How the Thunder defeated the Pacers to win the 2025 NBA Finals: Game 7 reaction, highlights and analysis

New York Times

5 days ago

Oklahoma City wins its first championship since the team relocated from Seattle Getty Images
The Oklahoma City Thunder have won the 2025 NBA title, beating the Indiana Pacers 103-91 in Game 7. It's the first championship for the team since it relocated from Seattle in 2008, having won one title as the SuperSonics in 1979.
Pacers superstar Tyrese Haliburton left the game during the first quarter after suffering what ESPN reported was an Achilles injury. He was carried off the floor and was very emotional.
Indiana, which has never won an NBA championship, led the game by one point at halftime but was outscored 56-43 in the second half.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was named Finals MVP after leading all players with 29 points and 12 assists in Game 7.
The Thunder shot just 40.2 percent from the field and 27.5 percent from 3, but they forced 23 Pacers turnovers which resulted in 32 points at the other end.
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On some of these half court possessions, it seems like Oklahoma City just has no plan. Why is Cason Wallace trying to take Pascal Siakam off the dribble with 20 on the shot clock?
Q2 9:55 - Thunder 29, Pacers 28
This is a nice stretch from Isaiah Hartenstein. He finds Alex Caruso cutting for a one-handed dunk and a few possessions later, he is the recipient of a nice bounce pass from Jalen Williams that gets him a layup.
It is also worth noting that Tyrese Haliburton will not return to tonight's game due to a lower leg injury.
Isaiah Hartenstein misses a dunk on the first trip of the second quarter, then missed two free throws on the second one. Thunder offense has low-key gone off the rails since the Tyrese Haliburton injury. Getty Images
Bennedict Mathurin might need to really step up tonight for the Pacers to win. Indiana is down a playmaker and someone who can draw fouls. TJ McConnell might not work in Game 7, if the first quarter is any indication.
Someone has to give the Pacers some pop, and Mathurin has that potential, even if he has been uneven this series.
This is a different equation for TJ McConnell, and one that is not his strength. He will have to actually run the Indiana Pacers tonight, not just be a change of pace guy off the bench. Andrew Nembhard will see a lot of responsibility at the point guard spot as well, but there will be much more on McConnell's shoulders.
I'm not in the building. I was hype for this Game 7. Anyone who has played basketball and seen a devastating injury like the one Tyrese Haliburton suffered knows how that can affect everyone.
Obviously, the Pacers have to figure it out. But that can affect the Thunder as well. They're competing, but you feel that emotionally. And the energy in the building as well. It seemed like Haliburton's injury put a halt to the flow of the game.
For Indiana to have any chance after Tyrese Haliburton's seemingly devastating injury, the Pacers will need a monster night from Pascal Siakam. He's capable, and he scored seven points in the first quarter.
But how does Indiana get him enough open looks without the threat of Haliburton's shooting and playmaking?
The Thunder had their worst turnover performance of the season in Game 6.
Aside from a shot clock violation, they did not have any first-quarter turnovers in Game 7. Getty Images
Life is not fair. This has been a tremendous series, one with high-level basketball essentially every night. Tyrese Haliburton was toughing out a painful injury, and he was balling. If the world were a meritocracy, he would have made it through this game with only the occasional wince and no more.
That guy in that situation playing that well should not have suffered through that moment. Alas, life is not fair.
I feel a tinge of emptiness watching this game now. I don't know how the Pacers are playing with this much intensity, given everything. Obviously their mentality is beyond questioning, but it's just another reminder about the resolve of this team. Not a crisp response, but they are battling. Getty Images
End Q1 - Thunder 25, Pacers 22
Even without Tyrese Haliburton, you have to expect Indiana to fight for 48 minutes. That was on display over the last few minutes.
Pascal Siakam has been aggressive, scoring seven points on 3-of-6 shooting, and Haliburton had nine points before his injury.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with eight points, followed by five points from Chet Holmgren.
Meanwhile, back on the basketball court, Sean Wright was winding up to call an offensive foul on Chet Holmgren before official James Capers on the other side called a block on T.J. McConnell. Oklahoma City leaves an uneven first quarter with a 25-22 lead. Getty Images
It's really tough to continue thinking about this game with Tyrese Haliburton's injury, but that is what everybody on these two teams must do.
After one quarter, the Thunder have a 25-22 lead. It's worth noting, though, that they've only scored six points in the final five minutes of the quarter since Haliburton went down.
The Pacers are possibly the team best built to survive this type of thing. But this is going to be an incredibly tough test in the final three quarters.
The evaluation, Jared: don't play with calf injuries...
If the worst about Tyrese Haliburton's injury is to come to pass, three of the last four teams in the NBA Finals will be without their best playmaker for most or all of next season: Dallas (Kyrie Irving), Boston (Jayson Tatum) and Indiana (Haliburton). Getty Images
If this Tyrese Haliburton injury is what we fear, it would be the THIRD torn Achilles tendon of the season for Indiana, after losing James Wiseman and Isaiah Jackson to the same injury in the opening weeks of the season.
Dear NBA teams...
STOP ALLOWING GUYS TO PLAY ON STRAINED CALVES!!!! Please!!!!
There is a responsibility to save players from themselves. NBA Finals or not, this is not worth it. Getty Images
This could be the third star to injure his Achilles in this postseason run, if that is indeed what just happened to Tyrese Haliburton.
This is a devastating trend for the NBA that is going to need a substantial evaluation at the league level to understand why this keeps happening.
This really sucks. These are the injuries you just hate to see. We always want stars to play through injuries and give their all to the team, but this ends up happening far too often.
As Law mentioned, Kevin Durant did it in the NBA Finals six years ago. In Milwaukee this postseason, I watched Damian Lillard try to play through an injury and he ended up tearing his Achilles. It's absolutely brutal to see.