The Oklahoma City Thunder are NBA champions.
Oklahoma City capped a thrilling NBA Finals Sunday night with a dominant second half in Game 7 to secure a 103-91 win over the Indiana Pacers and the franchise’s first NBA title since it moved from Seattle to Oklahoma City in 2008.
Advertisement
A Pacers team that rallied for multiple unlikely wins throughout the playoffs kept the pressure on in the fourth quarter after digging a 22-point hole. But without injured star Tyrese Haliburton, they couldn’t complete the comeback.
The win caps a brilliant season in which the Thunder posted a league-best 68 wins and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was named league MVP for the first time. Gilgeous-Alexander powered the Thunder effort Sunday night to put away a Pacers team that pushed them to the brink.
Gilgeous-Alexander was Oklahoma City’s only reliable source of offense in a 16-point first half as his teammates struggled to produce against an aggressive Pacers defense that carried Indiana to a one-point halftime lead.
He continued to pace the Thunder after halftime as they seized control of the game and finished Game 7 with 29 points, 12 assists, five rebounds, two blocks and one steal. It marked a fitting end to one of the great individual seasons in NBA history.
“It doesn’t feel real,” Gilgeous-Alexander told ESPN after the game. “So many hours. So many moments. So many emotions. So many nights of disbelief. So many nights of belief.
“It’s crazy to know that we’re all here. This group worked for it. This group put in the hours. And we deserve this.”
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has capped his MVP season with an NBA championship. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
(Matthew Stockman via Getty Images)
The game was marred by a serious Haliburton injury in the first quarter. Haliburton hit three quick 3s in the first quarter before falling to the floor with what the team described as a lower-leg injury. His father later confirmed to ESPN that the injury was to Haliburton’s Achilles tendon.
Advertisement
The Pacers didn’t wilt in the aftermath of the injury and continued to push the Thunder through the first half en route to a 48-47 halftime lead. But a Pacers team playing without its star didn’t have enough in the tank to compete after the break.
The swarming defense that has become Oklahoma City’s trademark took over after halftime as the Thunder repeatedly turned Pacers turnovers into transition points.
And after a 4-for-18 first half from 3, Oklahoma City found its stroke from long distance.
The result was a 34-20 OKC edge in the third quarter that turned Indiana’s one-point halftime lead into an 81-68 Pacers deficit. The largest lead of the game at the time set up the fourth quarter as a coronation for the Thunder in front of a raucous home crowd.
Advertisement
The Thunder delivered with an 9-0 run to start the fourth that added up to a knockout blow to an otherwise sensational Pacers season that ends in the heartbreak of a Game 7 loss and a potentially devastating injury to their star player that will cast a pall of the 2025-26 season.
Haliburton injury too much for Pacers to overcome
The Pacers got this far as the No. 4 seed in the East thanks to a remarkable playoff run that featured repeated remarkable comebacks from double-digit deficits. Those rallies were capped by Haliburton shots to win or force overtime in a win in each round of the playoffs, including Game 1 against Oklahoma City.
Haliburton got off to a hot start Sunday with nine first quarter points while continuing to play on a strained calf that he suffered in Game 5. But devastation struck late in the first quarter.
Advertisement
Haliburton fell to the floor after re-injuring the same leg that previously sustained the calf strain. He was in immediate and obvious pain, prompting his teammates to surround him on the court.
He needed help of the floor with the aid of a trainer and teammate. He couldn’t put weight on his injured right leg as he was helped to the tunnel with a towel over his face.
Before halftime, his father, John Haliburton confirmed the fear to ESPN’s Lisa Salters that Haliburton had sustained an Achilles tendon injury. The precise nature of the injury wasn’t made clear, but a ruptured Achilles tendon could sideline Haliburton for a significant part if not all of the 2025-26 season.
Advertisement
His night in the biggest game of the NBA season and the biggest game of his career was clearly done. And without his services in the second half, the Pacers were overwhelmed after halftime.
The Pacers continued to fight after trailing by as many as 22 points at 90-68 in the fourth quarter and cut the OKC lead to 10 points. But without Haliburton, they didn’t have the firepower to complete the rally that they have so many times before this postseason.
The Thunder held on to celebrate the first major professional championship in Oklahoma City history in front of their home crowd.
This story will be updated.