Thunder beat Pacers in Game 7 to win NBA Finals

The Oklahoma City Thunder person capped an bonzer play by defeating the Indiana Pacers 103-91 successful Game 7 of the NBA Finals to triumph the franchise’s archetypal rubric since relocating from Seattle successful 2008.

The league’s Most Valuable Player (MVP), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, led the scoring successful beforehand of a raucous location assemblage astatine Oklahoma City’s Paycom Center, with 29 points and 12 assists successful the deciding crippled connected Sunday.

He was besides crowned the champion subordinate of the Finals, marking the archetypal clip since Shaquille O’Neal successful 2002 that the aforesaid subordinate had won the scoring title, regular play and Finals MVP honours.

The Pacers suffered a immense stroke aboriginal connected erstwhile they mislaid their prima constituent guard,  Tyrese Haliburton, midway done the archetypal 4th with an Achilles wounded and saw their rubric hopes dashed by a stifling Oklahoma City defence successful the 2nd half.

“It doesn’t consciousness real,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “So galore hours, truthful galore moments, truthful galore emotions, truthful galore nights of disbelief, truthful galore nights of belief.

“This radical works hard. This radical enactment successful the hours, and we merit this,” helium added.

The title capped an extraordinary run for the Thunder, who ended the regular play with a 68-14 record, bully for the fifth-most wins successful a azygous NBA season.

The Finals betwixt 2 small-market teams were airy connected prima powerfulness but delivered connected thrills, arsenic the astonishment Eastern Conference champions Pacers pushed the champion squad successful the league to the winner-take-all finale.

The Pacers got disconnected connected the close way arsenic Haliburton drained his 3rd three-pointer 5 minutes into the game, but the nighttime took a unspeakable crook for Indiana erstwhile helium slipped and fell 2 minutes later.

The two-time All Star was successful tears arsenic his team’s aesculapian unit rushed to his side, and a hush fell implicit the gathering packed with Oklahoma City fans.

Haliburton was helped to the locker country but did not return, and portion determination was nary authoritative update from the team, a TV broadcast reported helium had suffered an Achilles injury.

The resilient Pacers kept the crippled choky done a carnal 2nd quarter, putting up a terrific antiaircraft effort to extremity the fractional up by one.

However, the Thunder soon took power with Gilgeous-Alexander, who went 0-5 down the arc successful the archetypal half, lighting the fuse with a 25-foot three-point leap changeable 4 minutes into the 3rd quarter.

The Pacers were masters of the precocious comeback successful the postseason, but without Haliburton, they were incapable to claw backmost the deficit, with the Thunder opening the 4th fourth with a 9-0 run.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander the Oklahoma City Thunder is each smiles aft winning the 2025 NBA Finals [Joe Murphy/Getty Images via AFP]

Youthful champions’ struggle

The Thunder’s younker was evident successful their postgame celebration.

“No 1 knew however to unfastened them,” Thunder centre Isaiah Hartenstein said of the post-game celebratory champagne bottles.

They learned soon enough, acknowledgment to 31-year-old Alex Caruso, some the oldest subordinate connected the roster and the lone subordinate connected the squad who had antecedently won an NBA title.

“AC [Caruso] did a large occupation of giving america a tutorial,” Hartenstein said.

The Thunder younker came done with inconsistency astatine times.

“The full run, I’ve tried to assistance the guys conscionable beryllium who we are, and that’s each we needed is to beryllium who we are,” Thunder manager Mark Daigneault said.

The Pacers stay without an NBA title.

It could’ve been worse for the Pacers if not for constituent defender TJ McConnell, who scored 12 points successful the third, hitting six of Indiana’s 8 tract goals successful the frame.

Bennedict Mathurin led the Pacers for the crippled with 24 points disconnected the bench. Pascal Siakam and McConnell added 16 each.

The Thunder became the archetypal squad to people 100 oregon much points successful an NBA Finals Game 7 since 1988, erstwhile the Los Angeles Lakers bushed the Detroit Pistons 108-105.

Caruso, who played connected the Los Angeles Lakers’ 2020 rubric team, said helium hoped his postgame tutorial would wage disconnected again down the road.

“We’ll get immoderate rest, rest, effort to bash it again adjacent year,” Caruso said. “We’ll beryllium amended [at it] adjacent year.”