Dec 26, 2024; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) looks to pass the ball while Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams (8) defends in the second half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

NBA Legend, Ex-Bulls Player Reacts to Thunder-Pacers Finals

Originally posted on Chicago Bulls on SI
By Austin Veazey | Last updated Jun 5, 2025 2:11 PM ET

The 2025 NBA Finals will tip off on Thursday night between the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder. It's a fascinating matchup between the most dominant team all year, the Thunder, and a team that has been surging since January, the Pacers.

Many people expect OKC to make quick work of the Pacers because of how great they've been all year, and they're heavy favorites on most betting sites because of that. But could it be closer than people think?

Former Chicago Bull and 13-time All-Star Dwyane Wade gave his series preview on a new episode of "The Timeout" on the Wy Network.

"The Thunder is really good," Wade said."Just even watching the game the other night, and SGA went to the sideline, and they took the lead up. They went from 15 to 30. This is one of the most complete teams that I've seen in a long time. Very complete."

However, Wade was very complimentary of the Pacers and especially head coach Rick Carlisle, who he went against in the 2011 NBA Finals.

"The one thing I've realized with the Pacers throughout this entire playoffs series is that they have felt like they're the better team in the East series so far. You can see it, the swagger, when they played Cleveland, you can see that they thought they were better than them... A lot of that is built from that sidelines from your leaders. When you look at Rick Carlisle, that's what you see, you see a confident coach over there who seems in control most of the time."

Everyone seems to agree that the Thunder will win the series, but that Indiana has enough experience between Pascal Siakam and Coach Carlisle to make it a series.

This article first appeared on Chicago Bulls on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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