The Oklahoma City Thunder are NBA champions for the first time. The Thunder won the 2025 NBA Finals on Sunday night, pulling away in Game 7 for a 103-91 win over the Indiana Pacers. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander completed his historic season with 29 points, five rebounds and 12 assists to lead the way for the Thunder. SGA, the regular-season MVP, was also named Finals MVP. The Pacers struggled offensively in the second half after star guard Tyrese Haliburton went down in the first quarter with an Achilles injury.
This is the Thunder's first title since relocating to Oklahoma City in 2008. The franchise also won the 1979 championship as the Seattle SuperSonics. They won the 2025 title by being the best team all season long. The Thunder, whose average age is under 26 years old, won and NBA-best 68 games in the regular season. They went 16-7 in the playoffs and needed seven games to get by both the Pacers and the Denver Nuggets.
The Pacers, meanwhile, were massive underdogs in the series. They pushed it to seven games, but their pursuit of the first title in franchise history still came up short.
Game 7 turned when Haliburton went down. The Pacers star strained his calf in Game 5 five days earlier, but he played through the injury in Game 6 and started out hot in Game 7, hitting three 3-pointers in the opening minutes. But with five minutes to go in the first quarter, Haliburton crumbled to the floor and immediately was in serious pain. Haliburton did not return and the fear is he tore his Achilles.
The Pacers stayed in the game throughout the first half and led by one point at halftime, but the Thunder blew things open in the third quarter. OKC began a 19-2 run late in the third quarter and eventually took a 22-point lead. The spurt was sparked by defense. OKC forced a total of 21 turnovers in the game. Chet Holmgren had five blocks, and Lu Dort, Alex Caruso, Cason Wallace and Jalen Williams all had multiple steals.
Gilgeous-Alexander did not have his most efficient night scoring, hitting just two of his 12 3-point attempts, but he dished out the 12 assists and hit 11 free throws. Gilgeous-Alexander became the first player since LeBron James in 2013 to win Finals MVP and regular-season MVP in the same season. He is the first player since Shaquille O'Neal in 2000 to win MVP, Finals MVP and the NBA's scoring title in the same season.
OKC also got 20 points from Williams and 18 points from Holmgren. The Pacers did not go quietly, making a late push to get the lead down to 10 points. But after a few miracles in these playoffs, they did not have a final stunning comeback in store. Bennedict Mathurin led the Pacers offensively, scoring a team-best 24 points.
This was the 20th Game 7 in Finals history, and the 15th won by the home team. The Thunder are also the first team to hit 100 points in a Finals Game 7 since 1988.
Haliburton's injury changes the game, Pacers' future
In the middle of the first quarter, Tyrese Haliburton tried to drive to the basket and collapsed to the ground. He immediately began slapping the floor with his hands and screamed out in distress as the Pacers' entire contingent rushed to his side. His teammates and coaches formed a circle around him as the medical staff assessed the situation, which was clearly not good.
Haliburton was eventually lifted to his feet but could not put any weight on his right leg and had to be helped off the floor. Replays appeared to show Haliburton possibly tearing his Achilles tendon, but that has not yet been confirmed. The team officially ruled him out with a lower leg injury. Haliburton had been playing with a calf strain.
While the Pacers initially fought hard without their star player, they were unable to withstand the Thunder's defensive pressure in the second half. The 21 turnovers led to 32 Thunder points. There's certainly no guarantee the Pacers win if Haliburton doesn't go down, but it's hard to imagine the game playing out the same way if he was out there to control the ball.
Beyond this game, Haliburton's injury completely alters the Pacers' future. He could very well miss all of next season, which essentially rules the Pacers out as a contender in the Eastern Conference. It will also change how they approach the offseason, when they have some big decisions to make. Most notably, Myles Turner is an unrestricted free agent. Will the Pacers pay up to keep him now that Haliburton might be gone until the 2026-27 season?
This was a truly brutal turn of events for Haliburton, the Pacers and the city of Indianapolis.
"What happened with Tyrese, all of our hearts dropped," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "But he will be back. I don't have any medical information about what may or may not have happened, but he'll be back in time, and I believe he'll make a full recovery.
"He authored one of the great individual playoff runs in the history of the NBA with dramatic play after dramatic play. It was just something that no one's ever seen and did it as 1 of 17. You know, that's the beautiful thing about him. As great a player as he is, it's always a team thing. And so, our hearts go out to him."
Gilgeous-Alexander caps off historic season with Finals MVP
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander took his game to another level this season, and won the scoring title with a career-high 32.7 points per game and his first MVP award. Now, he can add a championship and a Finals MVP to his résumé. With a 29-point, five-rebound, 12-assist effort in Game 7 on Sunday, Gilgeous-Alexander capped one of the best individual campaigns in league history.
Gilgeous-Alexander became the first player in 25 years, and fourth ever, to win the scoring title MVP and Finals MVP in the same season. The others are Kareem Abdul-Jabar (1971), Michael Jordan (1991, 1992, 1996, 1998) and Shaquille O'Neal (2000).
"Yeah, it's hard to believe that I'm part of that group. It's hard to even fathom that I'm that type of basketball player sometimes," Gilgeous-Alexander said.
"As a kid, you dream. Every kid dreams. But you don't ever really know if it's going to come true. I'm just glad and happy that my dreams have been able to come true. That's a "thank you" to everyone that's been in my corner that helped me get there. Wouldn't have been able to get here without them. They know who they are. Yeah, it's a win for the family."
During the Finals, Gilgeous-Alexander had three 30-point games and averaged 30.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 1.9 steals and 1.6 blocks. Among all players in the series he was first in scoring, second in assists, third in steals and tied for first in blocks.
Thunder's defense delivers one last time
The Thunder were the best defensive team in the league this season, and that remained true throughout the playoffs. Their 105.7 defensive rating in the postseason was by far the best mark of any of the 16 teams this time around, and the best by a champion since the 2019 Raptors.
For all of the debate about the Thunder's physicality and how they are officiated, there's no getting around the fact that they are one of the best defensive groups in recent memory. Their connectivity and willingness to make multiple efforts overwhelmed teams all season long.
It was fitting that the Thunder clinched the first title in OKC history with another incredible effort on that side of the ball. The Thunder held the Pacers to 41.4% shooting from the field. In the second half, in particular, the Pacers had an extremely difficult time creating good looks on offense.
"Their pressure can really get to you but I was just trying to be aggressive and had some uncharacteristic turnovers but that happens," Pacers guard T.J. McConnell said. "Just proud of the fight. We fought to the end. Credit to OKC. They are just really good."
