The Oklahoma City Thunder are the 2024-25 NBA champions after they defeated the Indiana Pacers 103-91 in Game 7 of the Finals on Sunday.
The championship is the Thunder’s first since the franchise relocated to Oklahoma City from Seattle in 2008.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the regular season MVP, led all scorers in Game 7 with 29 points. He added 12 assists and five rebounds.
The Pacers played the majority of the game without star point guard Tyrese Haliburton, who left in the first quarter with what his father said was an Achilles injury. Haliburton played Sunday despite having suffered a right calf strain earlier in the series.
Indiana was led in scoring by backup guard Bennedict Mathurin, who finished with 24 points.
Sunday’s Game 7, the 20th in NBA Finals history, remained close through the first half even after Haliburton’s injury cast a pall over the proceedings. Indiana, which became famous during the postseason for its resilience, actually took a 48-47 lead into halftime.
The Thunder turned the game around in the third quarter, however, specifically by turning the Pacers over. Oklahoma City outscored Indiana 34-20 in the third, scoring 18 points off eight Pacers giveaways.
For the game, Indiana had 23 turnovers, which the Thunder turned into 32 points.
Oklahoma City also held the Pacers to only 41.4% shooting on field goals. Indiana’s 91 points were the team’s lowest total of the playoffs.
The championship caps the best season in OKC’s 17-year history.
The Thunder won 68 games during the regular season, the most in franchise history. Oklahoma City also entered the playoffs with the best scoring differential in league history, beating opponents by 12.9 points per game.
The Thunder will finish the postseason with a 16-7 record, winning two Game 7s en route to a title.
The Pacers, who pulled off at least one improbable comeback in each round of the playoffs, will now enter the offseason with some level of uncertainty after having come the closest the franchise has ever come to an NBA title. If Haliburton has a torn Achilles, he may miss the entirety of the 2025-26 season.
The league will now shift its attention to the draft, which takes place Wednesday. Oklahoma City will have two selections in the first round.