Tyrese Haliburton's injury isn't the only thing derailing tonight's NBA Finals rematch

The Pacers and Thunder meet on Thursday, but the matchup isn't quite the same as the one we saw last year to decide the NBA Championship.
2025 NBA Finals - Game Seven
2025 NBA Finals - Game Seven | Matthew Stockman/GettyImages

Four months ago, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers were meeting for the highest prize in the NBA world. By now, you likely know that the two teams squared off in the 2025 NBA Finals, with the Thunder beating the Pacers in Game 7 to nab the franchise's first title since moving from Seattle. All in all, it was a memorable, entertaining, and highly competitive series, though Game 7 itself was marred by the unfortunate Achilles injury to Tyrese Haliburton.

Not long after the playoffs ended, Haliburton had surgery, and the Pacers rather quickly announced that the All-Star point guard would be sidelined for the entire 2025-26 season. Also, this summer, Indiana lost stalwart big man Myles Turner in free agency, as he shockingly signed with the Milwaukee Bucks following Milwaukee's highly aggressive waive-and-stretch of future Hall of Fame guard Damian Lillard. That sequence of events led to a downsizing of expectations for the 2025-26 Pacers, simply because of the limitations that come with a team missing its best player and losing one of its other top options for nothing in free agency.

Beyond that, the NBA scheduled a meeting between the Thunder and Pacers for the first week of the 2025-26 campaign, placing the NBA Finals rematch in a standalone, nationally televised window on the third day of the season. While there is still clear appeal in a relatively quick rematch between NBA Finals opponents, a lot of the air is out of the balloon for reasons beyond Haliburton or even Turner.

These are not the same teams that played in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals

Namely, neither team is at full strength for Thursday's matchup, even when setting aside the long-term ailments and absences. For the Thunder, Jalen Williams (wrist), Alex Caruso (concussion), Isaiah Joe (knee), and Kenrich Williams (knee) have been ruled out, with Lu Dort (ankle) and Cason Wallace (knee) listed as questionable as of Thursday afternoon. Oklahoma City has one of the NBA's deepest rosters, with reigning NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, and others still more than capable of captaining the ship. Still, the Thunder aren't quite the same without Williams and Caruso, in particular, and it could be worse from a roster standpoint by tip-off.

Indiana's side is less hobbled, though T.J. McConnell also sidelined for the Pacers with a hamstring injury. With Haliburton already out, McConnell is an even more important piece for Indiana, which is tough when navigating the on-ball pressure and general defensive intensity of the Thunder. In addition, the Pacers simply have modest expectations overall this season, with many projecting Indiana to miss the playoffs, and Indiana remains a sizable underdog in the betting market even with OKC's busy injury report.

From an overall standpoint, a matchup between the Pacers and Thunder should still be intriguing. Both teams play with pace. Both teams play intriguing basketball from a stylistic perspective. Gilgeous-Alexander still brings star power, and Pascal Siakam remains an All-Star level of player to lead the Pacers. Still, it is more than appropriate to recognize that the rematch isn't quite what it could have been if things had broken differently, and that would be the case even when taking Haliburton's ailment into account.

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