NBA Finals Preview: Pacers vs. Thunder

Episode 86 - June 04, 2025

Let's give a full preview of the upcoming 2025 NBA Finals matchup between the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder. First, I will set the stage with summaries on the different paths that Indiana (1:15) and Oklahoma City (6:09) took to reach this year's Finals. Then, I will run through six "swing factors" that could decide the outcome of the series (11:36), starting with the turnover and transition battle (12:05), the Pacers' ability to hit corner 3s (19:28), Tyrese Haliburton's aggressiveness as a scorer (23:52), Rick Carlisle's willingness to shorten/adjust the rotation (27:13), how OKC balances their one-big vs. two-big lineups (32:28), and how often the games find themselves in clutch time (40:38). Then, I will take a look at what a Finals win (44:48) and loss (56:26) would mean for the Pacers and what a win (58:31) and loss (1:15:14) would mean for the Thunder. And lastly, of course, I will give my formal series prediction and justification (1:18:22).