Thunder Beat Pacers in Game 7 to Win Franchise's First NBA Championship

The Oklahoma City Thunder are 2024–25 NBA champions. The Thunder beat the Indiana Pacers in Sunday's Game 7, 103–91, behind a dominant second-half defensive performance and star showing from point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Gilgeous-Alexander had 29 points, 12 assists, five rebounds, two blocks and one steal in the series-clincher. While he didn't light it up from the field shooting just 8-of-27 field goal attempts and missing 10 three-pointers, he got it done at the free throw line as he has all year long, making 11-of-12 at the stripe.

Jalen Williams pitched in 20 points and Chet Holmgren added 18 points, eight rebounds and an NBA Finals Game 7 record five blocked shots.

The Pacers put up a good fight considering they lost Tyrese Haliburton early in the game to an Achilles injury. Haliburton hit three big three-pointers before he went down and the Pacers just kept grinding.

T.J. McConnell stepped up again with 16 points and Benedict Mathurin led Indiana in scoring with 24 with both players coming off the bench. The Pacers managed to take a one-point lead into halftime, but the Thunder defense in the second half was just too much to overcome as OKC forced 21 turnovers while just turning the ball over seven times on offense. Points off turnovers played a huge part in the outcome.

McConnell was the only Pacer to score during a long stretch in the third and the Thunder extended the lead to as much as 22 in the fourth quarter before a late push by Indiana made the final score look closer than it felt.

This is the Thunder's first championship since the franchise relocated to Oklahoma (the Seattle Supersonics won the title in 1979). This year's Thunder team is the youngest team to win a championship in four decades, so there will be lots of pressure on the team to repeat next year, just as people expected a return trip to the Finals by the 2024 NBA champion Boston Celtics.