NBA Finals 2025: Thunder are quite aware of chance at immortality, but are more focused on Game 1
OKLAHOMA CITY — The NBA Finals feel like new blood, and new blood usually means an unpredictable series, but the Oklahoma City Thunder are overwhelming favorites over the Indiana Pacers.
Pick a metric.
Whether it’s the 68 regular-season wins that put them in hallowed territory or the all-time net rating, the Thunder are four wins from putting together one of the more complete and dominant seasons in NBA history.
It’s not that the Indiana Pacers are some slouches. These two are the best teams in the NBA since Jan. 1 — but there appears to be such a gap between them, it must be acknowledged.
“They’re historically great on both sides of the ball,” Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton said. “They have the MVP. I mean, there’s so many different things that you could go up and down the list of why they are so great and what they do, and why they’re such a great team.”
Last year’s Boston Celtics broke the math, and it was easy to see. They took the most 3s and knew you couldn’t keep up. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown were seasoned and hardened through the fire of playoff failure, supplemented by so many veterans that the romp through last season and the postseason almost felt ordained.
These Thunder don’t overwhelm you in that way, but the power is unrelenting. The Thunder defense is as close to dominant as any team the league has produced in this millennium, and as Haliburton mentioned, the Thunder employ the NBA’s Most Valuable Player in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Having been off for nearly a week, time could’ve allowed the Thunder to reflect on how great they’ve been to this point.
“Honestly, not really. I’ve been so focused on Game 1,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Being the best version of myself for this group and trying to make sure we’re clicking on all cylinders on the biggest stage for our careers, that’s been the front of my mind.”
Gilgeous-Alexander mentioned he tries to take his mind off basketball during his idle time, so he’s not inundated with thoughts and information and attention.
“That’s all I’m really worried about, when I do worry about basketball,” he said. “I haven’t taken the time to look back, see all the things we’ve done. But I will when it’s all over, for sure.”
Haliburton’s words aren’t mere platitudes, it just feels like he acknowledges how the series is viewed from 30,000 feet.
“We know the odds are stacked against us, but you know, it is what it is,” Haliburton said. “We want to be here. We want to play against the best, and this is the best. So we’re looking forward to challenges.”
The Pacers knocked off the favored New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference finals, and before that, the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers. This isn’t new, the public viewing the Pacers as the lesser team for the third straight round.
“I think we focus on ourselves,” Pacers forward Pascal Siakam said. “I think I don’t think we expect anyone to pick us up. And that’s been like that the whole playoffs. It’s been like that the whole season. So I think for us, nothing really changes. It’s always been us against anyone, so it doesn’t change.”
But these Thunder are different. They have basically the same odds to win it all as the 1986 Boston Celtics and 2004 Los Angeles Lakers as betting favorites, two totally different squads. The Celtics were arguably the best of the Larry Bird-led teams, as he won the last of three straight MVPs, and they waxed the Houston Rockets in six games.
The 2004 Lakers were a drama-filled mess, and yet most believed they would run over the Detroit Pistons. Instead, it was a five-game win by Detroit — and the Lakers were lucky to win one.
Oklahoma City doesn’t fit either bill, but the dominance is closer to the Celtics — it’s just those Celtics had been champions twice over by that point. These Thunder are still searching for their first title since moving to Oklahoma City in 2008-09.
Thunder forward Jalen Williams can’t recall exactly when, but he believes it was midseason when he realized the type of run this team was on. Again, they were the top seed in the West last season, tied with the Denver Nuggets for 57 wins, but this year has been an all-around thrashing of the competition.
“Not having big