2025 NBA Finals preview: Pacers vs. Thunder

The 2025 NBA Finals is set to premiere on Thursday, June 5, at 8:30 PM EST. The Indiana Pacers face off against the team with the best record in the NBA, the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Which team has the edge? We’ll take a deep dive into the matchup to try to learn this answer, as we preview the 2025 NBA Finals.

Indiana Pacers Finals preview

The Indiana Pacers have been a team on the rise over the past few seasons. The direction of their franchise all changed when they made the trade for Tyrese Haliburton during the 2021-22 season.

Indiana shocked everyone by reaching the NBA Cup’s inaugural championship game. They lost to the LeBron James-led Los Angeles Lakers 123–109, but their play caught the eye of many.

The Pacers went on to win 47 games that season, reaching the postseason as the sixth seed. In the playoffs, Indiana continued to shock everyone by reaching the Eastern Conference Finals.

Indiana would ultimately be swept by the eventual NBA champion Boston Celtics. There was high hope, however, as Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton would get injured in the series, giving fans the belief that things may have been different if he had been healthy.

This season, the Pacers continued to improve, winning 50 games as they clinched the fourth seed. In the postseason, Indiana’s run has been legendary.

From clutch baskets to epic player performances, the Pacers have quickly become the most entertaining team to watch. Most people didn’t believe the Pacers could beat the 64-win Cleveland Cavaliers, but they easily dismantled Cleveland for a 4-1 series victory.

The same doubt for the Pacers arose against the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals. Indiana once again proved the doubters wrong by defeating the Knicks in six games, reaching the franchise’s first NBA Finals in 25 years.

Oklahoma City Thunder Finals preview

The Oklahoma City Thunder were by far the best team all season long. They won 68 games while boasting a league-best 107.5 defensive rating. Now, they have reached their first Finals since 2012, but the process started six years ago.

OKC’s luck all changed when they traded Paul George for a young Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the summer of 2019. SGA joined newly acquired Chris Paul, and despite early struggles, the team made the postseason during the COVID shutdown season.

After falling to the Houston Rockets 4-3 in the first round, OKC failed to reach the postseason in the next three seasons, but Gilgeous-Alexander continued to improve his game. In the 2023-24 season, the Thunder finished with 57 wins and earned the number one seed in the West.

The Thunder would shockingly be defeated in six games by the Luka Doncic-led Dallas Mavericks in the semifinal round. This burned a hunger into the Thunder and SGA, which led to their incredible 2024-25 season and Gilgeous-Alexander’s MVP victory.

Pacers vs. Thunder: head-to-head

Indiana and OKC met twice during the regular, and the Thunder took both games. The first game was on December 26, 2024, in Indiana.

OKC won 120-114, as Gilgeous-Alexander scored 45 points on 15-22 shooting. The second game, which was played in Oklahoma City, saw the Thunder win 132-111, with SGA scoring 33 points.

All that doesn’t matter now. The 2025 NBA Finals starts out at 0-0, so it’s anyone’s chance to win.

We don’t know for certain who will win, but we do know this: it will either be the Pacers’ first NBA championship or the Thunder’s franchise’s first title since moving to Oklahoma City.