The Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers will square off in the 2025 NBA Finals. The championship series will feature a historic juggernaut and a team that caught fire at the right time.
Before Game 1 begins, Thunder Wire conducted an NBA Finals roundtable with other NBA Wire site managers. Here’s who they predicted will win the championship:
Clemente Almanza, Thunder Wire:
Laying everything out, it’s very easy to understand why the Thunder are viewed as the title favorite. They had one of the greatest regular seasons ever with a 68-14 record. That dominance has carried over to the playoffs, besides a couple of hiccups. The Thunder are just on another level. That’s been the case all season long. The Pacers deserve credit for getting this far. They got hot at the right time. But OKC is a machine. It made the bloodbath Western Conference look like a swimming pool. They’re in the same company as some of the greatest teams ever and should join that NBA pantheon with a championship, barring one of the most surprising upsets in sports history.
Prediction: Thunder in 5.
Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire:
This championship series could be a bit more competitive than some are expecting it to be. The Indiana Pacers surprised plenty of people with the ease with which they got past the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference finals. They have the ideal offensive style to overcome the Thunder—a hard-core fast-breaking offense that looks to push the pace consistently, even after made baskets.
But as good as Tyrese Haliburton has been—and he is a very dangerous player—the Pacers don’t have a true superstar. The Thunder, on the other hand, have the regular-season MVP in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a borderline All-Star in Jalen Williams and plenty of depth. They also have a defense that many are starting to call historically great.
There will be times when the Pacers seriously challenge Oklahoma City. But Oklahoma City should win it all without a ton of difficulty.
Prediction: Thunder in 6.
Justin Quinn, Celtics Wire:
This series is the NBA version of the philosophical thought experiment of which will win, the immovable object vs. the irresistible force. In this finals matchup, we have the best transition offense in the league facing off with the best transition defense. We have a pair of ball clubs that can play several ways with versatile lineups and aesthetically pleasing styles of play. It may not be in big markets, but do we really believe that matters in this digital age?
When it comes to the on-court product, it would be a shocker of historic proportions for the Pacers to win this series and hang a banner, but they have also done little else besides shock us in every round of the postseason to date. For that reason, I think Carlisle et al. will find a way to push this series to six or maybe even seven games, but until my eyes are shown evidence to the contrary, I just don’t see how Indy will find a way to defend SGA AND keep from being turned over at a fatal rate, even as good as they may be at that wrinkle of the game.
Prediction: Thunder in 6.
Tommy Call III, Warriors Wire:
The Thunder have been the best team in the NBA for a reason. They won 68 games fueled by the rightful MVP and a nasty defensive group in a tough Western Conference, and throughout the playoffs, they’ve appeared to answer any question you could possibly have about their experience, taking out the likes of Nikola Jokic, Anthony Edwards and others on the way to the NBA Finals. The Thunder deserves to be in this position, and deserve to be the favorite.
However, they’re running into an opponent that might be just as hot as them. Similar to the Thunder, the Pacers can send five different players at you who can score 20+ points on any evening. The Pacers feel like they have the pieces to match the Thunder in a lot of ways. Yet, what separates the Thunder in this series is that defensive trio ot Lu Dort, Alex Caruso and Cason Wallace. How do the Pacers solve that puzzle? Is Tyrese Haliburton’s heroics enough? Maybe for a game or two, but in a seven-game series? It seems unlikely. While this series has all the different moving parts for a fun and exciting series, the Thunder just feel like too much for any team to handle right now, including the Pacers.
Prediction: Thunder in 6.
Sharif Phillips-Keaton, Nets Wire:
To start off, it should be clear that this is the Finals matchup that we may not have predicted, but it’s the one we deserve. The Thunder have been the NBA’s best team throughout the season and the Pacers have been one of the best teams in the league since the All-Star Break.
Much has been made about whether the league is best-served in this series, but it’s important to note that the Finals will have the league MVP (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) in it and will also have an Indiana team that plays at one of the fastest paces in the NBA. With that being said, this matchup will come down to which team can impose their will on the other.
The Thunder are arguably the most dominant team in the league on both ends of the floor and the Pacers appear to be in the next tier when it comes to offensive and defensive rating. Ultimately, this series will come down to if Tyrese Haliburton and/or Pascal Siakam can raise their game to match what Gilgeous-Alexander is going to do.
Prediction: Thunder in 7.
