logo
Pacers vs. Thunder Game 3 Predictions: Odds, expert picks, recent stats, trends and best bets for June 11

Pacers vs. Thunder Game 3 Predictions: Odds, expert picks, recent stats, trends and best bets for June 11

Yahoo5 hours ago

On Wednesday, June 11, the Oklahoma City Thunder (68-14) and Indiana Pacers (50-32) are all set to square off from Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis for Game 3 of the NBA Finals.
Oklahoma City rolled Indiana in Game 2, 123-107 behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's 34 points, plus 34 more from Jalen Williams (19) and Chet Holmgren (15).
Advertisement
The series heads back to Indiana tied at 1-1 and the Pacers will need more than an all-around effort from its starting five after every starter scored in double-figures for Game 2.
Tyrese Haliburton led the Pacers with 17 points and 6 assists, while Pascal Siakam led Indiana in rebounding with 7.
We've got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on the how to catch tipoff, odds, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
Listen to the Rotoworld Basketball Show for the latest fantasy player news, waiver claims, roster advice and more from our experts all season long. Click here or download it wherever you get your podcasts.
Game details & how to watch Thunder vs. Pacers live today
Date: Wednesday, June 11, 2025
Time: 8:30PM EST
Site: Gainbridge Fieldhouse
City: Indianapolis, IN
Network/Streaming: ESPN / ABC
Advertisement
Never miss a second of the action and stay up to date with all the latest team stats and player news. Check out our day-by-day NBA schedule page, along with detailed matchup pages that update live in-game.
Game odds for Thunder vs. Pacers
The latest odds as of Wednesday:
Odds: Thunder (-218), Pacers (+180)
Spread: Thunder -5.5
Over/Under: 228.5 points
That gives the Thunder an implied team point total of 116.5, and the Pacers 111.5.
Want to know which sportsbook is offering the best lines for every game on the NBA calendar? Check out the NBC Sports' Live Odds tool to get all the latest updated info from DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM & more!
Expert picks & predictions for Wednesday's Thunder vs. Pacers game
NBC Sports Bet Best Bet
Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports) likes the value on long shots in the series assist leader market:
"As someone who has a Jalen Williams ticket at +6500 odds, I am pulling for him as he is +1300 to +2000 at most markets for the NBA Finals series assist leader.
Advertisement
This is a five-player race with Tyrese Haliburton (-200) leading he charge at 12 assists. Behind him with 11 is Williams (+1300) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (+155). With 10 assists is Andrew Nembhard (+5000) and T.J. McConnell (+7500).
The value on Williams and Nembhard is worth betting and so is McConnell after Haliburton shows signs of an injury or some pain in the post-game presser of Game 2.
If Haliburton misses anytime, then there is value on Nembhard and McConnell in this market, so I think taking anyone but Haliburton or SGA is the smart move."
Please bet responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline at 1-800-522-4700.
Advertisement
Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the NBA calendar based on data points like recent performance, head-to-head player matchups, trends information and projected game totals.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projections next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for today's Thunder & Pacers game:
Moneyline: NBC Sports Bet is staying away from a play on the Moneyline.
Spread: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play ATS on the Oklahoma City Thunder at -5.
Total: NBC Sports Bet is staying away from a play on the Game Total of 228.5.
Want even more NBA best bets and predictions from our expert staff & tools? Check out the Expert NBA Predictions pagefrom NBC Sports for money line, spread and over/under picks for every game on today's calendar!
Important stats, trends & insights to know ahead of Thunder vs. Pacers on Wednesday
Oklahoma City is 1-2 on the ML and 2-1 ATS in Game 3's this postseason
Indiana is 0-3 on the ML and ATS in Game 3's this postseason
The O/U is 1-1 in the series so far
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 's 72 points is the most through a players first two NBA Finals games in history
Isaiah Hartenstein and Pascal Siakam are tied for the series lead in rebounds (17) and are +140 and +145 to finish as the leader
Aaron Nesmith leads the series in three-pointers made (7) and is +135 to finish as the leader
Andrew Nembhard leads the series in assists (14) and is +5000 to finish as the leader
Advertisement
If you're looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our NBA Top Trends tool on NBC Sports!
Follow our experts on socials to keep up with all the latest content from the staff:
- Jay Croucher (@croucherJD)
- Drew Dinsick (@whale_capper)
- Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports)
- Brad Thomas (@MrBradThomas)

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Back at home, Pacers have some things to figure out before Game 3 vs. Thunder in NBA Finals
Back at home, Pacers have some things to figure out before Game 3 vs. Thunder in NBA Finals

Boston Globe

timean hour ago

  • Boston Globe

Back at home, Pacers have some things to figure out before Game 3 vs. Thunder in NBA Finals

Yes, the Pacers are tied with the Thunder 1-1 after two games of the NBA Finals. For the lower-seeded team, that's huge; the Pacers took home-court advantage away by Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'We're going to have to be a lot better on Wednesday,' Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. Advertisement That might sound like coaching hyperbole, but really, it isn't. The Pacers have yet to have anyone score 20 points in a game in these finals. They've led for a total — a total! — of 1 minute, 54 seconds in this series, or just under 2 percent of the time. (That's a major improvement over the 0.0001 percent that they led Game 1 for, in a winning effort, somehow.) And Advertisement Points in the paint isn't a stat that tends to jump off the page. It's possible that a lot of people didn't even notice. But consider this: Before Sunday night, more than nine years had passed since the Pacers didn't manage a single paint point in the first quarter of a game. 'We have to do a better job of getting to the paint,' Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton said. 'It's a lot easier said than done. . . . Our offense is built from the inside-out, and we have to do a better job getting downhill. They collapse and make plays from there. I thought we could improve a lot there. But yeah, man, they are flying around. They have got great point-of-attack defenders and great rim protectors.' Chet showing his TWO-WAY IMPACT with the stuff 💪🚫 OKC on a 23-7 run in Game 2 on ABC 👀 — NBA (@NBA) For a team that has now won 81 of its 100 games this season (not counting the NBA Cup final loss, since that doesn't figure into any records), the Thunder somehow tend to get overlooked on the defensive end. Oklahoma City handcuffed the Pacers in the first two games, daring Indiana to take 3-pointers and barely giving up anything easy around the rim. It starts with bothering Haliburton, which the Thunder have managed to do for the majority of the first two games. 'Most of the guys I guard have the ball most of the time,' said Thunder forward Luguentz Dort, who has drawn the assignment on Haliburton for much of the first two games. 'My main thing is to stay in front of him and make everything tough. He's a great player. He is going to make some tough shots and great reads, so I just have to stay in front of him.' Advertisement No team gave up fewer paint points in the regular season than the Thunder. It truly is a clash of styles; the Pacers are averaging 46 paint points in their 13 wins in these playoffs as opposed to averaging 36 paint points in their five losses. 'I think we have been one of the better teams scoring in the paint all year and we have to establish that early,' Pacers forward Myles Turner said. 'I think we only had four or six points in the paint in the first half (of Game 2) and that's not Pacers basketball. When you live and die by that three or mid-range shots, it doesn't always fare well for you.' Myles Turner this postseason: 15.2 PPG 2.2 BPG 38.9 3P% And this massive poster 😱 Indy is tied 1-1 heading home in the NBA Finals! — NBA (@NBA) Maybe at home, things will be easier. The Pacers got a split in Oklahoma City; things could be much worse. And now, the Pacers have two days to try to find a way to respond to what the Thunder defense is taking away. 'We'll watch the film, see where we can get better,' Haliburton said. 'We know that the paint is our emphasis and the paint is our friend. The more that we're able to attack the paint, usually better things happen for us.'

NBA Finals 2025: Want to win a championship? Your team might need a Chet Holmgren
NBA Finals 2025: Want to win a championship? Your team might need a Chet Holmgren

Yahoo

timean hour ago

  • Yahoo

NBA Finals 2025: Want to win a championship? Your team might need a Chet Holmgren

Over the final four minutes of the first quarter in Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday, as he does for stretches on most nights, Oklahoma City Thunder big man Chet Holmgren showed a little bit of everything he can do. Defensively, Holmgren slid from the corner, where he was hidden on Indiana Pacers center Thomas Bryant, to block one-time slam dunk champion Obi Toppin at the rim. A few possessions later, Holmgren switched onto T.J. McConnell, sticking with Indiana's pest and forcing him into a contested long 2-pointer. Advertisement Offensively, Holmgren spotted up from the left arc for an in-rhythm 3-pointer. That set up his next attack a few plays later, as he took another pass on the left arc, drawing Pacers big Myles Turner to the perimeter. Holmgren took him off the dribble, finger-rolling home a layup from his outstretched 7-foot-6 wingspan. Otherwise, Holmgren keeps the ball moving with his passing, even calmly registering an assist from his backside on a broken play early in the second quarter. As it turns out, everything he can do is quite a lot. In other words: Every NBA team could use a Chet Holmgren. Sure, it is easy to say: Get yourself a 7-foot-1 No. 2 overall pick who can shoot the 3, attack close-outs, pass with aplomb and hold his own defensively in space. But, as his Thunder remain betting favorites to win the championship, according to BetMGM, he begs the question: Does a team need some semblance of a Chet Holmgren — or, at the very least, a floor-spacing rim protector — to compete for a title? Advertisement Holmgren finished the Thunder's Game 2 victory against the Pacers with 15 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block, hardly the stuff of legend, but his contributions to Oklahoma City go well beyond stat lines. While 3-and-D wings were once the craze — and still are (they are extremely necessary, too) — the 3-and-D big is what unlocks every lineup combination for his team. Put him at center, and he can anchor smaller five-out units, which feature shooters everywhere and a more versatile defensive approach. Slide him to the power forward position, and he can help to physically punish opponents in double-big combinations. As Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said after Game 2, "When we play small, we tend to be a little bit more of a turnover defense. When we play bigger, we have other strengths. It's a combination of things." Typically, teams will have to choose between sacrificing rim protection in small-ball lineups or versatility in double-big outfits, but with someone like Holmgren, that sacrifice is minimized, or eliminated entirely. Case in point: The Thunder outscored opponents by roughly 15 points per 100 meaningful possessions regardless of whether Holmgren manned the 4 or the 5 position during the regular season, per Cleaning the Glass. That dominance was nearly halved to a mortal figure whenever he was off the floor. Advertisement The Thunder inexplicably abandoned their double-big lineups in their Game 1 loss to Indiana, which was curious, because the Pacers have no counter for them. They have Myles Turner, a center whose ability to space the floor and protect the rim has unlocked a sensational small-ball outfit that has carried Indiana this far. What they lack is a second big who can play alongside him. What they lack is a Chet Holmgren. And maybe that is the final piece to a championship puzzle: Teams need a facsimile of Holmgren to unlock the double-big arrow in their quiver, and they need that second capable big to employ it. This is why the Thunder felt compelled to give Isaiah Hartenstein a three-year, $87 million contract last summer. Consider the Boston Celtics, who won last year's championship with a pair of big men, Al Horford and Kristaps Porziņģis, both of whom could shoot the 3 and anchor a defense. They could play separately or with each other, and the ability to do both is what unlocked their full potential. They survived without Porziņģis for much of last year's playoffs, but this year they ran into New York Knicks big Karl-Anthony Towns, whose ability to play as a 4 or a 5 allowed then-head coach Tom Thibodeau to toy with lineup combinations until he found one with Mitchell Robinson at center that punished the smaller Celtics. Look at the league's recent champions, and you will find someone who can flutter between the 4 and the 5 and be effective at both. As we saw again this season, Aaron Gordon could play alongside Nikola Jokić or spell him at the 5 for the Denver Nuggets. Draymond Green was the original "Every Team Needs A Version of This Guy" for the Golden State Warriors. He played with Kevon Looney or without. Advertisement Look at the standings, too. Every good team has someone like Holmgren (i.e., Evan Mobley of the 64-win Cleveland Cavaliers). Every bad team does not (the Washington Wizards, for example, hope Alex Sarr can become him). Every middling team wishes its version of Holmgren was as good as he is. (Imagine, for a moment, if you swapped Isaiah Stewart for Holmgren and what the Detroit Pistons might look like.) Think of the Houston Rockets. They boasted both Alperen Şengün and Steven Adams, either of whom could man the center position and neither of whom was best positioned to play power forward. While they enjoyed some success as a double-big combination, the Rockets rarely trusted them, because they lacked versatility on defense and shrunk the floor on offense. It made them susceptible to the first-round loss they suffered against the Warriors, who practically invented this concept of an ultra-versatile big. Think of the Chicago Bulls, who feature Nikola Vučević. He can shoot but cannot defend the rim. Think of the Atlanta Hawks, whose bigs can defend the rim but cannot shoot. You can get paid handsomely to do one or the other, but can you win on the highest level? Not if the most recent champions are indicators. It is not a novel concept to consider that every team needs a Chet Holmgren or someone who can do a bit of everything in the frontcourt. But it may be a necessary one if you hope to win the championship.

Raiders Named Landing Spot for Recently Released All-Pro Defender
Raiders Named Landing Spot for Recently Released All-Pro Defender

Yahoo

time2 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Raiders Named Landing Spot for Recently Released All-Pro Defender

Raiders Named Landing Spot for Recently Released All-Pro Defender originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Las Vegas Raiders welcomed in a new leadership tandem of Pete Carroll and John Spytek ahead of the 2025 NFL season. With two competent people now in place, the team can begin rebuilding their roster the right way. Advertisement That started this offseason with the overhauling of the team's defense, particularly the linebacker and cornerback positions. Now gone were Robert Spillane, Divine Deablo, Nate Hobbs and Jack Jones, all of whom were starters the last two seasons. In came Elandon Roberts, Devin White, Jaylon Smith and Eric Stokes from the free agent market, as well as a handful of drafted prospects, to replace them. Former Green Bay Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander (23).David Banks-Imagn Images Many have questioned the talent and depth of the Raiders' roster, with the cornerback room in particular coming under fire. On Monday, the Green Bay Packers may have given them an opportunity to remedy this with the release of Jaire Alexander. Advertisement According to Pro Football Focus' Trevor Sikkema, Las Vegas is among the teams who could land Alexander now that he is a free agent. "Now that Pete Carroll is the head coach in Las Vegas, don't count the Raiders out of the Alexander sweepstakes," Sikkema wrote. "Carroll knows how to build an elite secondary, as evidenced by the Legion of Boom during his time in Seattle. He is also known as a player's coach and someone who can handle big-personality players." Alexander has been a Second-Team All-Pro honoree twice in his career, as well as a Pro Bowler in two different seasons. Unfortunately, he has struggled with injuries throughout his tenure in the NFL. Only one time has Alexander played every game in a season, and that was all the way back in 2019. He has played in seven games or less in three of the last four years, including just 14 total in his last two campaigns. Advertisement Las Vegas is returning cornerback Jakorian Bennett, who had eight passes defended in just 10 games last year, as well as 2024 fourth-round pick Decamerion Richardson, who showed flashes last season. However, the additions of 2025 third-rounder Darien Porter and four-year veteran Eric Stokes may not immediately offset the losses of Hobbs and Jones, so the Raiders could use some experience at cornerback. Alexander could provide just that if he can stay healthy and is willing to restructure his $18.2 million price tag. Related: Former Raiders First-Round Draft Bust Lands Texans Workout Related: Raiders Veteran LB Praises North Carolina Coach Bill Belichick This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 9, 2025, where it first appeared.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store