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Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
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:
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
NBA playoff bracket 2025: Schedule, times, scores for conference finals
The Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder have taken the early lead in their respective conference final series. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who was named the NBA's MVP on Wednesday, has guided the Thunder to a 2-0 lead over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Advertisement Tyrese Haliburton led the Pacers to a Game 1 victory on the road against the New York Knicks. Haliburton had 31 points, 11 assists and four rebounds. The Pacers star helped silence the crowd after hitting a shot at the end of regulation that forced the game into overtime after the Knicks led most of the fourth quarter. Jalen Brunson had a game-high 43 points in the loss and went 1-for-6 from the 3-point line for the Knicks. Karl-Anthony Towns had 35 points and 12 rebounds. Here's the complete NBA playoffs schedule, including results and broadcast information: NBA bracket: Playoff schedule, scores and results The conference finals are set and could run through June 2. Advertisement All times Eastern. *-if necessary Conference finals Eastern Conference Pacers lead series 1-0 Game 1: Pacers 138, Knicks 135 (OT) Game 2, May 23: Pacers at Knicks | TNT, 8 p.m. Game 3, May 25: Knicks at Pacers | TNT, 8 p.m. Game 4, May 27: Knicks at Pacers | TNT, 8 p.m. Game 5, May 29: Pacers at Knicks | TNT, 8 p.m.* Game 6, May 31: Knicks at Pacers | TNT, 8 p.m.* Game 7, June 2: Pacers at Knicks | TNT, 8 p.m.* Western Conference Thunder lead series 2-0 Game 1, May 20: Thunder 114, Timberwolves 88 Game 2, May 22: Thunder 118, Timberwolves 103 Game 3, May 24: Thunder at Timberwolves | ABC, 8:30 p.m. Game 4 , May 26: Thunder at Timberwolves | ESPN, 8:30 p.m. Game 5, May 28: Timberwolves at Thunder | ESPN, 8:30 p.m.* Game 6, May 30: Thunder at Timberwolves | ESPN, 8:30 p.m.* Game 7, June 1: Timberwolves at Thunder | ESPN, 8 p.m.* 2025 NBA Finals schedule *-if necessary Game 1, June 5: TBD, ABC Game 2, June 8: TBD, ABC Game 3, June 11: TBD, ABC Game 4, June 13: TBD, ABC Game 5, June 16: TBD, ABC* Game 6, June 19: TBD, ABC* Game 7, June 22: TBD, ABC* NBA playoff results: Second round Eastern Conference (1) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (4) Indiana Pacers Pacers win series 4-1 (2) Boston Celtics vs. (3) New York Knicks Knicks win series 4-2 Western Conference (1) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (4) Denver Nuggets Thunder win series 4-3 (6) Minnesota Timberwolves vs. (7) Golden State Warriors Timberwolves win series 4-1 NBA playoff results: First round Eastern Conference (1) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (8) Miami Heat Cavaliers win series 4-0 Advertisement (2) Boston Celtics vs. (7) Orlando Magic Celtics win series 4-1 (3) New York Knicks vs. (6) Detroit Pistons Knicks win series 4-2 (4) Indiana Pacers vs. (5) Milwaukee Bucks Pacers win series 4-1 Western Conference (1) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (8) Memphis Grizzlies Thunder win series 4-0 (2) Houston Rockets vs. (7) Golden State Warriors Warriors win series 4-3 (3) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (6) Minnesota Timberwolves Timberwolves win series 4-1 (4) Denver Nuggets vs. (5) Los Angeles Clippers Nuggets win series 4-3 This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NBA playoff bracket: Schedule, times, scores for conference finals
