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The NBA Finals kick off on Thursday night in a battle of two small-market teams who have proven they belong.
The title will run through Oklahoma City, as the Thunder, the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, play host to the Indiana Pacers.
OKC went 68-14 over the regular season with MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leading the way.
As for the Pacers, they are the heavy underdogs, having won 18 fewer games. However, their 50-32 record was good for fourth in the East.
Indiana is in its first Finals since 2000, and history repeated itself this year. Just like that team 25 years ago, they defeated the New York Knicks to get here. They had previously beaten their division rivals in the Milwaukee Bucks and Cleveland Cavaliers in five and six games, respectively, before taking down New York in six contests.
It is a bit of a magic carpet ride for the Pacers, who have had miraculous comebacks this postseason. In nearly 1,500 playoff games since 1997, only four times has a team come back to win after trailing by seven-plus points in the final minute of the fourth quarter or overtime – the Pacers have won three of those games this season alone. A win would be their first NBA title, but they did win three ABA championships in the early 1970s.
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The Thunder, though, are a different animal – they had, by far, the best defensive rating in the association. They did have trouble with the Denver Nuggets, beating them in seven games in the second round, but they took care of business against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals in five games.
They swept the Memphis Grizzlies to begin their playoff quest.
OKC is in its first Finals since Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden lost to the Miami Heat, who were in their second year of the Big Three comprised of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. OKC’s three-headed monster four years later blew a 3-1 series lead to the 73-9 Golden State Warriors (James returned the favor with the Cleveland Cavaliers), and in recent years since, it has been a huge struggle for the Thunder.
However, this is, by far, the best squad they have had since making the move from Seattle in 2008, and a win would be their first since heading east. The SuperSonics won the title in 1979.
The Finals format is 2-2-1-1-1, with Games 1 and 2 in Oklahoma City on Thursday and Sunday, and Games 3 and 4 in Indianapolis next Wednesday and Friday. If necessary, Game 5 would take place on June 16 back in Oklahoma, with Game 6 in Indy three days later. Game 7 would be back in OKC on June 22.
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