Jalen Williams Reveals How Thunder and Pacers are Similar

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By JH Kubicek | Last updated Jun 2, 2025 4:16 PM ET

The Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers will meet in the NBA Finals. Both teams play fast, have deep benches, star point guards, and solid defenses, although the similarities go deeper than just on the court.

Over the offseason, the only major moves the Thunder made were to bring in Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso. The only major contributor they lost over the summer was Josh Giddey.

On the other side of the matchup, the Pacers made no major moves last summer. Both teams focused solely on internal improvement, and it clearly paid off.

Both teams have passionate fan bases, young rosters, and similar construction, and Jalen Williams couldn't help but see the similarities between the two.

"I think teams that get along well and actually have like a real chemistry is starting to show a little more," he outlined. "You know, you're starting to get into the NBA, just naturally getting younger. And I think we're kind of like in that transition now. So I think it's cool that you have two like small-market teams playing on this big stage."

The Pacers are the ninth-smallest market in the NBA, and the Thunder play in the third-smallest.

"They are pretty close to us in regards to like how close they are as a team," Williams continued. "Obviously, I'm not in their locker room, so I don't know. But outside looking in, they look like they have a lot of fun playing with each other, and their crowd is really into it, like their city loves them. So that's kind of like around the same thing as us."

The Thunder have come under fire for being "corny" this season for their massive on-court interviews, and the Pacers carry themselves with a similar team-first energy. While it's not Los Angeles, New York, or Boston, the on-court product will be as pure as the NBA can get.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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