Since the Oklahoma City Thunder moved to the city in 2008, fans have been waiting for an NBA championship. The Indiana Pacers, who entered the NBA in 1976, have been waiting for a title for almost 50 years.
One squad is now on the verge of ending that drought. This year’s NBA Finals will pit the Thunder against the Pacers in an attempt to win a trophy at last.
The franchise won a championship in 1979 as the Seattle SuperSonics before relocating to Oklahoma City and changing their name to the Thunder. The Thunder were contenders shortly after the team moved in 2008, and in 2012 they made it to the Finals. However, that team’s generation failed to leverage an exceptionally talented roster (which included James Harden, Russell Westbrook, and Kevin Durant), and the Thunder had failed to make it back to the Finals until now, following a 4-1 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Only once in their existence have the Pacers advanced to the NBA Finals, losing to the Los Angeles Lakers, who had won the championship back-to-back in 2000. After defeating the New York Knicks in a thrilling six-game Eastern Conference Finals, Indiana secured its place Saturday night.
On Thursday, June 5, the best-of-seven Finals’ first game will begin.
One of the most successful seasons in NBA history has been experienced by the Thunder. Oklahoma City had the greatest regular-season record at 68-14, outscoring opponents by an NBA-record 12.9 points per game.
Their youthful core combination of seven-footer Chet Holmgren, wing Jalen Williams, and superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been the driving force behind their success this season. Gilgeous-Alexander, who led the NBA in scoring this season and won the league MVP award, is just 26 years old, while Holmgren is 23 and Williams is 24.
The Thunder continued their dominance in the Western Conference Finals, defeating the Minneapolis Timberwolves by scores of 26, 15, 2, and 30 points.
However, the Pacers, who were seeded fourth, defeated the Knicks in a close series where both teams had a chance to win in the closing minutes of multiple games. In the decisive Game 6 of the series, the Pacers prevailed 125-108.
“This series has had some truly unbelievable shot-making,” head coach Rick Carlisle remarked following Indiana’s victory in Game 4. “When you can get a stop and a rebound, it almost feels like an anomaly sometimes.”
Tyrese Haliburton, the point guard for Indiana, has seen these playoffs as a coming-out party. The Athletic conducted an anonymous player survey just a month ago, and Haliburton was deemed the league’s “most overrated player.” He had a perfect triple-double in Game 4 and another 21 points in Game 6 on Saturday during the Eastern Conference Finals. Pascal Siakam, a forward, was named MVP of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Two of the NBA’s smallest media markets include Oklahoma City and Indiana. There are roughly 2.1 million people living in the Indianapolis metro region. With a metro population of about 1.5 million, Oklahoma City is smaller.
Nonetheless, the clubs’ success has energized both communities, particularly Oklahoma, where the Thunder are the only significant professional sports team in the state.
This Finals will feature the seventh different winner in the last seven years, regardless of the team’s victory, which is an incredible example of equality in the contemporary NBA.
