The sportsbooks get it right, with a big help from Haliburton's achilles
It could have been so different. Nine points in seven minutes for Indiana's Haliburton, then injury forced him off court, and was pretty much the end of that. The fans didn't get to see the much vaunted Game 7 showdown between SGA and Tyrese, those who backed Indiana were left wondering what-if, and OKC win their second Championship.
The pre Game 7 odds for winning the 2024/25 NBA Championships looked like this:
OKC: best odds 1.3 (out from 1.07)
Indiana: best odds 3.75 (in from 11.00)
THUNDER 103, PACERS 91
Betting Results:
Head to Head: Thunder, odds 1.384
Line: Thunder (-6.5), odds 1.909
Total Points: Under (215.5) odds 1.923
Pre-game Prediction
Pacers, 25.7%
Thunder, 74.3%
Thunder win the Championships final series 4-3
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma City Thunder won their first NBA title with a heavy dose of an old standby –- their stingy defense.
The Thunder, who led the league in defensive rating in the regular season and the playoffs, turned in another gem in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, a 103-91 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Sunday night . Oklahoma City held the Pacers to 41.4% shooting in the deciding game, far below the 48.4% Indiana shot in the playoffs overall. The Thunder forced 21 turnovers and blocked eight shots.
“You have to really grind it out,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “It’s an endurance race. You have to be able to win in the mud. You have to be able to win ugly, have to be able to gut it out. That’s what we did. The team did an unbelievable job of that.”
The defensive effort, combined with another strong offensive performance by Finals MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, put Oklahoma City over the top. The Thunder became the youngest NBA champions since the 1976-77 Portland Trail Blazers, with an average age of 25.68 years.
“It’s one of the biggest moments in city history,” Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt said. “We’ve achieved sports immortality, and that will open doors in our community far beyond basketball for years, decades to come. It’s a very, very special day we can build upon forever.”
Chet Holmgren led the way with five blocks, the most by a player in an NBA Finals Game 7 since blocks were first recorded in the 1973-74 season.
“Honestly, I never really play for records,” the 7-foot-1 forward said. “I never play for stats. All that will be forgotten. But us winning is forever. It’s immortal. I’m just so happy we were able to do that together as a team.”
Thunder guards Lu Dort, Alex Caruso and Cason Wallace each had three steals.
Indiana played most of the game without guard Tyrese Haliburton, who suffered a lower right leg injury in the first quarter . Bennedict Mathurin did his best to help the Pacers stay in the game with 24 points and 13 rebounds.
Another spectacular effort by veteran TJ McConnell prevented Oklahoma City’s swarming defense from being even more dominant. McConnell scored 16 points on 8-for-13 shooting, confounding Thunder defenders with crafty moves around the basket.
But he also had seven turnovers.
“Their pressure can really get to you, but I was just trying to be aggressive and had some uncharacteristic turnovers, but that happens,” McConnell said. “Just proud of the fight. We fought to the end. Credit to OKC. They are just really good.”
Pascal Siakam, who had caused problems for the Thunder throughout the series, was held to 16 points on 5-for-13 shooting.
Dort, an All-Defense first-team selection, gave Indiana credit for hanging tough.
“I mean, they’re a great team,” he said. “They’ve got great players. I feel like we was just trying different stuff to mess them up and to disturb them. We threw them a lot of different defensive stuff. We were just trying to slow them down.”
NBA's Top 10 Plays of the Night - June 22 - NBA Finals Game 7
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The gasp inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse was followed quickly by a hush Sunday night.
Just seven minutes into Game 7 of the NBA Finals, the Indiana Pacers' roaring fans went silent, struggling to fathom what they were watching — a replay of two-time All-Star Tyrese Haliburton hurting his lower right leg and the anguished look on the face of his father, John.
They didn't wait to hear the diagnosis; they already figured they had it.
“I saw (his Achilles tendon) pop immediately, you could see it kind of explode,” said 37-year-old Nick Poore, a lifelong fan of his hometown team. “Tough. I mean it is what it is, life goes on. What else can you do besides take it on the chin, you know?”
Coach Rick Carlisle didn't confirm it was a torn Achilles tendon either during his postgame comments though he noted the team's hearts dropped just like so many inside their home arena.
Of course, Haliburton's teammates tried valiantly to rally without their leader but struggled late in the third quarter and early in the fourth of a 103-91 loss at Oklahoma City, a loss that extended Indiana's title drought to 49 years and left many wondering what's next?
This one may have been the most gut-wrenching of all.
A strained right calf had limited Haliburton to 23 minutes Thursday night, but he scored 14 points and had five assists to help Indiana force Sunday's decisive game. With two more days of rest, Haliburton said he felt better and he was early with three 3-pointers and nine points, his best start in the series.
“Tyrese was about to cook, he was going to go off,” Poore said. “That was tough because you could tell he was bringing it tonight.”
But one wrong step ended Haliburton's night and dashed the hopes of so many Pacers fans who came to celebrate the title they'd longed for.
“Absolutely not what we wanted to see but you know what he’s going to want. He’s going to want this team to continue to fight,” Chris Denari, the Pacers’ television play-by-play announcer told the stunned crowd. “He is the leader of this team. We know what he’s meant since he arrived from Sacramento and he’s going to need all of our thoughts and prayers, but he's going to want this team to fight and win an NBA title.”
The crowd responded to Denari's plea, cheering raucously for each Pacers basket, defensive stop, Thunder foul or turnover. But the late runs eventually took their toll, quieting fans and sending some home for good after Oklahoma City built a 21-point lead.
Worse, it's yet another potentially cruel chapter in the franchise’s long and painful history.
Since the three-time ABA champion team joined the NBA, it has endured every seemingly imaginable and unimaginable setback : the 1977 telethon that saved the team, the Malice in the Palace that cost Reggie Miller his last title shot, near-misses against LeBron James and the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals and Boston's sweep in the conference finals last year with the injured Haliburton watching the last two games from the bench.
There’s also the injury history. Since Miller's retirement, Danny Granger, Paul George and Victor Oladipo all appeared poised to be the Pacers next big thing — only to have their careers derailed by injuries. Now it's Haliburton trying to break the jinx.
“Heartbreaking,” said Vernon Morgan, who has followed the Pacers since George McGinnis played for the ABA team in the early 1970s. “We're still waiting to see if this (injury) will be a detriment to his career or if he's going to recover from it. I realize he'll be out probably all of next year, but we've been counted out before."
How tough has this been on Pacers fans?
Anthony Brehob, age 27, came dressed in a Roy Hibbert jersey and had big expectations and like many who stood in the snaking lines on the city's streets.
“I’m expecting a close game, and I’m really hoping Haliburton pulls it off at the end," Brehob said. "If they lose, it’s going to be a long night.”
The problem now is it's also going to be a long offseason with many questions surrounding Haliburton and what can be expected when he does return.
Carlisle said he expects Haliburton, who was on crutches Sunday night, to make a full recovery. And in a state that loves underdogs so much it's produced both the real-life and Hollywood version of “Hoosiers," the reality is the future still looks bright.
And that at least is some solace to these fans.
“It's enough to celebrate,” Morgan said of Indiana's playoff run. “We pushed them to Game 7 and it's a young team. They'll be back. We've been counted out before, nobody counted on us to make a good story. We'll be back again next year.”
