The NBA’s biggest stage belongs to two teams that were never supposed to get here this fast. One built through patience, player development, and precision. The other surged through chaos, chemistry, and clutch genes.
It’s a Finals without a super team or a recent champion; a title series with no banners but endless belief.
It’s the methodical, merciless Oklahoma City Thunder against the fast, fearless Indiana Pacers. Tip-off is set on Friday (PH time), June 6 at 8:30 a.m.
Thunder’s Road to the NBA Finals
Oklahoma City steamrolled through the regular season, winning a franchise-record 68 games, clinching the No. 1 seed in the West and finishing with the NBA’s best record and point differential (+12.9).
After sweeping Memphis in the first round, the Thunder faced their first real test against three-time MVP Nikola Jokic and the veteran-laden Denver Nuggets.
The Western Conference semifinals went the distance, but Oklahoma City delivered in Game 7 with a commanding 32-point blowout to advance to its first West finals in nine years.
From there, the Thunder overwhelmed the No. 6 seed Minnesota Timberwolves in five games, capping the series with a 124-94 rout.
OKC is headed to its second NBA Finals since relocating in 2008. The franchise last reached the Finals in 2012, led by a young core of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden.
[ALSO READ: Oklahoma City Thunder enter NBA Finals with MVP SGA leading historic season]
Pacers’ Road to the NBA Finals
The Pacers didn’t just play spoiler — they dismantled elite teams.
Indiana earned its trip to the NBA Finals with a dominant playoff run, beating Giannis Antetokounmpo and the No. 5 seed Milwaukee Bucks in the first round, eliminating Donovan Mitchell and the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in the semifinals, and knocking off Jalen Brunson and long-time rivals New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference finals.
It’s an impressive run for a fourth-seeded team, especially considering the Pacers started the season 10-15.
From January 1 through the end of the regular season, Indiana was one of the league’s best — tallying the fourth-most wins and ranking in the top 10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency.
For the first time since 2000, the Pacers return to the NBA Finals in search of their first championship. Before joining the NBA in 1976, Indiana won three ABA titles in 1970, 1972 and 1973.
[ALSO READ: Indiana Pacers march to NBA Finals with purpose and confidence]
SGA vs. Haliburton: Duel of the Alphas
This year’s NBA Finals feature a rare and compelling clash between two of the league’s premier point guards — the reigning MVP in SGA and the dynamic, pass-first-and-score-some-and-when-needed in Haliburton.
Gilgeous-Alexander, the first point guard to win league's highest individual honor since Russell Westbrook in 2017, has evolved into one of the league’s most efficient and complete scorers.
[ALSO READ: Emotional SGA sends heartfelt message to wife, Thunder organization in MVP acceptance speech]
He led the league with 32.7 points per game on remarkable 52/38/90 shooting splits during the regular season. In the playoffs, he’s sustained his dominance with a 30-6-7 stat line en route to winning the West Finals MVP award.
Haliburton, meanwhile, brings a different kind of brilliance to Indiana’s fast-paced, run-and-gun attack.
The 25-year-old averaged 18.6 points and 9.2 assists in the regular season and has elevated his production in the playoffs. Through 16 postseason games, Haliburton is averaging 18.8 points, a playoff-best 9.8 assists, and 5.7 rebounds.
His signature performance came in Game 4 of the East Finals against New York, where he became the first player in NBA playoff history to record a 30-point, 15-assist, 10-rebound triple-double without a turnover — finishing with 32 points, 15 dimes, and 12 boards in a historic showing.
[ALSO READ: Tyrese Haliburton dedicates historic Indiana Pacers Game 4 performance to returning father]
Both stars have been vital to their teams’ deep playoff runs: Oklahoma City leans on Gilgeous-Alexander’s poise, shot creation, and ability to control tempo, especially in tight moments. Indiana feeds off Haliburton’s vision, unpredictability, and unselfishness — a style that energizes the entire roster.
Now, under the Finals spotlight, the stakes reach their peak. Two young stars. Two title-hungry franchises. One stage. The moment awaits.
A Song of Ice and Fire
Oklahoma City doesn’t just play defense — the team weaponizes it.
The Thunder boast the best defensive rating in the playoffs (104.7), force the most turnovers per game (18.0), and feature one of the stingiest defensive backcourts in recent memory.
Led by All-Defensive Team selections Lu Dort, Alex Caruso, and Cason Wallace — along with All-Star Jalen Williams — Oklahoma City has no shortage of elite perimeter stoppers.
And anchoring it all? A 7-foot rim protector in Chet Holmgren, who’s averaging 2.0 blocks per game in his first postseason run.
OKC’s defensive philosophy is a blend of chaos and cohesion — a relentless, swarming pressure that now meets Indiana’s high-octane offense.
The Pacers have been one of the most efficient scoring teams in the playoffs, averaging 117.4 points per game. They also lead the postseason in field goal percentage (49.7%), assists (28.1 per game), total threes made (219), and three-point shooting (40.1%).
Indiana’s a deep team, too. Six different players are averaging at least 10.4 points per game with no player norming more than 21.4 markers per outing.
That’s the beauty of this title series: a high-concept clash of styles that pits the league’s most dangerous offense against its most suffocating defense.
This is basketball at its highest contrast.
Rick Carlisle vs. Mark Daigneault: Experience tangles with Evolution
One’s a grizzled veteran. The other, a rising newcomer.
Carlisle was an assistant on Larry Bird’s staff the last time the Pacers reached the NBA Finals — 25 years ago.
Back then, Daigneault was still in high school, years away from starting his coaching journey as a student manager at UConn.
Carlisle brings a been-there, done-that résumé to this matchup. He owns a 993–960 regular-season record, ranking 11th all-time in coaching victories, and is an even 83–83 in the playoffs.
He’s one of just seven active coaches with an NBA title, having led the Dallas Mavericks to their lone championship in 2011 by virtu of knocking off the LeBron James-Dwayne Wade-Chris Bosh Big 3 era Miami Heat.
The 65-year-old tactician was named Coach of the Year in his first season as a head coach with the Pistons in 2002, and has finished in the top five for the award three other times across his 23-year head coaching career.
Daigneault, meanwhile, climbed the ladder from the college ranks — stops at Holy Cross and Florida — to OKC’s bench and eventually to the head coaching job, by way of the franchise’s G League team.
In just five seasons, he’s already left his mark — winning Coach of the Year in 2023–24 and finishing in the top five twice more. His 211–189 regular-season record might not stand out yet, but his playoff success does: at 18–8, he holds the second-best postseason winning percentage in NBA history.
It’s experience versus evolution — Carlisle’s seasoned playoff savvy against Daigneault’s sharp rise alongside one of the league’s youngest and most connected cores.
Both are fully embedded in their teams — physically, mentally, emotionally. And both know exactly how to press buttons the other might not even see.
Thunder vs. Pacers during regular season play
The Thunder swept the season series over the Pacers, 2-0, posting a combined winning margin of 27 points.
- Thunder def. Pacers, 120-114 (December 26, 2024)
After a slow start, Oklahoma City took control with three straight 30-point quarters to close out the game. Gilgeous-Alexander erupted for 45 points, while three other Thunder players scored in double figures as the Thunder held on for a tight win despite the Pacers’ late push.
- Thunder def. Pacers, 132-111 (March 29, 2025)
This one wasn’t as close. OKC blitzed Indiana with 73 points across the second and third quarters, turning the game into a rout as the Pacers struggled to match the pace — and the production — of the Thunder all-game long.
The NBA Finals will be aired on One Sports, NBA TV Philippines, RPTV, and the Pilipinas Live app.
