The Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder’s journey to the 2025 NBA championship started with heartbreak 13 years earlier. In 2012, a younger Thunder workforce that includes Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden reached the NBA Finals, solely to fall to the star-studded Miami Warmth. The Thunder by no means returned to the Finals regardless of their trio of future Corridor of Famers.
By 2019, these stars had scattered to different groups, forcing the Thunder into an entire rebuild. Basic supervisor Sam Presti, the identical architect who had drafted Durant, Westbrook, and Harden starting from the workforce’s Seattle SuperSonics days, orchestrated one other masterful reconstruction. He traded away established stars for prospects like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (SGA) from the LA Clippers and amassed a treasure trove of draft picks.
The technique paid off spectacularly. Over six years, the Thunder reworked from league bottom-feeders into championship contenders, with SGA blossoming into the league’s Most Useful Participant and a supporting solid of unheralded gamers creating into stars.
Constructing a juggernaut
The Thunder’s 68-win common season in 2024–25 established them as overwhelming championship favourites. Nonetheless, this success got here after studying from earlier failures. The workforce had completed first within the league the earlier season, solely to lose to the eventual finalist Dallas Mavericks within the Western Convention playoffs.
These playoff defeats grew to become stepping stones to success. Presti addressed the workforce’s weaknesses by including veteran centre Isaiah Hartenstein and defensive specialist Alex Caruso earlier than the 2025 season. These additions complemented the Thunder’s present core of SGA, All-Star Jalen Williams, and defensive anchor Chet Holmgren.
The workforce’s id centred on suffocating defence. Its scheme featured aggressive trapping, hedging, and paint-packing that generated steals and transition alternatives. On offence, SGA’s masterful playmaking anchored a gradual assault that maximised the workforce’s deep roster.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander capped off a season for the ages, including the NBA Finals MVP to his common season MVP and scoring title — turning into simply the fourth participant, and the primary since Shaquille O’Neal, to finish the elusive treble in a single marketing campaign.
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AP
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander capped off a season for the ages, including the NBA Finals MVP to his common season MVP and scoring title — turning into simply the fourth participant, and the primary since Shaquille O’Neal, to finish the elusive treble in a single marketing campaign.
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AP
Highway to glory
The Thunder’s playoff journey examined their championship mettle. They dispatched the Memphis Grizzlies simply within the first spherical, however the Denver Nuggets introduced a formidable problem. Led by former MVP Nikola Jokic, SGA’s fiercest rival for league honours, Denver pushed the Thunder to a gruelling seven-game collection earlier than falling to the upstarts.
The Minnesota Timberwolves supplied much less resistance within the Western Convention Finals, organising what gave the impression to be a beneficial Finals match-up towards the Indiana Pacers.
Unlikely opposition
Whereas the Thunder entered as heavy favourites, the Pacers had crafted their very own compelling story. This unheralded group completed fourth within the Japanese Convention with 50 wins, 18 fewer than the Thunder, however its playoff run was equally spectacular.
Led by All-Star level guard Tyrese Haliburton and veteran ahead Pascal Siakam, the Pacers upset higher-seeded opponents by way of superior execution and clutch performances. They swept the injury-depleted Milwaukee Bucks earlier than stunning the conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers, which had compiled a 64–18 common season report. The Pacers outshot the Cavaliers in their very own sport, displaying higher composure in essential moments.
Their Japanese Convention Finals victory over the New York Knicks was pushed by stellar performances from Haliburton and Siakam, organising a David-versus-Goliath Finals match-up.
The Pacers’ roster featured many gamers discarded by different contenders, together with Aaron Nesmith, TJ McConnell, and Obi Toppin. Their best asset was head coach Rick Carlisle, whose championship expertise and tactical adaptability gave them hope towards superior expertise.
Finals for the ages
The Finals defied expectations from the opening tip. Sport 1 noticed the Thunder management a lot of the motion earlier than the Pacers mounted a resilient comeback, culminating in a Haliburton buzzer-beater that shocked Oklahoma Metropolis.
The Thunder’s superior expertise shone by way of in Sport 2, night the collection at dwelling. Nonetheless, the Pacers’ method continued working in Sport 3 in Indianapolis. Whereas Haliburton and Siakam delivered constant excellence, function gamers like Ben Mathurin, Toppin, and McConnell rose to the event on each ends of the ground.
SGA remained regular and efficient all through, however Jalen Williams’ inconsistent performances grew to become the Thunder’s greatest variable. Sport 4 marked the Thunder’s turning level. Trailing by 10 factors within the fourth quarter, they mounted an epic comeback powered by SGA’s clutch brilliance to even the collection at 2–2.
With momentum shifting, the Thunder appeared poised to shut out the collection in Sport 6 after easing to a win at dwelling in Sport 5, withstanding a livid Pacers fourth-quarter rally. However the Pacers had different plans.
Dramatic conclusion
Enjoying with the identical defensive depth that outlined the Thunder, the Pacers dominated Sport 6 in Indianapolis, forcing a winner-take-all Sport 7. The huge expertise hole between the groups appeared irrelevant because the collection returned to Oklahoma Metropolis.
Nonetheless, the Pacers confronted an important concern. Haliburton had battled by way of a calf pressure to play in Sport 6, managing restricted minutes solely due to his workforce’s dominant efficiency. The harm raised ominous questions on his availability for the decisive sport.
Indiana Pacers famous person Tyrese Haliburton might miss all the 2025-26 NBA season after having surgical procedure on a torn proper Achilles tendon.
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AP
Indiana Pacers famous person Tyrese Haliburton might miss all the 2025-26 NBA season after having surgical procedure on a torn proper Achilles tendon.
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AP
Sport 7 remained aggressive by way of the primary half, however catastrophe struck the Pacers when Haliburton suffered a devastating Achilles tear and needed to depart the sport. The harm, which usually sidelines NBA gamers for a minimum of a full season, was notably merciless provided that calf strains typically precede Achilles issues.
Enjoying Haliburton with the harm had been a calculated danger with little different. His elite playmaking capacity, three-point taking pictures, and fearless clutch play had been the catalyst for the Pacers exceeding expectations all season. With out him, that they had no lifelike probability in Sport 7.
Guards Andrew Nembhard and McConnell tried valiantly to fill the void, however changing Haliburton’s manufacturing proved unattainable. The Thunder’s defence regained its dominant type within the third quarter, constructing a lead that exceeded 20 factors by the interval’s finish. Regardless of a spirited fourth-quarter effort, the Pacers couldn’t overcome the large deficit.
The Thunder emerged as deserved champions, although fortune performed a task of their victory. Whether or not Haliburton might have led the Pacers to an upset will without end stay one in every of basketball’s nice what-ifs, however the Thunder’s championship was earned by way of years of affected person constructing and distinctive execution.
Dynasty within the making
This championship seems to be only the start for the Thunder. Their younger core stays of their prime, whereas Presti’s shrewd useful resource administration and Mark Daigneault’s efficient teaching present a basis for sustained success.
Presti deserves explicit credit score for seamlessly transitioning from one championship-calibre core to a different. The identical govt who drafted Durant, Westbrook, and Harden has now constructed round SGA, Williams, Holmgren, and their supporting solid.
After 13 years of ready, the Thunder have returned to the apex. With their mixture of expertise, depth, and organisational excellence, count on them to stay a championship menace for years to return.