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2025 NBA Finals: 3 Reasons Why Thunder Can Beat Pacers
2025 NBA Finals: 3 Reasons Why Thunder Can Beat Pacers
The 2025 NBA Finals tips off Thursday between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers! The league’s best defense is pinned against one of the league’s best offenses! The MVP versus another one of the league’s best young point guards! Two teams that fly up-and-down the court with pace, but with contrasting styles!
Will Oklahoma City be able to complete its historic season with an NBA Title? Here are three reasons why they could!
They Have The Best Player:
In today’s NBA, I think high-end depth matters almost as much as top-tier star talent in a given series. Both teams do have star talent with very intriguing depth at a very inexpensive cost–outside of their contrasting, yet eerily similar styles–which makes these the Finals all the more intriguing.
However, the Thunder have a surgeon in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who rightfully took home the league’s MVP award this year. He’s dynamic ball-handling, body control and change of pace inside-the-arc make him incredibly difficult to stay in front of, even though he doesn’t possess elite burst.
While Haliburton is a treat to watch, Gilgeous-Alexander is far and away the best in this series. Historically, the team with the best player wins the series. Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith and T.J. McConnell will do their best to make life difficult for the league’s soon-to-be 27-year-old superstar, but if they can’t stop him, then it’s going to be a long series for Indiana.
In Anthony Edwards‘ Words, They Have 15 Puppets On A String:
On the other end of the floor, Oklahoma City suffocates opponents. Whether it’s Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, SGA, Cason Wallace, Alex Caruso, Luguentz Dort, Aaron Wiggins, etc., the Thunder creates havoc as well as any team has in the modern era.
They will use it to their advantage, too. OKC has ranked atop the NBA in live-ball turnovers created and points-off-turnovers per possession by a considerable margin. They have possessions where they may help a little too much, but they’re incredibly smart at baiting offenses and making them uncomfortable in their own ecosystem. Indiana’s chaos presents a different challenge, but one I think OKC is up for over a seven-game series.
More Size And More Depth:
While OKC’s offense hasn’t been as efficient this postseason, it’s bigger, stronger and, frankly, deeper than its counterpart. OKC can size up and down, while Indiana’s only capable of sizing down. The battle of the benches will be important, and I think Oklahoma City’s bench is as good as anyone’s in the NBA when it’s clicking. They can go 9-10 deep without missing a beat, while I have more concerns about the back-end of Indiana’s rotation with Tony Bradley/Thomas Bryant and Ben Sheppard. If the Thunder overwhelm Indiana with their positional size and toughness on both ends, I think they win this series.
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