Thunder knock off Knicks, will battle Thunder for NBA Finals crown
USA TODAY Sports’ Lorenzo Reyes breaks down how the Indiana Pacers fought their way into the NBA Finals.
Sports Pulse
The series to determine who will lift the Larry O’Brien trophy is almost here with Game 1 of the 2025 NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers taking place on Thursday night in Oklahoma City.
The Thunder were the league’s best team in the regular season, posting a 68-14 record and have won 11 of 15 games this postseason en route to their first NBA Finals appearance in 13 years when they last had the young core headlined by former MVPs Kevin Durant, James Harden and Russell Westbrook.
Now, Oklahoma’s City led by point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, appearing in his first NBA Finals and coming off being named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player on May 22.
In their way are the Pacers, who have reached the pinnacle of the sport for the first time in a quarter-century.
Despite being viewed as the underdog for a majority of this postseason, Indiana’s answered the call, which included the dispatching of the No. 1 seed Cleveland Cavaliers in five games and followed most recently by beating the New York Knicks in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals.
So who will win it all? Which team is favored to win the NBA Finals and the player that’s currently the odds-on-favorite to win Finals MVP?
Here are the betting odds, our analysis and prediction on who will win the NBA championship and Finals MVP between the Thunder and Pacers:
2025 NBA Finals: What are the odds for the series heading into Game 1?
Odds courtesy of BetMGM as of Tuesday, June 3:
Thunder: -700 (Bet $700 to win $100)
Pacers: 5/1 (+500)
Following the Pacers’ 125-108 series clinching victory over the Knicks, the betting odds didn’t take long to come out. To no one’s surprise, the Thunder are the overwhelming favorites to win their first title in Oklahoma City.
In fact, at -700, the Thunder are the 11th team at -600 or higher in the NBA Finals over the last 50 years. In the previous instances, the franchise that’s been the massive favorite is a near perfect 10-1 in the Finals, with the lone exception being when the Detroit Pistons upset the Los Angeles Lakers in 2004, which denied Los Angeles the opportunity of winning a fourth championship in five years.
Furthermore, at -700 to win the championship, Oklahoma City is the seventh largest NBA Finals favorite in the last 40 years, only behind the 2001 Lakers (-2000), 2018 Warriors (-1075), 1996 Bulls (-950), 1999 Spurs (-900), 2000 Lakers (-800) and 2002 Lakers (-750).
What are the betting favorites for 2025 NBA Finals MVP?
Odds courtesy of BetMGM as of Tuesday, June 3:
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder): -625
Tyrese Haliburton (Pacers): 7/1 (+700)
Pascal Siakam (Pacers): 16/1 (+1600)
Jalen Williams (Thunder): 30/1 (+3000)
Chet Holmgren (Thunder): 80/1 (+8000)
Myles Turner (Pacers): 250/1 (+25000)
Andrew Nembhard (Pacers): 350/1 (+35000)
Alex Caruso (Thunder) and Aaron Nesmith (Pacers): 500/1 (+50000)
Coming off of being named MVP of the league, it shouldn’t be a shock that Gilgeous-Alexander, who also took home Western Conference Finals MVP after beating the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games. SGA has been the main catalyst for OKC, leading the team with 29.8 points per game this postseason to go along with 5.7 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 6.9 assists per game, a team-high entering the NBA Finals.
If the Pacers are to pull off a historic upset, it’d likely have to be that Pacers’ do-it-all star Tyrese Haliburton is able to transform his game to another level and outduel SGA, needing a similar type of historic performance he had in Game 4 against the Knicks.
Thunder vs Pacers: Who will win the title, Finals MVP?
Given their run as underdogs going up 2-0 in each of their first three series, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Pacers are able to steal Game 1 or Game 2 in OKC if Haliburton does indeed take his game to another level. However, there were too many times that the Pacers’ star point guard was inconsistent in the Knicks series, especially in Games 2 and 5.
If the Pacers have any hopes of winning their first championship in franchise history, Haliburton can’t have any of those repeat performances.
When it’s all said and done, the Thunder are clearly the better, deeper team with the best player by a longshot in this series in SGA.
The Pacers will be able to come away with one win, but that’s all they’ll get as the Thunder win their second title, defeating Indiana comfortably in five games to start what could be the next dynasty in the NBA given the young talent they have on their roster for years to come.
Prediction: Thunder (-700) defeat Pacers in five games (+200), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wins Finals MVP (-625)