13 Rules: Random NBA Thoughts – Game 7!

Make sure to listen and add the 13 Rules: NBA Random Thoughts podcast to your list! This week Steve shares his thoughts on the NBA Finals on the eve of Game 7 in the 2024-25 NBA Playoffs.

13 Rules: Game 7

• I have to admire the Indiana Pacers—they just won’t quit. A team without a true superstar, although Pascal Siakam and Tyrese Haliburton are pretty good, they keep getting contributions from non-star players to help them win. The Pacers need one more good game from the non-stars to pull this one off. Again, reminding you, a star does it every night, and the Pacers don’t have any of them. My question is: what happens if none of the stars step up? Pascal Siakam and Tyrese Haliburton need to take over.
• The pressure is on Oklahoma City tomorrow night. No matter what happens, the Pacers will have acquitted themselves well and will be remembered for putting up a tough fight. It could have been over in five games if not for Haliburton’s shot in Game 1. No one came to know it, but OKC is the best team. However, being better on paper means nothing. When you lose a finals series where you come in as a big favorite, people never forget it.
• I’m thinking OKC in a close game. However, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he hadn’t pulled it off. The Pacers have only been favored in one series this playoff season. I know they came out of the Eastern Conference, but they played well in the second half of the season, having one of the top records in the conference. What we may not be realizing is they got to this point not because of luck but because they are good.
• One of the problems with the NBA Finals is the teams play most games every three days. After the other three rounds of the playoffs, gameplay is pretty much every other day. Not only do we have small market teams playing the Finals, but playing every third day makes it difficult for the casual fan to maintain interest in.

13 Rules: Random Thoughts

• The Desmond Bane trade was interesting for both teams’ perspectives. For the Memphis Grizzlies, it said that their team as constituted was not good enough to get in the upper echelon of the division. Feeling this way, ownership didn’t want to pay the tax it would have had to if they kept Bane. They are paying Ja Morant big money and probably will be paying Jaren Jackson Jr. big money on his next contract, which begins in the 2026–27 season.
• For the Orlando Magic, they see a wide open Western Conference and to be an upper echelon team they need much better three-point shooting. Desmond Bane is that person, as he is a top 30 player in the league and will complement Jalen Suggs, Paolo Banchero, and Franz Wagner.
• The Lakers sale is stunning. New ownership will be able to improve their infrastructure in areas like scouting and the analytics departments. Though it is one of the best franchises in the league, they have been run by a family whose only business was the Lakers. This made them a mom-and-pop store in the corporate NBA. I know the ownership wants to win, as they have done only Dodgers, however, with the dreaded second-apron rules, it makes it difficult to win over a long period of time.
• If you want to read something interesting, Google “Tyler Herro on history before 1950.”