OKC takes Game 7, caps historic season with title

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Oklahoma City Thunder took location the 2025 NBA title -- the archetypal successful the franchise's 17 years present -- acknowledgment to a 103-91 triumph implicit the Indiana Pacers successful Game 7 of the NBA Finals -- a crippled that saw the Pacers suffer their prima guard, Tyrese Haliburton, to a perchance devastating little close limb wounded successful the archetypal quarter.

After trailing 48-47 astatine halftime, Oklahoma City -- down a superb agelong of play from the league's Most Valuable Player, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander -- had 1 of its patented dominating 3rd quarters, outscoring Indiana 34-20 crossed the 12 minutes to instrumentality a 13-point pb into the 4th fourth that the Thunder would ne'er relinquish.

It wouldn't person been a Pacers playoff game, though, without Indiana making its hostile sweat with a imaginable comeback. They yet got what was a 22-point pb down to arsenic small arsenic 10 connected Andrew Nembhard's 3-pointer with conscionable nether 2 minutes remaining. But dissimilar Indiana's magical comebacks earlier successful these playoffs, Oklahoma City hung connected and survived.

As a result, Oklahoma City capped disconnected a singular turnaround implicit the past fewer years arsenic the franchise went from winning 22 and 24 games, respectively, successful the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons to claiming the apical spot successful the Western Conference playoffs each of the past 2 seasons. They followed up a 56-win run past play with a 68-win play this twelvemonth -- 1 of the 7 champion single-season marks successful NBA history.

It besides is the culmination of the imaginativeness of the team's wide manager, Sam Presti, who has been successful complaint since the franchise's last twelvemonth successful Seattle successful 2007-08. Since arriving successful Oklahoma City successful 2008, the Thunder person the second-most regular play victories, down lone the Boston Celtics, and the fifth-most postseason victories.

But, until this year, the eventual prize -- a title -- had eluded the Thunder. And, aft adjacent misses erstwhile they mislaid successful the NBA Finals to the Miami Heat successful 5 games successful 2012, and past successful the Western Conference finals successful some 2014 and 2016, it was unclear it would ever hap for 1 of the NBA's smallest-market teams.

Ironically, it did connected the aforesaid time Kevin Durant, the foundational subordinate of that archetypal championship-caliber Thunder squad, was traded to the Houston Rockets, perchance making them Oklahoma City's biggest menace to getting retired of the Western Conference playoffs again adjacent season.

But portion Durant near successful 2016, it wouldn't beryllium until 2019 that the archetypal epoch of Thunder hoops officially came to a adjacent erstwhile Presti shipped retired Russell Westbrook and Paul George successful a dizzying bid of moves that laid the instauration for this existent roster -- astir notably by getting Gilgeous-Alexander successful the woody that sent George, and by hold Kawhi Leonard, to the LA Clippers that summer.

And, a mates of weeks later, Presti penned a missive successful The Oklahoman, a section Oklahoma City newspaper, to laic retired his imaginativeness of wherever the franchise would beryllium headed successful the years to come.

"In saying goodbye to the past, we person begun to illustration our future," Presti wrote then. "The adjacent large Thunder squad is retired determination somewhere, but it volition instrumentality clip to prehend and subject to yet sustain."

It turned retired that it didn't instrumentality overmuch clip astatine all. Arriving alongside Gilgeous-Alexander successful 2019 was Luguentz Dort, an undrafted escaped cause who has developed into a first-team All-Defense selection. In 2022, Oklahoma City landed its different 2 semipermanent foundational pieces successful Chet Holmgren, who went 2nd wide retired of Gonzaga, and Jalen Williams, who was the 12th wide prime retired of Santa Clara.

Both of them played monolithic roles successful OKC's playoff run. Williams, who struggled astatine times earlier successful these playoffs, had a fantastic bid successful the Finals, including going for a career-high 40 points successful Game 5. Holmgren -- who missed much than fractional of the regular play with a hep wounded -- didn't sprout the shot good successful the Finals but impacted the crippled successful plentifulness of different ways.

And with some of them apt to motion semipermanent declaration extensions successful the coming weeks -- on with Gilgeous-Alexander, who is eligible for a monolithic 1 arsenic good -- this could lone beryllium the opening for a Thunder squad that lone has 2 players connected its roster implicit the property of 27 and is present the second-youngest champion successful NBA past down lone the 1977 Portland Trail Blazers.