The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Indiana Pacers 103-91 on Sunday to clinch the franchise’s first NBA Finals crown with a 4-3 series victory.
NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points to seal an emphatic win against a Pacers side who lost their star guard Tyrese Haliburton to an injury in the first quarter.
The 2024-2025 Thunder team is now the second youngest to win a championship in NBA history.
The NBA championship was the first won by the Thunder since the franchise relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008. Their only other title came in 1979 when the team was the Seattle Supersonics.
Gilgeous-Alexander is now the first player in the history of the NBA to win the scoring title, MVP, Finals MVP, and multiple Game 7s all in the same season.
“It doesn’t feel real, so many hours, so many moments, so many emotions, so many nights of disbelief,” Gilgeous-Alexander said, his voice breaking “It’s crazy to know that we’re all here.
“But this group worked for it, this group put in the hours and we deserved this.”
SGA’s 3,172 points during the regular season and playoffs are the most since Michael Jordan.
He finished the finals averaging 30.3 points and 5.6 assists per game during the Finals en route to his much-deserved Finals MVP.
After the Thunder failed in their first chance to close out the series in game six, Gilgeous-Alexander admitted there was a measure of relief along with the jubilation.
“Feels amazing,” he said. “So much weight off my shoulders, so much stress relieved.
“Wouldn’t want to do it with any other group in the world,” he added. “Feels so good to be a champion.”
Jalen Williams finished with 20 points for the Thunder while Chet Holmgren posted 18 points with eight rebounds and five blocks, making him the youngest player since the legendary Tim Duncan to record at least 10 blocks in an NBA Finals series.
Indiana had taken the best-of-seven series to a decider with a battling victory in game six last Thursday, when Haliburton fought through a calf strain to inspire a 108-91 win.
That left the Pacers needing to reproduce a repeat of their game one win on the road at top seeds Oklahoma City to clinch their own maiden NBA title – and guard T.J. McConnell did all he could to keep his Pacers squad in the game after exploding during the third quarter.
But the scale of the task before the Pacers became even more daunting after Haliburton crumpled to the Paycom Center court in agony in the first quarter before limping out of the game.
The Pacers said Haliburton had suffered a “lower right leg injury”, although ESPN cited the player’s father as saying his son had suffered an Achilles injury.
“What happened with Tyrese, all of our hearts dropped,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said, adding that Haliburton was in the locker room at half-time “and he was very much a part of a group that believed that they could do this.”
Despite the Pacers battling bravely to lead 48-47 at half-time, the Thunder pulled away, outscoring Indiana 34-20 to open up a hefty 13-point lead heading into the final quarter.
The Thunder were in no mood to let that advantage slip and they led by as many as 22 points in the fourth quarter before holding on to win.
