The 2025 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2024–25 season and conclusion to the season's playoffs. The best-of-seven series ended with the Western Conference champion Oklahoma City Thunder defeating the Eastern Conference champion Indiana Pacers in seven games. The Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was voted the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP), becoming the first Canadian to win the award. The series began on June 5 and ended on June 22 with the first NBA Finals Game 7 since 2016.
With a league-best regular season record of 68–14, the Thunder held home-court advantage in the Finals. They came into the series as heavy favorites against the 50–32 Pacers. The Pacers set an NBA postseason record with five 15-point comebacks. One was in Game 1 of the Finals, when Tyrese Haliburton made a game-winning two-point jump shot with 0.3 seconds left. The teams split the first six games, forcing a decisive Game 7, in which Haliburton tore his right Achilles tendon in the first quarter. The Thunder's victory secured their second championship in franchise history, after their 1979 title as the Seattle SuperSonics, and their first since their 2008 move to Oklahoma City.
The 2025 Finals crowned the NBA's seventh unique champion in seven years, the longest stretch in league history. The 2025 Finals was also the first since 2006 in which both cities were seeking their first NBA championship.
The Thunder's victory was the first championship in any major professional sport for the state of Oklahoma.
Background General This was the first playoff match-up between Oklahoma City and Indiana. Oklahoma City won both of its regular season games against Indiana. The Thunder had not lost a game at home to an Eastern Conference team since losing to the Pacers on March 12, 2024. Both teams were in the Finals after missing the playoffs two seasons prior. This was the smallest NBA Finals in terms of total market size, with the previous lowest mark belonging to Cleveland and San Antonio in 2007. The total television market size comprises fewer than two million households with Indianapolis being the 22nd largest and Oklahoma City being the 26th largest out of 28 markets league-wide. The 2025 Finals also set another milestone; it was the first Finals without a luxury tax team since the salary cap era began in 2002.
Coincidentally, both teams traded former star player Paul George in trades that yielded their best players, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Tyrese Haliburton to the Thunder and the Pacers, respectively. On the eve of free agency in 2017, the Pacers traded George to the Thunder for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis. Sabonis, along with other players, was dealt to the Sacramento Kings for Haliburton and other pieces before the 2022 trade deadline. For Oklahoma City, George starred for the team, finishing third in NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) and Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2018–19, but the team fell in the first round in both his seasons with the club. On July 10, 2019, the Thunder traded George to the Los Angeles Clippers for Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, five first-round draft picks, and the rights to swap two other first-round picks (with one of them used to select Jalen Williams).
The Thunder entered the NBA Finals as the second-largest betting favorite in the previous 20 years, with only the 2018 Golden State Warriors having shorter pre-Finals odds since 2005. The 18-game difference in wins between the teams was the largest among NBA Finals participants since the 1981 Finals between the 62-win Celtics and 40-win Rockets.
Indiana Pacers
From October through December, Indiana was a .500 team or worse, hitting a low point after a loss to Charlotte on December 8 to put their record at 10–15. Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton struggled during this time, saying he was having personal off-court problems. They did not get going until January, when they posted a 10–2 record. The Pacers went 20–9 from the All-Star break until the end of the season. During the turnaround, Haliburton found his rhythm and his stats improved greatly; the team got healthier (starters Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, and Aaron Nesmith all had injuries at the beginning of the year); and their defense improved dramatically, ranking ninth in defensive efficiency after early December. Steady veteran forward Pascal Siakam earned his third career All-Star Game appearance, while Haliburton earned his second straight All-NBA third-team honor. The Pacers' offensive rating ranked second in the league, and they led the league in assist percentage and true shooting percentage as a team. Another strength was their depth, as no Pacers player averaged more than 33.6 minutes per game during the regular season.
The team finished with a record of 50–32, marking Indiana's first 50-win season since 2014 and earning the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. In the First Round, the Pacers met the Milwaukee Bucks, a rematch from the previous year's first round. They won the series in five games, highlighted by a 7-point, 40-second comeback in overtime in Game 5. They then upset the 64-win, top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals in five games, which was again highlighted by an unlikely comeback when they won Game 2 on a Haliburton game-winning three after being down 7 points with 46 seconds left. The Pacers' third improbable comeback was against the New York Knicks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals: down 14 with 2:45 left, the Pacers won in overtime. Indiana was the first team in the play-by-play era (1996–97–present) to win a game where they were trailing by 14 points or more with 2:45 left in the game. In their second straight conference finals, they beat the Knicks in six games. After a 10–15 start, Indiana went 52–21 for the rest of the season.
This was the Pacers' second NBA Finals appearance. Their previous appearance was in 2000, a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Pacers won three ABA championships, but the NBA does not incorporate ABA statistics into its official records. Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, a lead assistant to head coach Larry Bird on the 2000 team, sought his second championship as head coach and third overall. Carlisle won a ring as a player on the 1986 Celtics and as a head coach on the 2011 Mavericks. Siakam returned to the NBA Finals for the second time after winning a championship in 2019 with the Toronto Raptors. The only other players on the roster with Finals experience were Nesmith and December trade acquisition Thomas Bryant; Nesmith played a small role on the 2022 Celtics and Bryant won a championship with the 2023 Nuggets.
Oklahoma City Thunder
In the 2024–25 season, Oklahoma City had its best season in franchise history, finishing 68–14 to secure the top seed in the Western Conference for a second straight year. They did so in dominant fashion, outscoring opponents by 12.9 points per game during the regular season, more than half a point better than the previous record, set by the 1971–72 Los Angeles Lakers when Los Angeles outscored opponents by 12.3 points per game. They were led by the regular season MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who led the league with 32.7 points per game while also averaging 6.4 assists and five rebounds. Third-year player Jalen Williams continued his ascent as one of the league's best forwards, improving in every major statistical category from last season, becoming an All-Star for the first time, and making the third team All-NBA. After losing to the Dallas Mavericks in the 2024 Western Conference semifinals, the team acquired veteran depth pieces Isaiah Hartenstein (via free agency) and Alex Caruso (via trade). Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams, Hartenstein, Caruso, second-year center Chet Holmgren, and guard Luguentz Dort formed a stalwart defensive unit as OKC led the league in most defensive categories; Dort was also rewarded with an All-Defensive first team honor, while Williams was voted to the All-Defensive second team. Rounding out the roster were sharpshooters Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe; second-year player guard Cason Wallace, another great defensive player; and reserve big man Jaylin Williams, who filled in for Holmgren during his two-month absence with a hip injury. For putting this roster together, Thunder executive vice president and general manager Sam Presti was named the 2024–25 NBA Executive of the Year. Head coach Mark Daigneault, who was named Coach of the Year the previous season, came in fourth for the award this season. OKC finished 16 games better than the Houston Rockets, the second-best team in the Western Conference. This margin between a first and second seed was the largest in NBA history.
In the playoffs, the Thunder dispatched the Memphis Grizzlies in a four-game sweep in the First Round. In the Western Conference Semifinals, they defeated the veteran Denver Nuggets in seven games, with a blowout home win in the seventh game. They won the Western Conference finals handily against the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games. The Thunder entered the Finals 8–1 at home, with their only defeat coming on an Aaron Gordon game-winning three in the final seconds of Game 1 of the second round against Denver.
This was the franchise's fifth NBA Finals appearance overall and second since the team's relocation to Oklahoma City. Their last appearance was in 2012, when they lost to the Miami Heat. The franchise also made three Finals appearances as the Seattle SuperSonics, winning one title in 1979. Caruso was the only player or coach on the roster with Finals experience, as he won a championship with the Los Angeles Lakers. The Thunder became the youngest team to make the NBA Finals since the 1977 Portland Trail Blazers.
Road to the Finals
Notes z – Clinched home-court advantage for the entire playoffs c – Clinched home-court advantage for the conference playoffs y – Clinched division title x – Clinched playoff spot pi – Clinched play-in tournament spot * – Division leader
+Playoff resultsIndiana Pacers (Eastern Conference champion) Oklahoma City Thunder (Western Conference champion)Defeated the 5th-seeded Milwaukee Bucks, 4–1First roundDefeated the 8th-seeded Memphis Grizzlies, 4–0Defeated the 1st-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers, 4–1Conference semifinalsDefeated the 4th-seeded Denver Nuggets, 4–3Defeated the 3rd-seeded New York Knicks, 4–2Conference finalsDefeated the 6th-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves, 4–1
Regular season series The Thunder won the regular season series 2–0.
Series summary GameDateRoad teamResultHome teamGame 1 June 5 Indiana Pacers 111–110 (1–0) Oklahoma City ThunderGame 2 June 8 Indiana Pacers 107–123 (1–1) Oklahoma City ThunderGame 3 June 11 Oklahoma City Thunder 107–116 (2–1) Indiana PacersGame 4 June 13 Oklahoma City Thunder 111–104 (2–2) Indiana PacersGame 5 June 16 Indiana Pacers 109–120 (2–3) Oklahoma City ThunderGame 6 June 19 Oklahoma City Thunder 91–108 (3–3) Indiana PacersGame 7 June 22 Indiana Pacers 91–103 (3–4) Oklahoma City Thunder
Game summaries Note: Times are EDT (UTC−4) as listed by the NBA. For games in Oklahoma City, the local time is also given (CDT, UTC−5).
Game 1