The Oklahoma City Thunder dominated the second half of Game 7 of the NBA Finals to secure the 103-91 victory over the Indiana Pacers. This game will forever be tainted by the heartbreaking Achilles injury suffered by Pacers All-Star Tyrese Haliburton, but it was an incredible effort nonetheless from a very deserving OKC team.
After winning 68 games, slicing through the Western Conference gauntlet and now winning the NBA title, this OKC team has cemented its place in NBA history. This is the youngest team ever to appear in the Finals. It also boasts the largest average point differential (+12.8) of any team in NBA history. What a special group. What a special win.
OKC fans have been waiting for this for a long time. The organization is still relatively new, having arrived in Oklahoma City in 2008, but that does not detract from how incredible the accomplishment is. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander fittingly caps off an MVP campaign with the Finals MVP award. This is one of the single most dominant individual seasons, front to back, that we have ever seen.
OKC fans react to Thunder's Game 7 NBA Finals win over Pacers
THE OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER ARE NBA CHAMPIONS ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/2Xy8KntI7I
— TF (@ThunderFocus) June 23, 2025
on behalf of every Thunder fan,
— 𝙎𝙠𝙮𝙚𝙙 🇦🇺 (@SkyedOKC) June 23, 2025
thank you, @Dame_Lillard ❤️ pic.twitter.com/RBXiLxmbbI
I wrote this when I joined the team in 2021 as the Thunder were on the front end of their rebuild.
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) June 23, 2025
I’ve thought about it a lot as this team has rapidly climbed to new heights. pic.twitter.com/2uzgeyr192
These guys laid down the blueprint.
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) June 23, 2025
Congrats, OKC. pic.twitter.com/gb1aqjWA49
From the 3-29 start in the inaugural season in OKC..
— Brandon Rahbar (@BrandonRahbar) June 23, 2025
..to the meteoric rise of the KD/Russ/Harden team.
..to the thrill of making the 2012 Finals and the promise of more to come.
..to 3 title-contending seasons taken away by injuries to Russ/KD/Ibaka.
..to being up 3-1 in the… pic.twitter.com/NqZPMNfyrK
What a run for OKC. We can't know what the future holds, but we can celebrate greatness when it's right in front of us. The Thunder are built to sustain success for years to come, but the NBA is ever unpedictable. We don't know if OKC can repeat in a stacked West. We don't know if the Thunder will live up to the Steph Curry Warriors or the Tim Duncan Spurs or the Michael Jordan Bulls. But this team, this season, was as dominant a unit as we have ever seen.
Major props belong to the Pacers, who looked more than ready to compete in this game before the Haliburton injury. He poured in nine points in seven minutes before collapsing to the floor, and Indy still led at halftime despite missing its offensive centerpiece. The Pacers enjoyed an unprecedented underdog run to simply reach this point. It ended on a bummer note, with one of the most heartbreaking twists in recent NBA history, but we should also celebrate Indiana.
This was the first Game 7 in the NBA Finals since 2016. While there is bound to be discourse about whether or not OKC "earned" this win after the Haliburton injury, basketball is a grueling sport. The reach the finish line in first place is an impossible feat, regardless of circumstance. The Thunder maintained their dominance from the jump this season, despite a lengthy injury absence from Chet Holmgren and the natural follies of the youth. So yeah, miss me with any "OKC got lucky" takes, because this was a fitting end to an all-time run.
The fans are hyped. As they should be. And, as we know, OKC already has the buses painted and ready to roll for the parade in a few days.