Under Maintenance
We deeply apologize for interrupting your reading but Vendetta is currently undergoing some important maintenance! You may experience some layout shifts, slow loading times and dififculties in navigating.
2025 NBA Finals Roundtable: Who’s the Pacers’ biggest X-Factor?
2025 NBA Finals Roundtable: Who’s the Pacers’ biggest X-Factor?
Today is the day! The 2025 NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers tip off Thursday evening! We will be doing a four-part roundtable about our X-Factors, series predictions and more!
We previewed the Thunder’s biggest X-Factor here! Now, we’re doing Indiana’s! We asked the team, and here are their responses:
Jiarmani Depena:
Pick: Bennedict Mathurin
The Pacers’ stars Siakam and Tyrese Haliburton are expected to play their best. For Indiana not to get steamrolled, they have to get production from the “other guys.” Bennedict Matherin is at the top of the list because of his unpredictability in these playoffs.
Chickster:
Pick: Obi Toppin
A little bit deeper in the rotation for this one, but Obi Toppin might be the biggest X-Factor for the Pacers, with the news that Jarace Walker will miss the first two games; those are valuable minutes that need to go elsewhere. While he can score in spurts, he will need to focus more energy on his defense with those extra minutes.
Anthony Miranda:
Pick: Tyrese Haliburton
There is no better stage in basketball than the NBA Finals for your best player to play their best basketball. That’s how teams win championships and players become legends. Also, he can not have those disappearing act games where he does not break ten points and I do not want to see him take less than ten shots a game in this series.
James Herrick:
Pick: Bennedict Mathurin
The Eastern Conference Finals was a rollercoaster for Mathurin. He saw vastly different levels of success throughout the series. At his peak, he was scoring the ball efficiently, but that was only the case for two of the six games. In the NBA Finals, wing depth will be crucial for the Pacers as they work to defend Gilgeous-Alexander. Aaron Nesmith likely finds himself in foul trouble at some point in this series. If Mathurin can come off the bench and provide a scoring spark in those moments he could help the Pacers win a close game or two.
Matt Hanifan:
Pick: Pascal Siakam
For similar reasons that I picked Jalen Williams, I’m going with Siakam. If he’s able to consistently create good offense against Oklahoma City’s bevy of wing defenders, Indiana has a much better chance of winning this series versus the inverse. I don’t like picking the second-best player for an X-Factor, but it’s that simple to me. Indiana has zero margin-for-error, especially if Siakam can’t consistently score and generate easy points for the Pacers offensively.
***
Click Here for more NBA Content
Subscribe to Vendetta’s Twitch
Subscribe to Vendetta’s YouTube
Check out the Vendetta Shop
Check out Vendetta Fantasy Contests
