Oklahoma City capped a thrilling NBA Finals Sunday night with a dominant second half in Game 7 to secure a 103-91 win over the Indiana Pacers and the franchise’s first NBA title since it moved from Seattle to Oklahoma City in 2008.
A Pacers team that rallied for multiple unlikely wins throughout the playoffs kept the pressure on in the fourth quarter after digging a 22-point hole. But without injured star Tyrese Haliburton, they couldn’t complete the comeback.
The win caps a brilliant season in which the Thunder posted a league-best 68 wins and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was named league MVP for the first time. Fittingly, Gilgeous-Alexander powered the Thunder effort Sunday night to put away a Pacers team that pushed them to the brink.
The game was marred by a serious Haliburton injury in the first quarter. Haliburton hit three quick 3s in the first quarter before falling to the floor with what the team described as a lower-leg injury. His father later confirmed to ESPN that the injury was to Haliburton’s Achilles tendon.
The Pacers didn’t wilt in the aftermath of the injury and continued to push the Thunder through the first half en route to a 48-47 halftime lead. But a Pacers team playing without its star didn’t have enough in the tank to compete after the break.
The swarming defense that has become Oklahoma City’s trademark took over after halftime as the Thunder repeatedly turned Pacers turnovers into transition points. And after a 4-for-18 first half from 3, Oklahoma City found its stroke from long distance.
The result was a 34-20 OKC edge in the third quarter that turned Indiana’s one-point halftime lead into an 81-68 Pacers deficist. The largest lead of the game at the time set up the fourth quarter as a coronation for the Thunder in front of a raucous home crowd.
The Thunder delivered with an 9-0 run to start the fourth that added up to a knockout blow to an otherwise sensational Pacers season that ends in the heartbreak of a Game 7 loss and a potentially devastating injury to their star player that will cast a pall of the 2025-26 season.
Haliburton injury too much for Pacers to overcome
The Pacers got this far as the No. 4 seed in the East thanks to a remarkable playoff run that featured repeated remarkable comebacks from double-digit deficits. Those rallies were capped by Haliburton shots to win or force overtime in a win in each round of the playoffs, including Game 1 against Oklahoma City.
Haliburton got off to a hot start Sunday with nine first quarter points while continuing to play on a strained calf that he suffered in Game 5. But devastation struck late in the first quarter.
Haliburton fell to the floor after re-injuring the same leg that previously sustained the calf strain. He was in immediate and obvious pain, prompting his teammates to surround him on the court.
He needed help of the floor with the aid of a trainer and teammate. He couldn’t put weight on his injured right leg as he was helped to the tunnel with a towel over his face.
Before halftime, his father, John Haliburton confirmed the fear to ESPN’s Lisa Salters that Haliburton had sustained an Achilles tendon injury. The precise nature of the injury wasn’t made clear, but a ruptured Achilles tendon could sideline Haliburton for a significant part if not all of the 2025-26 season.
His night in the biggest game of the NBA season and the biggest game of his career was clearly done. And without his services in the second half, the Pacers were overwhelmed after halftime.
The Pacers continued to fight after trailing by as many as 22 points at 90-68 in the fourth quarter and cut the OKC lead to 10 points. But without Haliburton, they didn’t have the firepower to complete the rally that they have so many times before this postseason.
The Thunder held on to celebrate the first major professional championship in Oklahoma City history in front of their home crowd.
Credit: Yahoo Sports