NBA Finals: Winner-Take-All Awaits Pacers, Thunder
With Game 6 now firmly in the rearview mirror, the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder have fixed their gaze solely on one objective: Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals. This decisive matchup, the first winner-take-all final game since 2016, represents the culmination of an entire season’s effort, and both teams are quick to acknowledge the immense privilege and pressure that comes with it.
Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle and Oklahoma City Thunder coach Mark Daigneault both described reaching this point as a “great privilege.” For the players, the sentiment is equally profound. “We have one game for everything, for everything we’ve worked for, and so do they,” said Thunder guard and reigning NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. “The better team Sunday will win.”
History and Momentum Collide
The series itself has been a seesaw battle, with Indiana holding early leads of 1-0 and 2-1, only for Oklahoma City to seize a 3-2 advantage before Game 6. Now, tied at 3-3, it all comes down to one night in Oklahoma City.
Historically, the odds have favored the home team in such high-stakes scenarios. In the NBA Finals, the home club has won 15 of the previous 19 Game 7s. Across all playoff rounds, home teams boast a significant 112-38 record in Game 7s (excluding the 2020 bubble).
However, a compelling recent trend suggests the road might not be so daunting. Visiting teams have remarkably won nine of the last 14 Game 7s played since 2021. Both the Thunder and Pacers have recent, albeit contrasting, Game 7 successes; the Thunder blew out Denver by 32 points at home earlier this postseason, while the Pacers secured a 21-point road victory over New York in last season’s Eastern Conference semifinals.
Haliburton Battles Injury, Thunder Face Pressure
For the Pacers, reaching Game 7 is particularly notable given the health status of star guard Tyrese Haliburton. Despite battling a strained right calf throughout the week, requiring around-the-clock treatment, Haliburton appeared effective in the Game 6 victory. He highlighted the support and accountability from his family in staying on top of his treatment regimen.
Haliburton expressed the overwhelming excitement of the moment. “It’s exciting, man. It’s so, so, exciting,” he said. “As a basketball fan, there’s nothing like a Game 7. There’s nothing like a Game 7 in the NBA Finals. Dreamed of being in this situation my whole life.” He emphasized that past results, including the convincing Game 6 win, are now irrelevant. “What happened in the past doesn’t matter. What happened today doesn’t matter. It’s all about one game.”
On the other side, the Thunder are under immense pressure, particularly after their lopsided Game 6 loss. They were significant favorites entering that game, with betting odds (-1300) heavily skewed towards them closing out the series at home. Yet, a dominant 36-9 second-quarter run by Indiana flipped the script, turning a tight game into a third-quarter blowout and pushing the Thunder, who finished with the NBA’s best regular season record, to the brink.
A win on Sunday would validate their exceptional season with a championship. A loss would see them join a list of elite regular-season teams that couldn’t clinch the ultimate prize. Despite the Game 6 setback, Thunder guard Jalen Williams projected confidence, noting, “They’re going to go into Game 7 confident, and so are we.”
Final Preparations
Both teams are quickly turning the page, dedicating their focus to the upcoming clash. The Thunder returned home immediately after Game 6, while the Pacers were scheduled to travel to Oklahoma City on Friday. Preparations will involve intense film study and final practices, expected to be less physically demanding and more walk-through oriented before the season’s deciding game on Sunday night.
As Pacers guard T.J. McConnell put it after their exhausting Game 6 effort, “But we have to do it again on Sunday.”
One team will hoist the coveted Larry O’Brien Trophy, etching their name into history. The other will face the long offseason left to ponder what could have been. The stage is set for an unforgettable Game 7 in the NBA Finals.
References
- apnews.com
- <a href="https://www.columbiamissourian.com/sports/prosports/for-pacers-and-thunder-theres-no-looking-back-now-all-eyes-are-only-on-game/articleb58cefc2-69a3-5d26-956e-c4dc8cf8c856.html”>www.columbiamissourian.com
