NBA FINALS RECAP

The 2024/2025 NBA season has officially wrapped up after the Oklahoma City Thunder were crowned champions following their 103-91 win over the Indiana Pacers in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. This victory marks the franchise’s first championship since relocating to Oklahoma City from Seattle in 2008. The finale for the Thunder caps off an incredible campaign, finishing with a 68-14 regular season record and 16-7 in the postseason. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the centerpiece for the organization, capped off an incredible season bringing home colossal honors as the league MVP, Western Conference Finals MVP, and Finals MVP. The distinction does not stop there, as Gilgeous-Alexander also earned marks as the league leader in scoring as well as earning a First Team All-NBA selection. 

Gilgeous-Alexander was brilliant during this series, averaging 30/4/6 on 44% shooting on roughly 23 shots a game. So much of his game is built around those in-between areas as well as being a provider for open looks for his teammates by creating drive and kick opportunities. Shai garners a lot of attention when he has the ball and is able to pull defenders away from spot-up shooters very well. In addition, I think the Canadian superstar has certainly figured out what his best move is and sticks to it very closely. It’s a dribble drive until he’s 10-12 feet away from the basket, a bump into his defender, and then a stepback jumper that usually sees the bottom of the net. 

Additionally, a lot of discussion regarding the ethics of Gilgeous-Alexander’s game took place over the course of the season and continued on into the playoffs. Through close observation, I certainly believe he gets a whistle that a lot of players do not have. Statistics will tell you that this is not the case but I believe it’s more of a qualitative matter rather than a quantitative one. I don’t think the issue is that Shai shoots an exorbitant amount of free throws, which he doesn’t, but it’s that he gets a lot of extremely dodgy calls. On the flip side, I also believe he is quite crafty in that he has learned very well how to bait defenders into illegal contact. To me, this is mostly a reffing issue. If they kept their whistle consistent for other stars in the league, I don’t think there would be any discussion to be had at all.

OKC has built a terrific roster around their 26-year-old superstar and the franchise has shown everybody how important it is to build a deep roster. A lot of these players in supporting roles like Lu Dort, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, Alex Caruso, so on and so forth excel because they understand their role and play it to a T. The identity of a role player is to stick to your duty. When you’re in this spot, you might not be the go-to-guy who’s getting 25 or 30 shots a game, but you’re tasked with less glamorous jobs like playing solid defense, rebounding, as well as spacing the floor on offense or being ready at a moment’s notice to take advantage of a catch and shoot opportunity. A massive aspect of this OKC team’s identity is their ridiculous appetite on defense. Every single player in their rotation buys into this part of the game and it’s apparent on every single possession. A lot of times during opposition possessions, it seems like they have a couple extra players on the court with how much space they are able to cover. They play passing lanes incredibly well, defend ball handlers with extreme physicality, understand when and where to help, and maintain their defensive shape with superb discipline. The Thunder were able to force the Pacers to cough up the ball an average of 17 times a game during this series, further emphasizing their dedication to good individual and team defense.

I learned a lot about Shai’s two sidekicks during this series as well. Jalen Williams is an exceptional number two option. He’s the epitome of what skillset the modern day wing should have to contribute to a winning team. He has a ridiculously long wingspan at 7’3” which allows him to defend extremely well and he has a reliable shot from range. Williams is also fully capable of getting you a bucket in isolation. Without a doubt, his highlight for this series is going to be the 40-point explosion he had in Game 5. If he continues to produce at the rate he is as the second guy, Oklahoma City is in very good shape going into the future.

Onto Holmgren. He’s very raw. I think the big man has a lot of room to grow but initial signs are promising. He’s able to stretch the floor, he’s got good defensive instincts, and he adds a surplus to the scoresheet with minimal responsibility. At the moment  the particular role that he has at the moment is arguably the safest one a player can have in basketball. If they lose and he has a bad performance, no one’s gonna pin it on him because nobody is expecting him to carry the responsibility of scoring in the first place. This gives him freedom from scrutiny and the chance to grow with little resistance. With all of that in mind, I still think he’s a very valuable asset to have for the Thunder. He’s a tough matchup for traditional bigs because he’s very mobile at his height, he’s able to pull them away from the rim, and he’s also able to put the ball on the deck and make them use their feet. With championship experience now under his belt at 23, he certainly has the chance to make waves.   

Over to the other side. I’ll just say this to start. I’m always gonna be thinking about how differently Game 7 may have gone if Tyrese Haliburton did not tear his achilles right in the beginning of the game. He started the game off 3/4 from three and looked like he was about to have an all-timer. Conversely, he may have also just laid an egg for the rest of the game. Unfortunately we’ll never know and this is especially painful for Pacers fans. I think the warning sign was definitely there for Haliburton given the fact that he was playing with a calf strain. This injury in particular makes athletes really susceptible to tears of the achilles’ tendon. However, I think if you asked players in the league if they’d be willing to take that risk in Game 7, just about all of them would say yes without a second thought. As a neutral, I feel like I was robbed of a really good game. Truthfully, this game felt like it was over in the third quarter once the lead for OKC hit 20. It did not seem like Indiana had any more black magic left in the tank after such a long series. Quite frankly it seemed like just about everybody not named TJ McConnell or Benedict Mathurin had checked out. Concentration seemed to be at an all-time low at a critical moment for the organization. Unforced turnovers were a massive story for the Pacers in this game. I really wish I could say they deserved anything out of this game but if you’re struggling to do the basics like screening legally, catching the basketball, boxing out your man, and inbounding the ball within the legal amount of time in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, you’re as good as toast.

With all of that being said, I think the run that Indiana put together during this postseason as well as this series was incredibly impressive. There were so many iconic moments during their run that I feel will unfortunately be forgotten about over time because they failed to finish the job. I think they’re an incredibly fun team to watch. They play at breakneck speed and love to play downhill. Throughout this series, there was never a point in which I believed OKC was the clear favorite. People seemingly continued to sleep on Indiana right up until the very end. “They can’t keep going like this, can they?” Was a question all of us were asking ourselves throughout this postseason until it was all over. Unfortunately the Cinderella ending was not there to be had which is a real shame considering some of the terrific performances their players had given. I’ve had that Andrew Nembhard stepback three over Shai in Game 1 etched in my mind since it happened. Overall, I thought Pascal Siakam was terrific over the course of the 7 game series as well but had such a regrettable Game 7. Toppin as well, maybe to a more severe degree given the fact that he wasn’t able to contribute a single point to the Pacers’ tally in Game 7. 

I think the concept of two small market teams making the finals is a very good sign for the league. Parity is at an all-time high in that regard. I genuinely feel bad for people who tuned out of this series because two less traditional powers were involved. This was a fantastic series to observe. If you’re a fan of the sport, this matchup was a joy to watch.