It’s been a while since we’ve seen a series like that. Honestly, the NBA Finals last year felt like a fever dream for anyone who grew up watching the "big market" era. No Lakers. No Warriors. No Celtics in the final dance. Instead, we got the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers—two teams basically built from the ground up through smart trades and home-grown development—clashing in a seven-game war that ended with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander cementing himself as the new face of the league.
Most people expected a blowout. The Thunder entered the series as one of the heaviest favorites in decades, boasting a massive 18-game lead in the regular-season standings over Indiana. But the Pacers didn't care. They’d spent the whole postseason playing "spoiler," and they almost pulled off the ultimate heist.
The Chaos of the NBA Finals Last Year
If you missed it, you missed a series where the home court was essentially a suggestion. Game 1 set the tone immediately. The Pacers walked into Paycom Center and snatched a 111-110 win, surviving a 38-point masterclass from SGA. It was weirdly poetic. Tyrese Haliburton and Andrew Nembhard combined for 12 assists, picking apart a Thunder defense that had been the best in the league all season.
The script flipped every two days.
OKC would dominate.
Then Indiana would grind out a win.
It went back and forth until the very end.
By the time Game 7 rolled around on June 22, the tension in Oklahoma City was thick enough to cut with a knife. This was the first Game 7 in the Finals since LeBron and the Cavs pulled off the 3-1 comeback in 2016. That’s a long drought for drama, but the 2025 finale delivered.
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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the MVP Sweep
You’ve gotta talk about Shai. What he did during the NBA Finals last year was historic. He didn't just win the title; he won the regular-season MVP and the Finals MVP in the same year. That’s a list occupied by guys like Michael Jordan, Shaq, and LeBron. Exclusive air.
In that deciding Game 7, Shai was everywhere. He finished with:
- 29 points
- 12 assists
- 5 rebounds
- 2 blocks
- 1 very tired smile
The Pacers actually led at halftime. They had OKC on the ropes. But the Thunder opened the third quarter with a 34-20 run that basically broke Indiana’s spirit. Jalen Williams chipped in 20, and the "Young Thunder" finally looked like the juggernaut everyone predicted.
Why Nobody Saw Indiana Coming
The Pacers were the 4th seed in the East. They weren't supposed to be there. They had to go through a gauntlet, beating Milwaukee, then upsetting a 64-win Cleveland team, and finally taking down the Knicks in six games. Rick Carlisle’s squad was the first team in the play-by-play era to win a game after being down 14 points with less than three minutes left (shoutout to that Game 1 against New York).
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They played fast. They played loud. Pascal Siakam brought the championship experience, and Bennedict Mathurin turned into a certified bucket-getter off the bench. In the Finals, Mathurin actually led the Pacers in Game 7 with 24 points, outperforming most of the starters.
Defensive Masterclass: The Hartenstein Factor
One of the biggest storylines from the NBA Finals last year that casual fans might have missed was the impact of Isaiah Hartenstein. When OKC signed him, some people questioned the fit with Chet Holmgren. In the Finals, those questions died. Hartenstein was a rebounding machine, grabbing 15 boards in Game 4 to help the Thunder even the series. He gave them the physical edge they lacked in previous years.
Without those second-chance points, Indiana’s high-octane offense might have actually run away with the trophy.
The Legacy of the 2025 Championship
This wasn't just a win for Oklahoma City; it was a win for the 1979 Seattle SuperSonics fans too, technically. It’s the franchise's second title overall but the very first since they moved to Oklahoma in 2008. Seeing Shai collapse into Mark Daigneault’s arms after the buzzer—that was the shot that defined the season.
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The Thunder became the youngest roster to win a title in nearly 50 years. That’s scary for the rest of the league. If they’re this good at 24 and 26 years old, what happens when they hit their prime?
Key Takeaways for Next Season
If you're looking to apply what we learned from the NBA Finals last year to your own basketball knowledge or betting strategies, keep these three things in mind:
- Depth over Superstars: Indiana proved that a deep rotation can neutralize a top-heavy team. They pushed a historic Thunder team to seven games because their bench (led by T.J. McConnell) was relentless.
- The "Non-Tax" Model: This was the first Finals since the salary cap era began in 2002 where neither team was a luxury tax payer. Building through the draft and smart trades is officially the "new" meta.
- SGA is the Standard: If you aren't building your defense to stop a 6'6" guard who can live at the free-throw line and hit mid-range fadeaways, you aren't winning a chip.
To truly understand the trajectory of the league, you should go back and watch the third quarter of Game 5. It was a clinic in modern spacing and defensive rotations. If you want to dive deeper into the stats, check out the advanced box scores on Basketball-Reference or the NBA’s official film room archives. Paying attention to how Mark Daigneault used Lu Dort to shadow Tyrese Haliburton is a masterclass in coaching adjustments.