The 2024-25 NBA season is in its home stretch. The finals will take the Larry O’Brien trophy to Oklahoma City and Indiana as the hardwood floors battle it out for 48 minutes over seven games to crown a first-time NBA champion.
This is a finals battle between the league’s youngest team — the Oklahoma City Thunder (68-14), with an average age of 24.148 years, and one of the NBA’s most consistent teams over the last few years — the Indiana Pacers (50-32).
It is a contest between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Tyrese Haliburton. It is a matchup between the league MVP and the player who put the “overrated” claims to rest. This is where legacies are defined and where players have the opportunity to solidify themselves as the greatest players in franchise history.
OKC’s journey to finals
The Thunder finished the regular season as the No. 1 seed in the West with the best record in the league while also recording the seventh-best regular season record ever. Gilgeous-Alexander won his first Most Valuable Player award, becoming the first MVP since Stephen Curry in 2016 to make the finals in the same season.
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Oklahoma City swept the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs. It burst through a hard-fought seven game series against the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference semifinals. They then took down a high-flying Minnesota Timberwolves side in five games to advance to the finals.
Indiana’s journey to finals
Arguably the surprise of the postseason, the Pacers have put on a show over the last few weeks. The fourth seeded Pacers took care of an injured Milwaukee Bucks team in five games.
Indiana then blew the No. 1 seed in the East, the Cleveland Cavaliers, out of the water in five games to advance to back-to-back conference finals,this time by winning two series in five games each.
Indiana’s first real test of the playoffs was facing a healthy New York Knicks team in the Eastern Conference finals. Down by 17 in the first game, Haliburton flipped the switch and took Indiana to a comeback road playoff win.
With seconds to go in regulation, Haliburton dribbled himself into a deep two-point attempt. The shot hit the rim, bounced straight up and went in, forcing overtime. He then proceeded to mimic Pacers legend Reggie Miller’s iconic choke celebration, prompting an emphatic finger point from Miller himself, who was in attendance.
That game one overtime was where the series ended as the Pacers took game one at Madison Square Garden. They proceeded to wrap up the series in six games, breaking countless Knicks fans’ hearts.
What it means for both teams
This is only the second finals appearance for both Oklahoma City (after rebranding from the Seattle Supersonics) and Indiana. Neither have won a championship. But for two of the league’s most energetic and vibrant fanbases, this is almost a festival.
Both these teams have had iconic players grace their cities. The Thunder have had players like Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Serge Ibaka, Chris Paul and Paul George. While the Pacers have had icons like Miller, Mel Daniels, George and Rik Smits. They have won MVPs with their teams, but none have managed to win the trophy, none have managed to lay their hands on the Larry O’Brien.
This season, Gilgeous-Alexander and Haliburton have the chance to etch their name on top of the pantheon of franchise greats, to have their names forever hang from the rafters of their arenas. This is a shot at history. Kids in these cities will wear their jerseys for years to come. This is the time for a new champion.
Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City has built its team organically, investing in young players and draft picks. The Thunder drafted two players on its starting five — Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren. They signed 2025 all-defense first team member Luguentz Dort on a two-way contract in 2019 after he went undrafted in the draft.
They acquired Gilgeous-Alexander in 2019 as part of a blockbuster trade with the Los Angeles Clippers that sent Paul George to the Clippers. They signed their other starting forward, Isaiah Hartenstein, in free agency in 2024.
Oklahoma City started its rebuild in 2019 after stars George and Westbrook left. Built on draft picks and role players, its rise to the top of the Western Conference has been special. Winning the city’s first championship will not only reward its patient rebuild but also might just be the start of the league’s next dynasty.
Indiana
Between 1994 and 2000, Indiana made five Eastern Conference finals appearances, resulting in its only finals appearance in 2000. This is the city’s first finals appearance in over two decades and it has the potential to be special.
According to ESPN, the Thunder are betting favorites by -700 to win the finals. The Pacers enter yet another series as underdogs, but it would probably be a mistake to assume it is a foregone conclusion.
Indiana has knocked out the juggernaut that was Cleveland and taken care of a New York team that got to the conference finals by beating the defending champions — the Boston Celtics. This seems to be a team that can manifest success. Ever since the Pascal Siakam trade in Jan. 2024, the Pacers have looked like a serious team.
They might not be favored, but it is only fuel for Haliburton, if anything. After all, the overrated claims at the beginning of the playoffs ignited a playoff run that the Hoosier state will remember for a long time.
What it means for the league
The Toronto Raptors took down the reigning champions, the Golden State Warriors, in 2019 — denying them a shot at a three-peat. Since then, we have had a different winner every season. Not only that, but only the Celtics and the Miami Heat have made the finals twice; Celtics in 2022 and 2024, Heat in 2020 and 2023.
After years of Golden State versus Cleveland finals, it has become close to impossible to predict champions in the modern day NBA. Denver won its maiden championship in 2023 and another team has a chance to do that this season.
The overall league ratings are dropping and there are questions being asked about how to improve the entertainment product that the NBA is producing. At a time like this, a championship for a “small market” team is good news for the league.
Making history
The finals start in Oklahoma City on Thursday. Paycom Center will be a sea of blue and white for the Thunder’s home games. And it is safe to say that the Gainbridge Fieldhouse will be a yellow ocean in the Pacers’ home games as well. A new champion is to be crowned, the Larry O’Brien is about to find a new home.
This is the contest to announce the NBA’s next superstar and its next face of the league. There are stories to write and legacies to build. This is where the lights are the brightest. Welcome to the NBA finals.