The Indiana Pacers advanced to the NBA Finals on Saturday to meet up with their Western Conference counterpart, the Oklahoma City Thunder. Rare is it that small market teams make as big of success to end up in the finals, but there were some indicating factors.
Both teams got healthier as the year went along to be rather healthy as these playoffs have transpired. The Thunder were likely to come out of the West. Despite the level of play in their conference, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been a beast as a scorer all season and led a team to tied for a top-5 regular season team record with 68-14.
The Pacers are a bit of a different story. They finished with a record of 20-9 after the All-Star break, scraping by with 50 wins. They’ve had to defeat five All-NBA players (Giannis, Mitchell, Mobley, Brunson, Towns) to get to the finals.
Tyrese Halliburton has elevated his game as both a clutch performer and an elite offensive player. The Knicks matched up poorly against the Pacers, with Haliburton likely becoming just another demon in the head of New York Knicks fans. Game one will live on in infamy as a dagger for this current Brunson-led Knicks team. The Pacers haven’t seen a game 7, knocking out Cleveland and The Bucks both in 5 games.
The Thunder have seen a game 7, though against Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets. Under the brightest lights, the Thunder have performed exceptionally well. Both of these younger teams have around the same amount of playoff experience and comfortability with each other as a roster.
This will result in one of the better finals we may have in years. Close games and clutch moments like we’ve seen between these teams all playoffs may be what defines this finals. The MVP versus a scrappy point guard in Indiana voted “The Most Overrated Player in the NBA” by his own peers.
Both teams should be able to take at least tw0 games off of each other, but The Thunder come out on top. They’ve dominated their way through the regular season and into the finals. The MVP resides with them, as well as two All-Star level players with the capacity to take over games on both sides of the floor. It just so happens to help that they have the best depth in the league.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this series went to 6 games in favor of the Thunder. The Pacers speed-of-play is difficult to adjust to. But Oklahoma City can make those mid-game adjustments. It would be near monumental if Indiana won this matchup.