NBA news: Oklahoma City Thunder vs Indiana Pacers – Schedule, key battles & suggested bets

The NBA Finals are here, and we’re getting a fresh champion – after powering through opposite ends of the play-off bracket, it’s Oklahoma City Thunder vs Indiana Pacers.

These are two teams chasing a first-ever title, and neither is looking remotely out of place on the sport’s biggest stage.

Oklahoma, for their part, were the league’s most complete team all year and will enter the 2025 NBA Finals as strong favourites, but don’t count out the Pacers.

Tyrese Haliburton and co. have taken down the Bucks, Cavs, and Knicks with tempo, spacing, and a belief that’s grown with every round. The question now is whether they can match the most balanced line-up in basketball.

Here, Sports News Blitz writer George Dempsey breaks down the schedule, takes a look at five key battles, and offers up some tasty bets.

Schedule & how to watch

The 2025 NBA Finals get underway on Thursday, June 5, in Oklahoma City.

As the higher seed, the Thunder will host Games 1, 2, 5, and 7 if needed.

All games will be shown live in the UK on Sky Sports and NBA League Pass, while US viewers can tune in via ABC and ESPN.

Here’s the full schedule at a glance:

Game 1: Pacers @ Thunder – Thursday, June 5 (8:30 PM ET / 1:30 AM BST)

Game 2: Pacers @ Thunder – Sunday, June 8 (8:00 PM ET / 1:00 AM BST)

Game 3: Thunder @ Pacers – Wednesday, June 11 (8:30 PM ET / 1:30 AM BST)

Game 4: Thunder @ Pacers – Friday, June 13 (8:30 PM ET / 1:30 AM BST)

Game 5: Pacers @ Thunder – Monday, June 16 (8:30 PM ET / 1:30 AM BST)

Game 6: Thunder @ Pacers – Thursday, June 19 (8:30 PM ET / 1:30 AM BST)

Game 7: Pacers @ Thunder – Sunday, June 22 (8:00 PM ET / 1:00 AM BST)

READ MORE: NBA news: Indiana Pacers, Tyrese Haliburton clinch Finals berth with victory over New York Knicks

Team overview – Oklahoma City Thunder

The Thunder arrived in the postseason with the best record in the Western Conference, the MVP in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and the most complete top-to-bottom roster in the league.

After recording 68 regular-season wins, Oklahoma then blew out opponents by 30+ points four times in the play-offs and dropped just three games en route to the Finals.

They moreover went 29-1 against Eastern Conference teams this season – no team in league history has done that before.

Their defensive engine has been remarkable too, forcing more turnovers than anyone and converting them at a frightening clip.

Indeed, through the play-offs, OKC has averaged 23.8 points off turnovers per game and allowed just 104.7 points per 100 possessions.

Oklahoma also lead all teams in play-off defensive rating and continue to crank up the pressure game by game.

Every rotation player can switch, rotate, press, and recover. And with Chet Holmgren anchoring the paint and Lu Dort shadowing the opponent’s best guard, there are no soft spots.

At the other end, the Thunder are quick, slick, and elite in the open court.

SGA’s scoring touch and tempo control remain unmatched, while Jalen Williams has turned into a reliable second option.

The team’s ball movement and perimeter shooting – 17 three-pointers in the last regular-season meeting with Indiana – offers yet another layer of danger.

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Team overview – Indiana Pacers

The Pacers struggled through injuries and inconsistency early on, but they’ve been one of the NBA’s most dangerous teams since flipping the switch midseason.

They stormed through the play-offs with a blend of pace, depth, and gutsy execution that’s seen them take down three of the East’s top contenders.

Indiana enter the Finals off a 30-point rout of the Knicks, capping a six-game series in which Pascal Siakam looked like the best player on the court.

Tyrese Haliburton, meanwhile, has averaged nearly a 19-10 double-double in the play-offs and emerged as the clutch orchestrator behind three separate fourth-quarter comebacks.

A bench led by T.J. McConnell and Obi Toppin then keeps the throttle down.

The Pacers, it must be said, are built to run you over – they’ve posted the second-best offensive rating in the postseason at 117.7 and, when the tempo hits top gear, it’s hard for any defence to keep up.

Although Indiana were swept in the regular season series with OKC, this is a different Pacers team, one that’s already overcome double-digit deficits, buzzer-beater situations, and top-three seeds.

Their biggest challenge now is sustaining that level against a team as disciplined and disruptive as the Thunder.

With that said, what the Pacers lack in individual accolades, they more than make up for in belief and cohesion.

READ NEXT: NBA news: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander crowned MVP after historic season

Key battles to anticipate

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander vs Tyrese Haliburton

This is the first Finals match-up between All-NBA point guards since Steph Curry vs Kyrie Irving in 2015 and, stylistically, it’s apples and oranges.

SGA is a surgical scorer who controls tempo and punishes mismatches, whereas Haliburton is the league’s premier playmaker, averaging close to 10 assists while orchestrating Indiana’s breakneck offence.

The issue? Haliburton has struggled mightily against OKC’s pressure. In four recent meetings, he’s averaged just 12 points per game and taken only two free throws.

In that, Dort has successfully blanketed him, holding him to 10 field-goal attempts across 122 defensive match-ups.

And ultimately, if Haliburton can’t create, Indiana’s flow breaks down early.

Pacers’ tempo vs Thunder’s discipline

The Pacers live in transition, leading all play-off teams in offensive rating and ranking near the top for fast-break points.

However, so far this postseason, the Thunder have handled speed and chaos better than anyone, allowing just 9.1 transition points per game, second only to Indiana themselves.

The challenge for Indiana is that Oklahoma don’t give up live-ball turnovers much, which means fewer chances to run.

OKC’s switch-heavy defence eliminates breakdowns, and their length at every position serves to shrink the court.

Against the Knicks, the Pacers found success when pushing the pace and avoiding isolation traps – they’ll need to rediscover that rhythm against a team that won’t give them easy buckets.

Jalen Williams vs Myles Turner (plus Indiana’s drop coverage)

One of the subtler match-ups is between Oklahoma’s rising star Jalen Williams and Indiana’s interior anchor Myles Turner.

The Pacers typically defend pick-and-rolls with drop coverage, relying on Turner’s shot-blocking to protect the rim. 

But that approach plays right into Williams’ strength: elite mid-range scoring. He ranks in the 90th-percentile for mid-range efficiency and feasts on space when defenders sag.

OKC’s offence often shifts responsibility away from SGA by allowing Williams to initiate, forcing Turner to hedge higher or risk surrendering clean looks.

That stress could wear down Indiana’s big man, who also carries rim-protection duties at the other end.

Nesmith and Nembhard’s defence vs Oklahoma’s offence

While all eyes will be on the stars, Indiana’s chances may rest with Aaron Nesmith and Andrew Nembhard.

They’ve been the heartbeat of the Pacers’ perimeter defence throughout the play-offs, often drawing the toughest assignments.

In all likelihood, Nembhard will start on SGA, with Nesmith sliding over to Williams.

Both will need to bring elite physicality without falling into foul trouble, something they struggled with in the March meeting between these sides, where SGA drew five fouls between them and shot a perfect 11-of-11 at the line.

Offensively, though, both guards are much more than just defenders.

Nembhard’s shot creation has greatly improved, and Nesmith has come up big with timely drives and backdoor cuts – if they can hold up on both ends, it could tip a game.

Indiana’s bench vs Oklahoma’s bench

Depth has played a crucial role for both teams so far.

Indiana’s bench thrives on pace and movement, often flipping the momentum thanks to second-unit runs, with McConnell especially effective at keeping the tempo high when Haliburton rests.

Oklahoma, on the other hand, get impact minutes from Isaiah Joe, Cason Wallace, and Alex Caruso – their combination of defence and timely shooting allows the Thunder to extend leads or protect them without overextending starters.

In the end, it’s a clash of energy vs efficiency, and whichever unit finds its rhythm first could swing a game or two.

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Suggested bets

Oklahoma enter the NBA Finals as heavy favourites, with odds as low as 1/6 to win the championship – in the last 20 years, only the Golden State Warriors in 2018 began the Finals with shorter odds.

That reflects the Thunder's dominant 68-14 regular-season record and impressive play-off performances, including a 29-1 record against Eastern Conference teams.

All odds quoted below are from FanDuel with fractional odds in brackets.

Oklahoma City Thunder to win 4-2: 15/4 +410 (15/4)

Indiana are gritty and explosive enough to pinch a couple at home, but OKC’s elite defence and depth should wear them down across the series. A 4-2 finish feels like the sweet spot.

Indiana Pacers to win Game 1 and lose series: +500 (5/1)

The Pacers are flying high after a red-hot closeout win over New York, and Game 1 has all the makings of a let-down spot for the Thunder after a long lay-off, but over seven games class tells.

Over 5.5 games: +106 (53/50)

This one is for those who believe in the Pacers’ resilience. They’ve pulled off three epic comebacks already this postseason, so maybe they can drag the series to six or seven?

Indiana Pacers +2.5 games: -104 (25/26)

Indiana may be underdogs, but they are not pushovers. If Haliburton and Siakam stay hot and the role players contribute, this number could look generous.

Finals MVP – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: -550 (2/11)

Averaging 29.8 PPG and slicing up defences with surgical precision, SGA is ready. If OKC win, he wins. However, there’s no value in backing him alone.

Finals MVP outsider – Pascal Siakam: +1900 (19/1)

He torched the Knicks and dropped three 30-point games across the Eastern Conference Finals. If Indiana shocks the world against Oklahoma, the ECF MVP will be at the centre of it.

MORE FROM GEORGE DEMPSEY: Why you should bet on the Oklahoma City Thunder to win the NBA Playoffs