NBA Finals 2025: Pacers ready to put in work
The Pacers know that when they take the floor Thursday night in Oklahoma City to play for the franchise's first NBA championship, it won't be easy.
Why it matters: On the heels of a sold-out Indy 500 and just weeks before a sold-out WNBA All-Star game, Indianapolis is once again at the center of sports fans' attention.
State of play: Not much has been easy for the Pacers, who started the 2024-25 season on the back foot before catching fire after New Year's Day en route to 50 wins.
Yes, but: Knowing they're always in for a fight is part of the secret sauce, they say, allowing them to go into their last two playoff series as underdogs and emerge from the East as the only dogs.
"We got our work cut out for us," said All-Star Tyrese Haliburton.
"I thought we just did a great job of staying together as a group and not worrying about outside noise. Internally, we had expectations to be here and this isn't a surprise to any of us."
Catch up quick: The Pacers polished off the Knicks on Saturday at home in Game 6, and Pascal Siakam took home the Larry Bird trophy as series MVP with averages of 24.8 points on 52.4% shooting, five rebounds and 3.5 assists.
It's the second time the Pacers have beaten the Knicks in six to reach the Finals. Parallels to Reggie Miller powering his team past the Patrick Ewing-led Knicks in 2000 are already being drawn.
What they're saying: Myles Turner, who started his career in Indiana a decade ago, said reaching the Finals feels like"pure validation."
"All the years. All the hate. All the love. Everything in between … it just made so much sense in that moment," he said. "To be honest, I don't know what I was thinking. Just pure exuberance and joy."
The other side: As the best in the West, the Thunder carved a dominant path to the 2025 NBA Finals.
They had a league-best 68-14 regular-season record and are 12-4 in the postseason so far.
The Pacers went 0-2 against OKC this season.
They're led by MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who topped the NBA in scoring in the regular season (32.7 points) and has 10 games with at least 30 points and five assists in the 2025 playoffs.
What's next: Game 1 is at 8:30pm Thursday on ABC, or you can listen on 93.5/107.5 The Fan.
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