The NBA Finals: Indiana Pacers v. Oklahoma City Thunder

Truth in advertising, I am writing this “NBA Finals” piece BEFORE the final result—the ultimate game seven has to have been played (although check the ending for my “addendum” final game analysis).

Be that as it may, can I just say to start, what a wild ride it has been!  Has the final series been perfect basketball? Far from it. A masterpiece of classic hoops skill and strategy? Not exactly. What it has been, though, is wildly entertaining! Two teams that play with tremendous energy, teamwork, passion, and pure speed. A pleasure to watch both of them compete.

Our NBA Finals contestants? The Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder—two teams few thought at the beginning of the season were really championship-type contenders. But here they are…the last two still standing.

Neither city has EVER had an NBA championship, but one will soon. The whole state of Indiana has gone crazy for their Pacers, and Oklahoma City has been inundated with “OKC!” chants, signs, and slogans.

So far…(remember, I type this on the precipice of the final game), it has been like a roller coaster ride. One team is up, then the other, then the other again, and back and forth we go.

It looked as though, finally, OKC was taking control after winning game five, but the Pacers came back in front of their home crowd and absolutely blew out the Thunder in a non-competitive game six.

So off to a pressure-packed and ultimately deciding game seven they go.

Individually, the stars have come out to shine, no question—but it also has been the complementary players for each team, including the guys off the bench, that have been huge part of each team’s victories.

Shea Gilgeous Alexander, the league MVP this year, has been brilliant for Oklahoma City, as has his Robin (to SGA’s Batman), emerging star Jalen Williams. The supporting cast, including guys like Cason Wallace, Lu Dort, Adam Caruso, and Isiah Hartenstein have been a big part of their success.

For the Pacers, their star Tyrese Haliburton has been nothing short of outstanding, while Pascal Siakam is a scoring machine from all areas of the court. The Pacers, too, have been spurred on by some brilliant off-the-bench contributions from guys like TJ McConell, Benjamin Mathurin, and Obi “there's no stopping” Toppin.

Many complained before the series started that these are two “small market” teams that won’t draw much of a crowd to watch.  The big name franchises like the New York Knicks, The LA Lakers, and Boston Celtics (anyone notice our Chicago Bulls are sadly no longer on that list?) aren’t playing, so the finals may lose some of their popularity, some thought.

All I can say to that is, any NBA fans that took that approach? To not watch because certain marquee teams or stars were not playing? Your loss.

With game seven still to come, I can safely say it has been a wonderful basketball series to watch!

Addendum — Final game analysis: And the winner is…

You always hope in a championship game that both teams play at full strength, and then let the best team win. As an avid sports fan, you don’t want an injury or a bad official's call to decide a big game.

Unfortunately, that was not the case in the big deciding game seven. Indiana’s star guard and leader, Tyrese Haliburton, went down in the first quarter with a serious Achilles tear injury. This was after he hit three big three-pointers!  Who knows what kind of game he could have produced?

Oklahoma City went on to win the game, somewhat going away at the end, but the loss of Haliburton really hurt the Pacers in the second half.

Credit, though, to an incredible defensive effort by the Thunder, who really turned it up a notch or two in that category in the second half.

So, congrats to OKC! The first-ever championship for Oklahoma City. They were the best team in the regular season—an amazing 68 wins, and through a tough month-long playoff run? They proved to be the best team there as well.

OH, and watch out. They are very young. They will be back!