The Official 2025 NBA Finals Thread: OKC Thunder vs Indiana Pacers

[Chryghst]

Hali such a free throw merchant in this finals

[OKC Thunder fan]

OKC is a lazy ass team on offense. It's all boring iso crap over and over again. No passing.

OKC coach might be good at defense but he has ZERO offensive gameplan other than telling his guys to go play hero ball.

[kipgen]

Originally Posted by Chryghst

Gotta rewatch the game tomorrow, but felt like Hali was hunting Hartenstein and the Chet/Hartenstein lineup exposes OKC to Indiana’s transition offense a lot more than the smaller lineups. Last season showed that Giddey’s development was lagging the rest of the team; I think the last couple series have shown that might be true for Chet as well. Box score doesn’t show it, but the eye test felt he struggled on both ends tonight.

Yeah I don't think the Chet/Hartenstein lineup works here because they can't guard the perimeter as well with those guys and the Pacers love taking threes

Also you're right Chet is getting outmuscled hard here

[Akphillips86]

Originally Posted by kipgen

Yeah I don't think the Chet/Hartenstein lineup works here because they can't guard the perimeter as well with those guys and the Pacers love taking threes

Also you're right Chet is getting outmuscled hard here

Turner killed Holmgren late. I cringed when he was trying to take it right at him multiple times.

Normally I’ll take SGA in iso or off a high ball screen to get the offense running because he’s THAT good and usually makes the right decision whether it’s shoot or pass, but Indiana was finding their way through screens and really blitzed with defensive pressure last night.

I think the Thunder thrive when the defense is reacting to them, but didn’t seem to know how to respond when Indiana came at them first. They were definitely off their game and it came to a head in the fourth quarter.

Next game is must win territory and they definitely need to make some adjustments.


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[blackvodka]

I'll be looking to see if the Pacers keep up the momentum and go in for the kill. OKC hasn't lost two in a row in over two months.

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[yiguiri2002]

Originally Posted by Chryghst

Gotta rewatch the game tomorrow, but felt like Hali was hunting Hartenstein and the Chet/Hartenstein lineup exposes OKC to Indiana’s transition offense a lot more than the smaller lineups. Last season showed that Giddey’s development was lagging the rest of the team; I think the last couple series have shown that might be true for Chet as well. Box score doesn’t show it, but the eye test felt he struggled on both ends tonight.

You are right about transition offense but they gotta take a risk. And you can get away with playing both when Bryant is on the floor as long as Hartenstein is the only one crashing the offensive glass.

Originally Posted by ninjacookies

-Be less dumb/lackadaisical. I mean they lost 4 points alone on inbounds passes to TJ. Very sloppy/uncharacteristic zombie ball from them at times.


Gotta give credit to Indy though. They turned the tables on the defensive side tonight. More active in passing lanes than OKC ever was. This was a win on heart and effort.

24 stocks vs. 10. That's your difference.

Didn't they also foul on the other McConnell steal? Literally, those middle school level passes cost them the game. Can't happen again.

[2010GBPackers]

The Pacers are wearing them down. While OKC is young and runs the floor well, you can tell Indy is so comfortable at a sustained high pace, where OKC likes to mix half-court sets in. OKC is fortunate to have so many 2-day breaks in the Finals. They need game 4 badly.

[Nomad]

So your saying the faster team dictates pace?

[bigunitcards]

OKC -5.5 open for Friday night. I understood us being the favorites last night after the first 2 games, but you'd think this next one would be closer or even tipping to IND in light of how things are trending. Don't get me wrong, OKC is still my team and I think they're the better squad and still capable of figuring things out, but confidence is diminishing.

[Nomad]

just shows how many speculators there still are in the oil industry.

[Akphillips86]

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...05/got-suck-up

Love SGA’s responses. No excuses, not rattled, just focused on doing a better job.

This article definitely points to what I was seeing with the Pacers picking him up early and making him react. Curious to see the Game 4 adjustments.


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[Akphillips86]

Double post

[Retired hobbist]

This potential upset is up there in 7 game series history beyond baseball which is largely a crap out due to hot pitching the NBA has been largely chalk over the years less Golden State having 2 of their Big 3 breakdown simultaneously against Toronto in 19' and the Lebron James win in 16' when Curry was gimpy.

[Asian62150]

Indy picking up SGA the full 94' is paying off huge for them in the 4th. Pretty sure OKC has outscored the Pacers every quarter except the 4th.

OKC needs someone else to bring the ball up but I haven't watched enough OKC games to know if there's anyone else who can initiate their offense.

It's pretty incredible to see Indy throw 5+ guys at SGA and all of them are in his face as soon as he gets the inbounds pass.

[Chryghst]

Originally Posted by Asian62150

Indy picking up SGA the full 94' is paying off huge for them in the 4th. Pretty sure OKC has outscored the Pacers every quarter except the 4th.

OKC needs someone else to bring the ball up but I haven't watched enough OKC games to know if there's anyone else who can initiate their offense.

It's pretty incredible to see Indy throw 5+ guys at SGA and all of them are in his face as soon as he gets the inbounds pass.

I think that was at least one reason they started Cason over Hartenstein. Jdub can dribble too.

[Nomad]

Originally Posted by Retired hobbist

This potential upset is up there in 7 game series history beyond baseball which is largely a crap out due to hot pitching

NBA has been largely chalk over the years less Golden State having 2 of their Big 3 breakdown simultaneously against Toronto in 19' and the Lebron James win in 16' when Curry was gimpy.

Dang. High series praise. No chalk.

Just watching back last night's game. That was a just a fun game to watch. Both teams operating on all cylinders.

[Akphillips86]

Originally Posted by Chryghst

I think that was at least one reason they started Cason over Hartenstein. Jdub can dribble too.

Good point.

They are going to need multiple ball handlers unless they want to waste all the energy in SGA’s tank on just getting the ball up the floor.

Indiana really seemed to find a winning strategy last night. It’s more like an NCAA defense than an NBA defense. Not just any team could pull it off, but Indiana has the guys to do it. Kinda reminds me of University of Houston’s squad this past season.


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[Chryghst]

Originally Posted by Akphillips86

Good point.

They are going to need multiple ball handlers unless they want to waste all the energy in SGA’s tank on just getting the ball up the floor.

Indiana really seemed to find a winning strategy last night. It’s more like an NCAA defense than an NBA defense. Not just any team could pull it off, but Indiana has the guys to do it. Kinda reminds me of University of Houston’s squad this past season.


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Yeah that’s a really good point about a college defense. And significantly more impressive holding it together against NBA players. The crazy thing is not only them picking up full court, but also holding OKC to hardly any fast break points also.

Nate McMillan used to run a play for Trae where they’d inbound to center court and then hand off to Trae who was sprinting up the court. His defender would often get stuck behind him and he’d have a run-out 4v3. Wonder if Dag tries to do something like that or if it would work.

I’m wary of thinking Indiana figured something out when it seems like so much swings game to game these playoffs. Excited for G3 though

[yiguiri2002]

Originally Posted by bigunitcards

OKC -5.5 open for Friday night. I understood us being the favorites last night after the first 2 games, but you'd think this next one would be closer or even tipping to IND in light of how things are trending. Don't get me wrong, OKC is still my team and I think they're the better squad and still capable of figuring things out, but confidence is diminishing.

I think the line was the same for Game 3

[OKC Thunder fan]

Originally Posted by Akphillips86

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...05/got-suck-up

Love SGA’s responses. No excuses, not rattled, just focused on doing a better job.

This article definitely points to what I was seeing with the Pacers picking him up early and making him react. Curious to see the Game 4 adjustments.


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OKC adjustments will be to tell the other 4 players besides SGA to clear a path and just stand there and watch him shoot badly contested mid range shots. That's all they did in game 1 and in game 3. It's whos they are.

I've been saying the same thing for awhile now. OKC doesnt run an offense, they run scattershot plays with no rhyme or reason to it.

I think it should be obvious by now that Pacers have the better offense AND the better defense.

[OKC Thunder fan]

Originally Posted by bigunitcards

OKC -5.5 open for Friday night. I understood us being the favorites last night after the first 2 games, but you'd think this next one would be closer or even tipping to IND in light of how things are trending. Don't get me wrong, OKC is still my team and I think they're the better squad and still capable of figuring things out, but confidence is diminishing.

OKC is NOT the better squad and that should be painfully obvious by now.

OKC may have the greater collection of basketball talent, but they dont play well together.

Pacers are a fundamentally smart offensive team and use ball movement to create way better shots than what OKC generates.

Has anyone really been paying attention to the Pacers defense? They are BETTER than the OKC defense.

[OKC Thunder fan]

Originally Posted by bigunitcards

OKC -5.5 open for Friday night. I understood us being the favorites last night after the first 2 games, but you'd think this next one would be closer or even tipping to IND in light of how things are trending. Don't get me wrong, OKC is still my team and I think they're the better squad and still capable of figuring things out, but confidence is diminishing.

Fortunately I got in before the odds changed and hammered Pacers to win the series outright at +600. Looking forward to a nice little trip to drink away my sorrows after OKC gets exposed as the largest favorite to lose a finals in 25 years.

[Akphillips86]

Lol man, we get it, Indy is playing fantastic and maybe they do take this thing and shock the league. I wouldn’t count any chickens before the eggs hatch either way in this series, it’s a wild one.

You’re just aggressively invested in proclaiming how bad OKC is for a “Thunder fan” who just showed up on the forums.


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[OKC Thunder fan]

Originally Posted by Akphillips86

Lol man, we get it, Indy is playing fantastic and maybe they do take this thing and shock the league. I wouldn’t count any chickens before the eggs hatch either way in this series, it’s a wild one.

You’re just aggressively invested in proclaiming how bad OKC is for a “Thunder fan” who just showed up on the forums.


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You have to be aggressive in the betting markets. What do you think the odds are going to be after OKC loses game 4? Say goodbye to any decent odds for the Pacers as underdogs.

Hitting Pacers +600 is going to put several thousand dollars in my direction.

[Akphillips86]

Originally Posted by OKC Thunder fan

You have to be aggressive in the betting markets. What do you think the odds are going to be after OKC loses game 4? Say goodbye to any decent odds for the Pacers as underdogs.

Hitting Pacers +600 is going to put several thousand dollars in my direction.

Hope it works out for you man, I don’t gamble. You may be right, but there are no guarantees.

I could never let it go if I lost out on money that could have gone to buying groceries. Pretty sure my wife wouldn’t let it go either haha.


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