Thunder storm past Pacers in seven-game standoff

Canada Basketball celebrates with record four players in NBA Finals, Canadian Finals MVP

Zafir Nagji, Sports Editor |

In a true David vs. Goliath-style fight to the finish, the Indiana Pacers took on the Oklahoma City Thunder in a gruelling seven-game series in the 2025 NBA Finals. However, the Pacers could not slingshot their way past the Thunder, who took home their first Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy behind the first Canadian Finals MVP in NBA history.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 30.3 points per game and dropped 29 points and 12 assists in OKC’s 103-91 Game 7 win, but the series was marked by tragedy as Pacers star point guard Tyrese Haliburton tore his right Achilles tendon in the early stages of the first quarter of the final game.

Oh, Canada, we ball on guard for thee!

This year’s NBA Finals saw a record-high four Canadians hit the hardwood – Luguentz Dort and Gilgeous-Alexander for the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Andrew Nembhard and Benedict Mathurin for the Indiana Pacers. Plus, Toronto Raptors fans will have a soft spot for Cameroonian forward Pascal Siakam, who was the clear second-best player in the Canadian team’s Cinderella run to the 2019 NBA Championship against the Golden State Warriors.

This year’s championship-winning OKC Thunder also became the fourth consecutive team with at least one Canadian player on their roster to win an NBA championship.

This maple-flavoured success comes two years after Canada Basketball beat Team USA Basketball at the 2023 FIBA World Cup and one year after making an appearance at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games Men’s Basketball Quarter Finals.

Storming past the competition

The Oklahoma City Thunder were the second-favourite team to win the NBA Championship at the beginning of the season at +675 according to basketball-reference.com and posted a league-best 68-14 record during the regular season, even making it to the NBA In-Season Tournament Championship Final.

However, they were also the second-youngest team to play in the NBA Finals and the second-youngest to win it, behind only the 1977 Portland Trail Blazers. As a result, many fans and media members alike doubted if they’d have the mettle to compete with more experienced teams in the playoffs. That skepticism was quickly dispelled when they beat the Denver Nuggets in the second round of the Western Conference Playoffs, outlasting three-time regular season MVP and 2023 NBA Finals MVP Nikola Jokic in a gruelling seven-game series.

A team only goes as far as its best player takes them, and superstar point guard Gilgeous-Alexander put together one of the greatest individual seasons of all time to bring the Larry O’Brien Trophy home. He became the first player to win the scoring title, regular-season Most Valuable Player and Finals Most Valuable Player since Shaquille O’Neal in 2000, averaging a career-high 32.7 points per game during the regular season. Gilgeous-Alexander continued to elevate his play in the postseason as he scored the ninth-most points of any player in a single playoff run (688) as well as the 12th-most points of any player in a single NBA Finals series (212).

While Gilgeous-Alexander dominated on offence, his Thunder teammates made their opponents’ lives truly difficult on the defensive end, generating more steals per 100 possessions than any team in the past 12 seasons. A huge part of that was Jalen Williams, who earned NBA All-Star, All-NBA and All-Defensive honours, all for the first time in his career this season.

The sad ending to an unbelievable underdog story

While the Thunder certainly made a memorable run to their well-deserved championship, it’s impossible to talk about Game 7 without mentioning Pacers’ star point guard Haliburton’s tragic injury. After draining three tough three-pointers in the first quarter, Haliburton tore his Achilles tendon trying to dribble past a defender. He had been dealing with a calf strain for the majority of the playoffs that had been further aggravated in the NBA Finals, but refused to miss his team’s biggest moment.

Haliburton joins his teammates James Wiseman and Isaiah Jackson, along with New Orleans guard Dejounte Murray, Miami guard Dru Smith, Boston superstar Jayson Tatum, and Bucks guard Damian Lillard on the list of seven players to tear their Achilles tendons this season. That’s a 350% increase in that injury compared to the yearly average in the NBA. The league is reportedly employing the services of Artificial Intelligence to investigate the issue, as many of the injuries have happened during similar motions, specifically when a player is trying to blow by their opponent using a “negative step,” or backwards step, to explode into a sprint.

However, the Indiana Pacers should not consider this season a failure by any means – no one even expected them to make it to the NBA Finals. Indiana’s odds to win a championship were +6600 before the start of the season, according to basketball-reference.com. They paid no heed to their odds, posting the second-best record of any team after Jan. 1, 2025 behind only the OKC Thunder and converted five successful 15-point comeback victories in the NBA Playoffs, four of which came in the last minute of each game.

Haliburton was arguably the most important player in their playoff run, even though Siakam was the team’s leading scorer and seen as their best overall performer. In every clutch moment, it was Haliburton taking control of the game and taking, not to mention making, every important shot. The point guard hit four go-ahead or game-tying shots in this postseason alone, taking his career total to five – that’s tied for second-most in the NBA’s play-by-play era (since 1997-98), drawing even with all-time Pacers legend Reggie Miller and trailing only LeBron James, who has made eight such shots.

All of this makes it ultimately more sad that the young, burgeoning star couldn’t end his record-breaking season with the 2025 NBA Championship and will now likely miss the entire 2025-26 season. That being said, because Haliburton does not rely on overwhelming his opponents with athleticism, being a deadeye shooter and adept playmaker, the 25-year-old has a great chance at making a full recovery for the 2026-27 season. Until then, the Pacers will have a season to evaluate the players around Haliburton and potentially even make some moves to spice up the roster as they gear up for their point guard’s eventual return.

The house always wins

The NBA reported a steep decline in viewership during the regular season, citing the presidential election and a rise in illegal streaming as potential reasons. However, according to the NBA’s official website, the 2025 NBA postseason, Playoffs and Finals included, averaged 6.12 million viewers per game, a 10% increase from last year, with the NBA Finals generating a record five billion views and counting across all social media platforms –  a 215% increase from last year.

Game 7 was the most watched NBA Finals game in six years, averaging a whopping 16.4 million viewers on ABC and peaking at 19.3 million viewers. Overall, the seven-game series accounted for the seven most-watched primetime television programs in the past two months.

The combination of the underdog vs. title favourite narrative and the closeness of competition, not to mention the fast style of play put on by two incredibly young teams, gave fans an NBA Finals series for the ages. Haliburton’s miraculous moments in clutch games throughout the playoffs gave fans a new star to ride behind, while Gilgeous-Alexander’s consistently reliable offence gave fans a reason to believe in Canadian basketball.

With so much premier talent sidelined by tragic injuries, the 2025-26 season presents an opportunity for new players and teams to make their mark in the NBA’s history books.