{"id":125344,"date":"2025-06-26T04:54:09","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T04:54:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/125344\/"},"modified":"2025-06-26T04:54:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T04:54:09","slug":"how-sga-thunder-won-their-first-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/125344\/","title":{"rendered":"How SGA, Thunder won their first title"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> made history Sunday, winning the city\u2019s first NBA championship with a 103-91 victory<\/a> over the Indiana Pacers<\/a> in Game 7 of the NBA Finals at Paycom Center.<\/p>\n

The Thunder<\/a> did it largely the way it did plenty of its other wins this season \u2014\u00a0with a smothering defense, big moments from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren and a dominant third quarter.<\/p>\n

There were plenty of numbers to dissect after OKC\u2019s latest victory, both with Sunday\u2019s game itself and the Thunder\u2019s overall run.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a look at quite a few of those numbers:<\/p>\n

Pre-order new book on Thunder’s run to NBA Finals<\/a><\/p>\n

CARLSON: OKC Thunder finally reaches summit of mountain with NBA championship over Pacers<\/a><\/p>\n

OKC Big Three shows out<\/p>\n

5: Blocks for Chet Holmgren, setting a record for Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Holmgren finished with 11 blocks in the Finals and 43 in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

53: Plus\/minus rating swing from Game 6 to Game 7 for Jalen Williams. After posting a minus-40 rating in Thursday\u2019s game, Williams was a game-best plus-13 in the decisive Game 7.<\/p>\n

12: Assists for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a playoff career high. SGA had 10 assists twice in these playoffs, including in Game 5 of the Finals.<\/p>\n

377: Combined points in the NBA Finals for SGA and Williams, the second-most for a duo in the last 50 years. The only tandem who scored more was LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, who scored 398 in 2016.<\/p>\n

MUSSATTO: Thunder’s 17th chapter is best one yet as OKC beats Pacers for first NBA title<\/a><\/p>\n

Thunder\u2019s defensive pressure wins out \u2026.<\/p>\n

32: Points for OKC off 23 Pacers\u2019 turnovers. Lu Dort, Alex Caruso and Cason Wallace each had three steals.<\/p>\n

22.7: The Thunder\u2019s average points off turnovers in the playoffs, five more than the second-best team in the category in the postseason, the Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a>. Indiana averaged 17.3 points off turnovers in the postseason.<\/p>\n

5 TAKEAWAYS: OKC Thunder secures first NBA championship with Game 7 win over Indiana<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2026 Especially in the third quarter<\/p>\n

18: Points off eight Indiana turnovers in the third quarter for the Thunder. Six of those came on the second and third OKC possessions during a critical 9-0 run early in the third that put the Thunder ahead for good.<\/p>\n

12: Points for Indiana\u2019s T.J. McConnell in the third.<\/p>\n

3: Turnovers for McConnell in the quarter. The first came on a Williams steal that led to a Holmgren 3-pointer for the second bucket during that 9- 0 run, then the second came on Lu Dort\u2019s steal that led to a corner 3-pointer from Williams resulting from a spinning pass from SGA with 7:16 remaining in the quarter.<\/p>\n

20: Shooting percentage for Pacers other than McConnell in the third. While McConnell was 6 of 7 from the floor, the rest of the team was 2 of 10 and attempted just four shots inside the arc.<\/p>\n

0: Turnovers for the Thunder in the third quarter.<\/p>\n

More: OKC Thunder championship parade route, date announced after NBA Finals win: How to attend<\/a><\/p>\n

Thunder makes history<\/p>\n

1: Team in NBA history to win a title after dropping a playoff game by 40 or more points. The Thunder lost Game 3 of the Western Conference finals to Minnesota, 143-101, before bouncing back to win the last two games of the series to advance to the NBA Finals.<\/p>\n

16: Wins for home teams in 20 NBA Finals Game 7s.<\/p>\n

5: Consecutive NBA Finals Game 7s where the winner scored 100 or fewer points before Sunday\u2019s victory.<\/p>\n

84: Wins for the Thunder, 68 in the regular season and 16 in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

4: Teams in NBA history to reach that mark.<\/p>\n

More: Celebrate Thunder’s first NBA title with commemorative page prints, books, gear, keepsakes<\/a><\/p>\n

Ryan Aber<\/a>\u00a0covers OU athletics for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Ryan? He can be reached at\u00a0raber@oklahoman.com<\/a>\u00a0or on Twitter at\u00a0@RyAber<\/a>. Sign up for\u00a0the OU Sooners newsletter<\/a>\u00a0to access more OU coverage. Support Ryan\u2019s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing\u00a0a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n