 in the fifth, Friedl led off the inning with a bunt single and took off to steal with Gavin Lux at the plate. With Friedl on the move, Brewers shortstop Joey Ortiz was standing next to the bag where he fielded the ball and threw on to first for a double play. Earlier this season, second baseman Matt McLain had what he thought was a go-ahead home run land just short in the ninth inning of a 3-2 loss in Milwaukee. That was the day after the Reds lost their third 1-0 game in a row with the only run scored by the Brewers unearned. 'It's still a long season, there are so many games left, but I feel like this is who we are and we can win in so many different ways,' said Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson, whose fifth-inning two-run home run tied the score at 2. 'I don't know, people will say it's a spark or whatever, but to end the game like that, it's obviously something to build off of.' Before Tuesday's game, Francona was asked whether he could tell when a team was about to go on a hot streak. 'Believe me, if there were a magical elixir, I would (get) it,' Francona said. 'I think there is a formula — normally you win a close game.' The Reds did that, and it wouldn't be the first time a Friedl walk-off sparked them. His first career walk-off came April 24, 2023, against the Texas Rangers. That not only snapped a six-game losing streak, but it was the first of a five-game winning streak, including a sweep of the Rangers, who would go on to win the World Series. In June of that same season, the Reds had back-to-back walk-off wins against the Dodgers, the second won on Benson's walk-off homer. The Reds would lose the next two games but then go on a 12-game winning streak. Advertisement Nobody is saying this Reds team will repeat that. To do that, they'd have to hope McLain started turning it around with a seventh-inning double that set up Connor Joe's go-ahead sacrifice fly. A good MRI on Greene's hamstring Wednesday wouldn't hurt, nor would another stellar outing by Andrew Abbott, who allowed just two earned runs over six starts in May, to take the team's first series from the Brewers since May 2022. 'It's reaffirming to realize that we can win those close games, we don't have to go out and score seven or eight runs and make all the spectacular plays,' Pagán said. 'Yes, we ended it with one tonight, but there's enough talent in here to just play baseball and go win games.'
Washington Post
12 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Ketel Marte and Corbin Carroll's home runs power Diamondbacks to 8-3 win over Braves
ATLANTA — Ketel Marte and Corbin Carroll each homered twice and the Arizona Diamondbacks snapped a five-game road losing streak with an 8-3 win over the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night. Zac Gallen (4-7), who had struggled with an 8.02 ERA in his last four starts, surrendered just one earned run in seven innings. He gave up four hits, struck out four and retired the first 10 batters of the game.
Washington Post
15 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Friedl makes game-saving grab and Reds rally to snap Brewers' 8-game streak with 4-2 win
CINCINNATI — TJ Friedl made a leaping catch in center field for the final out to rob pinch-hitter Jake Bauers of a tying home run, and the Cincinnati Reds rallied for a 4-2 victory that snapped the Milwaukee Brewers' eight-game winning streak Tuesday night. Tyler Stephenson homered for Cincinnati, and pinch-hitter Gavin Lux drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning. Will Benson also went deep as the Reds stopped a three-game skid.
