OKC Thunder Stick to Defensive Identity in Championship Finale

The 2024-25 NBA season concluded with the Oklahoma City Thunder winning its first championship in franchise history on Sunday night. The 103-91 Game 7 win over the Indiana Pacers contained Shai Gilgeous-Alexander making many correct playmaking decisions, Chet Holmgren blocking five shots, five players grabbing multiple offensive rebounds ... and four players tallying multiple steals.

In the regular season, Oklahoma City accumulated a franchise-record 68 wins, an NBA-record +1,055 point differential and an NBA-record 54 double-digit wins. No factor loomed larger than consistently stifling teams with relentless ball pressure and defensive playmaking. After all, opponents averaged 17.0 turnovers while putting up the worst field-goal percentage (43.6%) and 3-point percentage (34.2%) against any defense.

The Thunder's three-headed perimeter defense monster — current All-Defensive First Team guard Luguentz Dort, two-time All-Defensive member Alex Caruso and sophomore standout Cason Wallace — restricted stars from productive scoring nights and made most ball-handlers think twice or thrice about driving into traffic all season. Those three, along with All-Defensive Second Team forward Jalen Williams, each forced the Pacers into multiple live-ball turnovers during Game 7. Oklahoma City ended the night having racked up 32 points off 21 Indiana giveaways — 14 more than it committed.

Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard nailed a step-back 3-pointer entering halftime, putting his team up by a point despite a first-quarter Tyrese Haliburton right Achilles injury. They kept the game within a possession until Gilgeous-Alexander, Holmgren and Williams knocked down consecutive triples four minutes into the third quarter. That frame, which Oklahoma City won 34-20, saw the home team score 18 points after eight Indiana turnovers while recording none. Williams picked Bennedict Mathurin into a difficult euro-step layup and Wallace finished a transition layup right after an Isaiah Hartenstein steal for the Thunder's most organic two-way points.

The lion's share of the individual credit goes to Gilgeous-Alexander, who averaged 30.3 points on 44.3% shooting, 5.6 assists, 4.6 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 1.6 blocks in the Finals. He became the first player since 1999-2000 Shaquille O'Neal to win the regular-season scoring title (32.7 points per game), regular-season MVP and Finals MVP in the same season.

Still, the Thunder's special, historically great characteristic was its turnover differential. A lopsided Game 7 performance concluded a +131 difference over 23 playoff games, blowing away the 2018-19 champion Toronto Raptors (+77) for the largest ever. This two-way control was a valuable cushion when interior and outside shots would not fall, and it ensured the 17th Oklahoma City campaign ended up bearing basketball's greatest prize.