Pacers, Thunder ready to tip off NBA Finals on TSN
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The Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder will begin an NBA Finals chock full of storylines when the two sides clash on Thursday in Oklahoma City.
Oklahoma City was an easy pick from the start of the season to appear in this spot - they were arguably the best team in the Association from day one, were coming off an impressive campaign a year ago and had an MVP favourite in Canadian guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Gilgeous-Alexander won the MVP after averaging career highs in points per game (32.4) and assists per game (6.4), along with 1.7 steals and 1.0 blocks per game in a strong defensive showing.
That helped propel the Thunder to a league-best 68-14 record, the best mark in the NBA since the Golden State Warriors set an NBA record in 2015-16 and tied for the fifth-best single-season mark in NBA history.
The Pacers, meanwhile, qualified as the fourth seed in the East after winning 50 games, but their offensive firepower has flattened the opposition in the postseason.
The underdog story
The Pacers enter the series as heavy underdogs against the league's best in Oklahoma City.
The 18-win discrepancy between the two sides in the Finals is the widest margin since 1981 (22 games between the Boston Celtics and Houston Rockets) and sixth highest in NBA history.
As such, Oklahoma City is an almost-universal pick to take down the Pacers, with most of the discourse surrounding how many games it will take to do so.
Pacers star guard Tyrese Haliburton is trying to draw motivation from the outside noise.
“I’ll continue to tell you guys in certain moments that it doesn’t matter what people say, but it matters — and I enjoy it," Haliburton said. "I think the greats try to find external motivation as much as they can and that’s something that’s always worked for me.”
Canadians at the forefront
This finals features four Canadian players in prominent roles - Hamilton, Ont.'s Gilgeous-Alexander is the biggest name in the series, but there are others to keep an eye on.
Gilgeous-Alexander's teammate Lu Dort, of Montreal, was named a member of the 2024-25 All-Defensive Team and averaged just under 28 minutes per night through these playoffs.
"It's always been really cool that Lu and Shai are from Canada and we've got a Canadian flag in the arena, like every NBA arena," said Oklahoma City mayor David Holt in a video call with The Canadian Press. "I don't know if Canadians think about that, but there's a Canadian flag that's been hanging in Oklahoma City for 20 years now, and it probably has even more meaning for Dort and Gilgeous-Alexander that it's there."
For Indiana, Andrew Nembhard of Aurora, Ont. and Bennedict Mathurin from Montreal showcase more of what Canada has to offer.
“I think Montreal basketball fans’ favourite teams are us and the Pacers," Dort said before the series. "It’s going to be really fun [for the public] to see us play in the finals.”
Both teams can snap a long title drought
The Thunder are seeking the franchise's first NBA title since 1979, when they played as the Seattle Supersonics.
Meanwhile, the Pacers are playing in the finals for the first time since 2000, and seek the first title in franchise history.
Both coaches are aware of the special moment for their teams as the NBA gets set to crown the seventh new champion in the last seven seasons.
“Every single person that’s participating in this, whether it’s coaches, players, staff, there was a time in their life when this was just a dream,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “This wasn’t a foregone conclusion for them. That’s every player that’s participating. There’s a time when they were in their driveway shooting 1-on-0 with a basket counting down the end of the game. That’s what makes it so special to participate in.”
“We’ve got a lot of work cut out for us,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “A lot of our guys have been through a lot of situations where they’ve been underdogs in the past. It’s simply going to come down to us being able to play our game at the best possible level. We’re going to need to take care of the ball because these guys turn people over at an historic rate, and we’re going to have to make some shots.”