The first year of the LeBron James and Luka Doncic partnership didn’t end how the Lakers would’ve liked as they fell in the first round of the playoffs to the Minnesota Timberwolves. But that didn’t detract from the fact that L.A. still has an incredibly bright future ahead of itself with Dončić wearing purple and gold.
Dončić was shockingly traded to the Lakers in February from the Dallas Mavericks after leading that team to the NBA Finals in 2024. It was a jarring adjustment for the Slovenian superstar, though it was made better when he suited up next to James, someone who he’s long said was his favorite player growing up.
“It’s great, I’ve never played with a guy like this,” Dončić said on an episode of the Mind the Game podcast with James and Steve Nash. “Being traded to L.A., it was different, but to be able to play with guys like him, it’s unbelievable. I can learn so much stuff, first of all off the court, all the things he does to be ready for the game. And obviously on the court everybody knows what kind of player he is.”
Dončić joked that one of the biggest things he’s noticed since playing with James is how attentive he is in his preparation for every game.
“First of all he shows up like 10 hours before the game,” Dončić said. “That was really the main thing, like I was like, ‘What?’ I came to the arena and he was already done working out.”
It’s that level of dedication from James that has allowed him to play for 22 years in the NBA while still operating at an all-league level. But the admiration goes both ways, with James showing appreciation for Dončić’s ability to manipulate the defense, regardless of who is forced to guard him.
“It’s always his pace, and it’s always been his pace,” James said. “He moves at his own pace, and he’s never been on the floor where he’s allowed someone to dictate where they’re going to put him on the floor. It’s always been the opposite, and for us, we’re all working off that. We just have to stay ready.”
LeBron James contract options explained: Lakers star can stay put for $52.6 million, but will he? Sam Quinn LeBron James contract options explained: Lakers star can stay put for $52.6 million, but will he? James went on to detail just how special Dončić’s passing ability is.
“Obviously we’ve seen throughout his career there’s plays and passes that only certain guys in the league history have ever been able to make, and for us we just all have to make sure we continue to stay ready,” James said. “Especially when you go against handsy teams, athletic teams and teams that try to speed you up. We always have to keep our head on a swivel, because you just never know when the ball may find you, and that’s a good thing. That’s keeping the defense off balance, and that’s a great thing to have that.”
James’ chemistry with Dončić didn’t take long to form after the 26-year-old joined the Lakers. With him in tow, the Lakers climbed through the rankings in the West to finish with a 50-32 record for the No. 3 spot in the playoffs. Although the Timberwolves spoiled the Lakers’ dreams of winning a championship this summer, it was a perfect introduction into what next season and the years beyond will look like with Dončić on the team.
James may only be around for a couple more seasons before he decides to retire, but the amount of knowledge he can lend Dončić will help him and the Lakers for many years beyond when the four-time champion decides to retire. We already saw some of that this season, and Dončić seems to be taking note of the extra work James puts in to stay at peak performance levels.
The NBA Finals is set as the Oklahoma City Thunder, the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, faces off with the Indiana Pacers beginning Thursday, June 5. Bettors looking to use NBA betting sites to bet on this series can utilize the BetMGM promo code to earn up to $1,500 in bonus bets.
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Pacers-Thunder NBA Finals preview The Thunder were the top team in the NBA this regular season, and that’s carried over to the postseason. Outside of needing seven games to beat the Denver Nuggets in the second round, the Thunder have been dominant, sweeping the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round and needing just five games to topple the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals.
The Pacers were the No. 4 seed in the East and needed just five games in the first and second rounds to beat the Milwaukee Bucks and Cleveland Cavaliers, and Indiana beat the New York Knicks in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals to advance to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2000. These teams faced off twice this season, with the Thunder winning both contests. OKC won 132-111 at home and 120-114 in Indiana.
OKC has the league MVP in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who has averaged 29.8 points per game this postseason. Pascal Siakam has been Indiana’s top scorer at 21.1 points per game, and he was just named Eastern Conference Finals MVP. Tyrese Haliburton is averaging 18.8 points per game and leads all players this postseason with 9.8 assists per game.
Both franchises are looking for their first NBA title, as the Pacers have three ABA titles but no NBA championship. The Thunder have one NBA Finals appearance since their move to Oklahoma City, which was in 2011-12, which they lost to the Miami Heat.
The Thunder are -700 favorites to win the series, per BetMGM odds, while the Pacers are +500 underdogs. Additionally, the Thunder are expected to win this series quickly, as the betting favorite for games needed is just five games at +200. Learn all about betting on the NBA with our NBA betting guide.
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This is an article version of the CBS Sports HQ AM Newsletter, the ultimate guide to every day in sports. You can sign up to get it in your inbox every weekday morning here.
🏀 Good morning to all, but especially to … THE INDIANA PACERS
The pace has officially been set in the Eastern Conference, and no one could keep up. In fact, no one came close. The Pacers are headed to the NBA Finals to face the Thunder after dispatching the Knicks, 125-108, in Game 6 Saturday. It’s Indiana’s first Finals appearance since 2000.
Tyrese Haliburton responded from a shockingly quiet Game 5 with 21 points and 13 assists. But it was series MVP Pascal Siakam’s 31 points that led the way for Indiana, which got double-digit points from seven players.
Indiana, much like Oklahoma City, has the stars. After being voted “most overrated” by his fellow NBA players, Haliburton has been sending messages all postseason. Siakam — who already has an NBA title on his resume — is a wonderfully skilled, smooth scorer who gets his buckets in all sorts of ways and took it to New York’s best defenders.
But how about Andrew Nembhard, who pestered Jalen Brunson and finished with 14 points, eight assists and six steals? Or Aaron Nesmith, who defended Brunson effectively all series? Or Myles Turner, headed to the Finals after years of being in trade rumors? Or Obi Toppin, who had 18 points off the bench to eliminate his former team?
They certainly aren’t the biggest markets in the Finals, but it’s a tremendous matchup with stars, depth and smart, detail-oriented, well-coached teams. I’m tired of the TV ratings talk. If you like basketball, you’ll watch this series, and you’ll enjoy it.
Jasmyn Wimbish has three early storylines for the Finals, which begin Thursday.
Wimbish: “We saw Jalen Williams play like the All-Star he is against the Timberwolves, but in the second round against the Nuggets he struggled to be an efficient offensive threat. The Thunder can turn to someone like Chet Holmgren to pick things up if Williams is struggling … All five of Indiana’s stars average double-digit points, and it’s the third-highest scoring bench unit in the postseason. The Pacers have proven pretty much everyone wrong in this run to the Finals.” 😁 Honorable mentions LeBron James reflected on his first season with Luka Dončić. Here’s why a Kevin Durant-to-Timberwolves deal could actually happen this offseason. Scottie Scheffler won the Memorial, his third win in his last four starts. He’s the first person to go back-to-back at the event since Tiger Woods (1999-2001), and he made a lot of money doing so. Josh Allen and Hailee Steinfeld got married. Russell Wilson is a big fan of Malik Nabers. Dan Campbell is excited to face the Lions’ tough 2025 schedule. The Eagles and 49ers are finalizing a deal to send Bryce Huff to San Francisco The USWNT beat China, 3-0. Frances Tiafoe and Tommy Paul are the first American men to reach the French Open quarterfinals since Andre Agassi in 2003. Jose Resendiz upset Caleb Plant. NAIA program LSU Shreveport (59-0) completed the first undefeated season in college baseball history. Happy retirement, Josh Harrison! Michigan State is getting a new athletic director. Ryan Blaney won the Cracker Barrel 400. 🏀 And not such a good morning for … untitled-design-2025-06-01t224804-905.png Getty Images THE NEW YORK KNICKS
This is the closest the Knicks got to the NBA Finals since 1999, but their loss to the Pacers showed they still have a ways to go. Sam Quinn examines what’s next for New York, including its one major flaw.
Quinn: “The Knicks were predictably terrible without either of their two All-NBA players on the court. When Brunson played without Karl-Anthony Towns, the offense was great enough to support a weak defense. When Towns played without Brunson, the defense was great enough to support a weak offense. When they played together, however, a good offense couldn’t bolster a weak defense. … The concept of surrounding Towns and Brunson with elite wings just didn’t hold up.” Towns’ defensive issues even became a source of frustration during the season.
Then there’s the Tom Thibodeau question. He has plenty of internal support, but Sam says firing him might get the Knicks to the next level.
😨 Not so honorable mentions Jake Oettinger said being pulled minutes into Game 5 was “embarrassing.” Vanderbilt became the first No. 1 seed to not reach the regional final since the current format began in 1999. Folarin Balogun (ankle) is among several players out of USMNT training camp. 🏈 Post-June 1 cut, trade candidates, plus biggest needs for contenders aaron-rodgers-retirement.png Getty Images It’s June — holy cow, time flies! — and while it’s mostly quiet on the NFL calendar, June 2 is not.
After June 1, expensive veterans become less expensive to move on from, as teams can spread the dead money from their departure over two years, rather than just one. Since 2006, teams have been able to designate up to two players as post-June 1 cuts — Aaron Rodgers is one such example this year — so June 1 is now more important symbolically and financially than anything else.
Traded players, however, can’t be designated as post-June 1 cuts. That’s why today opens up a world of possibilities for players such as Kirk Cousins, Tyreek Hill and Jalen Ramsey, who headline Cody Benjamin’s top cut and trade candidates as we move past June 1. He also has landing spots and predictions for those players, too.
That’s only part of what makes post-June 1 so interesting. After June 1, signings don’t impact the compensatory pick formula, so another wave of player movement will be upon us. Cody assessed biggest remaining needs for contenders, including …
NBA veteran Paul George is buying stock in Cooper Flagg as the presumptive No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming 2025 NBA Draft. He rejected recent negative opinions surrounding Flagg’s game. While several league executives and former NBA stars revealed skepticism involving the ex-Duke star, George expects Flagg to dominate basketball in the years to come.
“I think he’s going to be an All-Star. When it’s all said and done, I think he’s going to go down as one of the best players our league has seen,” George said during a recent Podcast P episode. “He’s got that talent.”
Ironically, George and Flagg have similar games as hybrid scorers and are near carbon copies in terms of measurables. George, a nine-time all-star, is one inch shorter than Flagg at 6-foot-8 and is known for his scoring touch and mid-range game.
George’s take came from a larger conversation with Carmelo Anthony on Flagg’s trajectory at the next level and how he compares to others, namely former Rutgers star Ace Bailey. As a freshman, Bailey averaged 17.6 points per game and 7.2 rebounds last season with the Scarlet Knights.
Flagg earned National Player of the Year accolades after averaging a team-best 19.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. He helped push Jon Scheyer’s team to the Final Four.
“I’m very high on his game, (but) to me, he doesn’t do anything great,” Anthony said about Flagg. “He just does a lot of shit very good. Offensive rebounds, very f—ing good. In the passing lanes, very good. He’s a weak-side defender, very good. On-ball defender, he got a lot better.
” … Offensively, he started to get to that elbow area. The confidence started getting bigger and bigger as the season went on. I’m a fan. Now, we have to talk to him as a pro. Now, we stepping into where this is every single night, 82 games every single night.”
In the latest CBS Sports mock draft, Kyle Boone slots Flagg at No. 1 overall and Bailey third to the Philadelphia 76ers. Cameron Salerno recently noted Flagg is the best two-way player in this draft class and is known for his defensive prowess but developed into a legitimate threat on the offensive end as a go-to player is iso situations for the Blue Devils.
The Dallas Mavericks are not planning on trading their top selection and surprisingly winning the draft lottery last month. After trading Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers this season for Anthony Davis, the franchise has a star-power void that Flagg could potentially fill alongside veteran guard Kyrie Irving.
“I’m grateful to get this opportunity, or any opportunity to hear my name called on draft night,” Flagg said, via Dallas Hoops Journal. “I’m just really excited for this whole experience. Not everybody gets to go through this, so I just feel really blessed. As far as Dallas goes, they’ve got a lot of really good pieces.”
Two teams are left standing in the 2025 NBA playoffs: the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers. The 2025 NBA Finals get started on Thursday night in Oklahoma City, and the Thunder are heavily favored to win their first title in OKC. The Pacers, however, have made a habit out of upsets in these playoffs, knocking off the Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks to get here. Can they pull their biggest upset yet in the Finals and earn the franchise’s first NBA championship?
The Pacers ousted the Knicks in six games to make the Finals for the first time in 25 years. Pascal Siakam was named Eastern Conference finals MVP after averaging 24.8 points against the Knicks. Tyrese Haliburton averaged a double-double with 21 points and 10.5 assists and hit the biggest shot of the series in Game 1.
The Thunder, meanwhile, took care of the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games to win the Western Conference finals. OKC lost a Game 3 blowout, but otherwise had its way with Minnesota. The Thunder needed seven games to get past the Denver Nuggets in the second round, but are now 12-4 in the playoffs after going 68-14 in the regular season. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was named WCF MVP and has scored 30-plus points 11 times in his last 14 games.
Below are CBS Sports’ expert picks for the 2025 NBA Finals.
2025 NBA Finals predictions: Thunder vs. Pacers Series odds (via FanDuel): Thunder -750, Pacers +530
player headshot Brad Botkin player headshot James Herbert player headshot Jack Maloney player headshot Sam Quinn player headshot Colin Ward-Henninger player headshot Jasmyn Wimbish THUNDER VS. PACERS team logo Thunder team logo Thunder team logo Thunder team logo Thunder team logo Thunder team logo Thunder Botkin: Thunder in 5. The Pacers have been roughly a 57-win team since Jan. 1, so this isn’t a total underdog story. But we’re also talking about the Eastern Conference, and the path wasn’t the most difficult against the downright bad Bucks, the injured Cavs and a Knicks team that, shall we say, had to beat some pretty historic odds to pull off a pair of 20-point miracle comebacks against the Celtics, who eventually lost Jayson Tatum, to make the conference finals. Oklahoma City is another animal entirely than anything Indiana has faced. The Thunder are too deep and the defense is too much. I expect more than one 20-point win, and wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a sweep. But I’ll give the Pacers one win at home, meaning the Thunder will go back to OKC for Game 5 with a 3-1 lead. That’s closeout time.
Herbert: Thunder in 6. I could see this being quicker, but there’s something about these Pacers. I anticipate them taking (and allowing) more 3s than usual in this series, and I anticipate Rick Carlisle doing everything he can (i.e. mixing up coverages, mixing up matchups, even going zone) to keep the Thunder off-balance in the halfcourt. While I’m not going to predict that we’ll see one of the biggest Finals upsets in recent memory, I’m comfortable saying Indiana can make this interesting.
Maloney: Thunder in 6. The Thunder have thrived by overwhelming teams defensively and feasting off turnovers, but the Pacers take care of the ball extremely well. The Pacers have defied the odds at every turn because no one has had an answer for their pace, five-out approach and depth, but the Thunder welcome that style of play. This is such a fascinating matchup and should hopefully be an awesome series. While the Pacers may have a slight edge on the offensive end with their shooting, they haven’t faced a defense like the Thunder in their run through the East. In the end, the Thunder’s defensive brilliance and overall talent advantage will be the difference.
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Ward-Henninger: Thunder in 7. Man, do I love the Pacers and the gifts they’ve given us basketball fans over the past month — but OKC is a horror movie monster lurking behind the barn door yielding a rusty chainsaw. Indiana banks on being able to tire you out over the course of games and series with its relentless pace and precision — that’s not going to happen to the deep and seemingly unrelenting Thunder roster. Tyrese Haliburton’s life is going to be a waking nightmare for the next two weeks, with waves and waves of muscles, fitness and basketball IQ being sent to destroy him. He’s good enough to beat it for even a handful of games, but not four out of seven. On the other side, Andrew Nembhard and Aaron Nesmith can certainly make Shai Gilgeous-Alexander work for his buckets, but he is on one of the best playoff runs of all time and trusts himself to bounce back from a bad game or two. This is going to be such a great series as Mark Daigneault and Rick Carlisle throw curveball after curveball at each other, but I just think eventually the Thunder’s talent — and the home-court advantage they earned with a historic regular season — are enough to push them over the top.
Wimbish: Thunder in 6. The Pacers have proven everyone wrong at every turn this postseason. But they haven’t faced a team even remotely close to what the Thunder are. Playing against OKC reminds me of a scene from Black Widow where the titular character played by Scarlett Johansson fights Taskmaster for the first time and quickly finds out that she’s capable of mimicking the fight style of any opponent, making Taskmaster virtually impossible to defeat. The Thunder are Taskmaster, specifically their defense, and while I’ll give Indiana and coach Rick Carlisle enough credit to know the Pacers are capable of outsmarting OKC enough times to win a couple games in this series, I don’t think they have enough up their sleeve to win four times.
The NBA Draft is just three weeks away and the landscape of this year’s class is quickly coming into focus after the NCAA withdrawal deadline passed last week, with several promising prospects reshaping the talent pool by returning to school on big-money NIL deals.
Now’s time to reset the board and put pen to paper reacting to the latest movement and musings across the draft environment.
The first round begins June 25, which admittedly feels close, but in draft terms it is equivalent to an eternity. A lot can change between now and then — it’s smokescreen season! — and a lot has already changed since our last mock two weeks ago. But given the recent developments this is the best time to capture the new landscape as it currently sits entering the homestretch with no major changes to available players expected.
NBA Draft 2025 withdrawal deadline superlatives: Labaron Philon shocks with buzzer-beating return to Alabama Kyle Boone NBA Draft 2025 withdrawal deadline superlatives: Labaron Philon shocks with buzzer-beating return to Alabama As you’ll see below, the bones of the mock remains the same — Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey go 1-2-3, this time with no major mock trades — but the back half of the first round is almost entirely shuffled around in some way to account for a number of risers, fallers and departees headed back to school.
The 2025 NBA Finals kick off later this week, and the championship matchup is set: the Oklahoma City Thunder vs. the Indiana Pacers. are back in the NBA Finals. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has led OKC to the title round for the first time in 13 years, while Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers dispatched the Knicks in six games in the Eastern Conference finals. The 2025 NBA Finals get started Thursday, June 5.
The Thunder will have home-court advantage against Indiana, since OKC won an NBA-best 68 games in the regular season and was the top seed in the West. It will be the first NBA Finals appearance since 2000 for the Pacers, and since 2012 for OKC.
Neither of the teams has technically won a title. The Pacers have never won an NBA championship (though Indiana won three ABA titles in the 1970s), and the Thunder franchise won a championship as the Seattle SuperSonics in 1979, but the team has never lifted the Larry O’Brien Trophy since moving to Oklahoma City in 2008.
Below is the complete 2025 NBA Finals schedule. The Finals will run through at least June 13 and a potential Game 7 is slated for June 22. Every NBA Finals game is streaming on fubo (Try for free).
2025 NBA Finals schedule, dates Game 1: Thursday, June 5 | Pacers vs. Thunder | 8:30 p.m. ET, ABC/fubo Game 2: Sunday, June 8 | Pacers vs. Thunder | 8 p.m. ET, ABC/fubo Game 3: Wednesday, June 11 | Thunder vs. Pacers | 8:30 p.m. ET, ABC/fubo Game 4: Friday, June 13 | Thunder vs. Pacers | 8:30 p.m. ET, ABC/fubo *Game 5: Monday, June 16 | Pacers vs. Thunder | 8:30 p.m. ET, ABC/fubo *Game 6: Thursday, June 19 | Thunder vs. Pacers | 8:30 p.m. ET, ABC/fubo *Game 7: Sunday, June 22 | Pacers vs. Thunder | 8 p.m. ET, ABC/fubo
The 2025 NBA Finals matchup is set, as the Indiana Pacers will take on the Oklahoma City Thunder with Game 1 tipping off on June 5. Both teams are battle-tested and will now face off against each other with the chance of being crowned champions.
The Pacers got here by beating the New York Knicks in six games in the Eastern Conference finals, while the Thunder took out the Minnesota Timberwolves also in five games to claim the West. The Thunder are heavy favorites out of the gate (-700 according to DraftKings), but Indiana has been playing as the underdog for most of these playoffs, so this will be no different feeling for them.
It might not be the matchup everyone expected, but it’s sure to be a thrilling series between two tactical teams that have proven they can win it all. As we quickly look ahead to the start of the NBA Finals, here are three early storylines that will impact this series.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander vs. Tyrese Haliburton This is going to be the main attraction of the series. Haliburton just walked through the Eastern Conference proving to everyone — mainly his fellow NBA players who voted him as most overrated player in the league — that he should be considered one of the top guards right now. He doesn’t always exert his scoring ability, as he’s more likely to get teammates involved and rack up assists than a high-volume scoring night, but we saw in Game 4 against the Knicks (32 points, 15 assists, 12 rebounds, four steals, zero turnovers) that he’s certainly capable of doing both without sacrificing quality of play.
But now Haliburton will face his toughest defensive test against an OKC team that will deploy a number of defenders to disrupt his flow. Alex Caruso made life unbearable for Anthony Edwards in the Western Conference finals, using a level of physicality that could similarly bother Haliburton, though the Pacers have far better ball movement than the Timberwolves did so that may not be as effective.
On the flip side of that, the Pacers will also have their hands full trying to slow down SGA, who was recently named league MVP and Western Conference finals MVP. He caused headaches for Minnesota, using his length and high IQ to slice into the paint and execute tough finishes or get to the free throw line. There’s no Jaden McDaniels on this Indiana team, but we just saw Aaron Nesmith chase around Jalen Brunson and he did an adequate enough job, though he’s certainly going to need to cut down on averaging four fouls throughout the postseason while trying to defend Gilgeous-Alexander. Fortunately, if Nesmith gets in foul trouble, Andrew Nembhard can slide over, in fact Nembhard may get the first crack at SGA as the primary defender before adjustments are made.
This series is going to start with how these two All-Star guards perform, and if the rest of the playoffs have been any indication we should be in store for some exciting performances from these two guys.
Depth could decide the series These are two teams with some quality depth. The Thunder have the edge in terms of quantity, because the ninth guy in their rotation is probably better than Indiana’s eighth or seventh rotation player. So on paper the Thunder are going to have an edge here, but that doesn’t always translate to production on the floor.
We saw Jalen Williams play like the All-Star he is against the Timberwolves, but in the second round against the Nuggets he struggled to be an efficient offensive threat. The Thunder can turn to someone like Chet Holmgren to pick things up if Williams is struggling, and we’ve seen Caruso have an anomalous 20-point game, but OKC needs Williams to be consistent. This is a team with great depth, but it still needs its two All-Star players to operate at that level nearly every night.
The Pacers don’t rely as much on one or two players to score a majority of their points, even if on most nights that might be the case with a tag-team attack of Haliburton and Eastern Conference finals MVP Pascal Siakam.
Pascal Siakam named Eastern Conference finals MVP as Indiana Pacers defeat New York Knicks, reach NBA Finals Carter Bahns Pascal Siakam named Eastern Conference finals MVP as Indiana Pacers defeat New York Knicks, reach NBA Finals But all five of Indiana’s stars average double-digit points, and it’s the third-highest scoring bench unit in the postseason. The Pacers have proven pretty much everyone wrong in this run to the Finals, and have looked impressive through large stretches, but they’re going to need guys like Nesmith, Nembhard and Myles Turner to be effective.
Turner especially is going to be an X-factor for the Pacers, and he’ll need to take advantage of mismatch opportunities if Holmgren is the one guarding him down low. If it’s Isaiah Hartenstein on Turner, Indiana can spread the floor and open up the paint for Haliburton to get to the rim. The Pacers will need Bennedict Mathurin to be better defensively when he’s on the floor and not commit carless mistakes or forced shots. Indiana will need their role players to carry over how they’ve played against the Knicks, because while the Thunder may be able to get away with relying on the top two or three guys to win four games, that’s not how the Pacers have gotten to the NBA Finals.
A common thread Aside from being the final two teams standing, OKC and Indiana have a few other things in common. Both teams reside in small markets within the league, making this NBA Finals matchup a win for the little guys. They’re both anchored by young All-Star point guards and both front offices are led by guys — Sam Presti for the Thunder, Kevin Pritchard for the Pacers — who got their start working under R.C. Buford in the scouting department with the San Antonio Spurs. But there’s also one other big connector between these two teams that practically led to both making it to the NBA Finals: Paul George.
It’s not that George just played for both teams, which he did. It’s the fact that both teams traded the All-Star forward away for assets that directly — and indirectly — led to them building NBA Finals teams.
George and the Pacers For the Pacers, it wasn’t directly trading George that magically got them to where they are, but it was certainly the first domino to fall. Indiana traded George in July of 2017 to the Thunder for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis. It was the end of what was an exciting era of Pacers basketball where George led Indiana to two Eastern Conference finals appearances, but after seven years with the franchise that drafted him 10th overall in 2010, George was entering the final year of his contract and did not intend to re-sign with them, so Indiana dealt him a year earlier to get something in return.
Sabonis and Oladipo were a surprising success for the Pacers, leading to five playoff appearances, though they never managed to make it out of the first round. Following that five-year stretch, the Pacers missed the playoffs two years in a row and during the 2021-22 season in the midst of what was brewing to be another losing season, the Pacers decided it was time to pull the plug on the Sabonis era in Indiana. In February 2022, the Pacers sent Sabonis to the Sacramento Kings for a package centered around Haliburton, who we now know has been a rousing success for Indiana. If it hadn’t been for the Pacers trading George to the Thunder, specifically for Sabonis, they wouldn’t have gotten Haliburton, who has been the nucleus of this team’s success and the franchise cornerstone for the foreseeable future.
George and the Thunder For the Thunder it’s a bit more cut and dry. After George was traded to OKC, he spent two All-Star seasons with the Thunder but he always wanted to play in Los Angeles. When he was with the Pacers, George originally wanted to play for the Lakers, but in the summer of 2019, after Kawhi Leonard just finished leading the Raptors to a championship, he basically told the Clippers he’d sign with them if they went and got Leonard. So the Clippers ponied up a haul for the Thunder, which included sending Gilgeous-Alexander, five future first-round picks and two pick swaps.
Not only did the Clippers give the Thunder their franchise centerpiece in SGA — and future MVP winner — but one of those draft picks — the 2022 first-round pick the Clippers sent in that deal — ended up becoming Jalen Williams, who earned All-Star, All-NBA and All-Defensive honors this season. That deal also netted OKC Tre Mann, who they’ve since traded, and they still have L.A.’s 2026 unprotected first-round pick at their disposal to keep bolstering a roster that is now four wins away from an NBA championship.
No one could’ve predicted things would’ve panned out this well for both the Thunder and Pacers from trading George, but it is a funny thought that George’s trade value helped build two title contenders over the years.
For the first time since 2006, the NBA Finals will feature two cities vying for their first championships with the Oklahoma City Thunder facing the Indiana Pacers. OKC’s only title in franchise history came when the team was still in Seattle, while Indiana’s only championships in team history came when it was in the ABA. Game 1 of the 2025 NBA Finals begins on Thursday, with Oklahoma City holding home-court advantage. Both making NBA bets on a game-by-game basis and making NBA picks for the series will be popular wagering strategies at various betting sites.
The latest Pacers vs. Thunder odds to win the series from list Oklahoma City as the -700 series favorite (risk $700 to win $100), with Indiana at +500. The over/under for total games in the series is 5.5, with the Over shaded to +115 and the Under at -135. OKC is a 9-point favorite in Game 1 of the series. You could bet these NBA odds with a DraftKings promo code for new users that can get $300 in bonus bets. If you’re looking for how to bet the 2025 NBA Finals, be sure to see the projections from SportsLine data scientist Stephen Oh.
Oh is the expert behind the SportsLine Projection Model, which simulates every NBA game 10,000 times and has returned well over $10,000 in betting profit for $100 players on its top-rated NBA picks over the past six-plus seasons. The model is 24-11 (69%) on top-rated NBA against-the-spread picks this season. It also hit both of its top conference finals picks, Thunder in 5 (over +300) and Pacers to win the series (+126). Anyone following at sportsbooks and on betting apps could have seen huge returns. You can find more analysis from Oh and other SportsLine data analysts on their Inside The Lines blog.
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Thunder to win the series (-700) Thunder to win the series in five games (+220) Thunder to win the series (-700 at DraftKings) The model has Oklahoma City as the overwhelming series favorite, even more so than the implied odds of 87.5%. It has OKC prevailing in 93.5% of simulations, creating a value of plus-6%. The Thunder swept the season series as OKC is one of just two teams that Indiana failed to defeat in the regular season. Oklahoma City won the road matchup by six points, despite both Chet Holmgren and Alex Caruso being sidelined, and then routed the Pacers by 21 points in the home contest with Holmgren still inactive. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s MVP resume was boosted by this pair of games as he averaged 39 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds.
Meanwhile, OKC’s top-rated defense cut off the head of the snake with Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton, whose 11 points per game average versus the Thunder was his lowest versus any team in 2024-25. That defense will be the biggest differentiator as both teams have highly efficient offenses, and while OKC limits opponents to the lowest field goal percentage, the Pacers are a bottom-10 unit in that regard. All of Indiana’s strengths from offensive efficiency to depth are also strengths that OKC has — arguably to an even greatest extent — but Indiana lags far behind the Thunder on defense, which is known to win championships.
Thunder to win the series in 5 games (+220 at DraftKings) Despite Haliburton’s struggles versus OKC, he’s proven himself to be one who elevates his game in the postseason as he’s averaging more points, rebounds and assists in the 2025 NBA playoffs than in the regular season. That gives Indiana a shot to win a game and avoid a sweep, and it’s worth noting that the Pacers won three straight matchups versus the Thunder, prior to their 2024-25 meetings. Also, NBA history leans more towards the series going five rather than ending in four. There have been just nine sweeps in NBA Finals history, while there’s been over twice as many (20) 4-1 series outcomes. Oh projects OKC winning in five as the highest probability of any series outcome, hitting in 37.6% of simulations.
“Indiana’s only chance is Tyrese Haliburton averaging no more than 1.5 turnovers, more than 10 assists, while shooting 40%+ from 3pt range and significantly outplaying the MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander,” Oh said. “We could imagine that happening once or even maybe twice this series, but not four times.” You can bet Thunder in 5 at +220 odds both at DraftKings or at Caesars, with the latter coming via a Caesars sportsbook promo code.
