Indiana Pacers open as significant underdogs to win NBA Finals
Updated: 6:32 PM EDT Jun 1, 2025
Cincinnati’s geographically closest NBA team overcame long odds to become Eastern Conference champions and advance to the NBA Finals.Now, they just have one more step to go to be crowned the basketball association’s top team.However, the odds are already greatly stacked against them, or at least, that’s what most professional oddsmakers seem to think.According to major sportsbooks ESPN Bet, DraftKings, and FanDuel, the Pacers are +500 underdogs as of Sunday to be crowned the NBA champions against the Western Conference Champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder. All three sportsbooks have identical odds for the matchup.This is an implied probability of 16.67%, or about a 1/6 chance.Odds to win the first game of the series on Thursday are ever so slightly more favorable to the Pacers, with +340 odds to win the first away game in Oklahoma City, according to ESPN Bet. This is an implied probability of about 23% to win.In the regular season, the Pacers had a 50-32 record, the fourth best in the Eastern Conference, and tied for the sixth-best record overall in the NBA.Ohio’s lone NBA team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, finished the regular season with the best record in the Eastern Conference at 64-18. However, they were quickly eliminated in dramatic fashion by the Pacers, only winning one of the five games they played in their series.The first game of the NBA finals is at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 5. The first team to win four games will be crowned NBA champions, and the series could potentially stretch as long as June 22 if the series extends to all seven games. The games will be broadcast on ABC.
INDIANAPOLIS —
Cincinnati’s geographically closest NBA team overcame long odds to become Eastern Conference champions and advance to the NBA Finals.
Now, they just have one more step to go to be crowned the basketball association’s top team.
However, the odds are already greatly stacked against them, or at least, that’s what most professional oddsmakers seem to think.
According to major sportsbooks ESPN Bet, DraftKings, and FanDuel, the Pacers are +500 underdogs as of Sunday to be crowned the NBA champions against the Western Conference Champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder. All three sportsbooks have identical odds for the matchup.
This is an implied probability of 16.67%, or about a 1/6 chance.
Odds to win the first game of the series on Thursday are ever so slightly more favorable to the Pacers, with +340 odds to win the first away game in Oklahoma City, according to ESPN Bet. This is an implied probability of about 23% to win.
In the regular season, the Pacers had a 50-32 record, the fourth best in the Eastern Conference, and tied for the sixth-best record overall in the NBA.
Ohio’s lone NBA team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, finished the regular season with the best record in the Eastern Conference at 64-18. However, they were quickly eliminated in dramatic fashion by the Pacers, only winning one of the five games they played in their series.
The first game of the NBA finals is at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 5. The first team to win four games will be crowned NBA champions, and the series could potentially stretch as long as June 22 if the series extends to all seven games. The games will be broadcast on ABC.