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Indiana Pacers fans react during the second half of Game 7 of the NBA Finals basketball series against the Oklahoma City Thunder Sunday, June 22, 2025, in Oklahoma City.
Nate Billings / AP PhotoThe Indiana Pacers will have to continue their quest for an NBA Championship another year, after they lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the deciding game of the Finals.
The Oklahoma City Thunder won the NBA championship, pulling away in the second half to beat the Indiana Pacers 103-91 on Sunday night.
The winner-take-all game drew thousands of Pacers fans to watch the away game on the jumbotron at Gainbridge Fieldhouse — where just days before the Indiana team dominated Game 6 and leading to one final matchup.
Before the game, fan James Schlosser said after 25 years he was excited the team was in the NBA Finals again.
“We’re just happy that the team has fought as hard as they could to get here,” Schlosser. “I think we’re just excited, win or lose, we’re proud of the team.”
But despite an early lead it wasn’t the Pacers' night.
The Indiana men’s basketball team led 48-47 at the half even after losing star guard Tyrese Haliburton to what his father said was an Achilles tendon injury about seven minutes into the game. But they were outscored 34-20 in the third quarter as the Thunder built a 13-point lead and began to run away.
Bennedict Mathurin had 24 points and 13 rebounds for Indiana, which still is waiting for its first NBA title.
The Pacers — who were 10-15 after 25 games and were bidding to be the first team in NBA history to turn that bad of a start into a championship — had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in the series, but they simply didn’t have enough in the end.
Thunder player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished off his MVP season with 29 points and 12 assists. Jalen Williams scored 20 and Chet Holmgren had 18 for the Thunder, who were pushed to a Game 7 brink in the NBA Finals — but finished off a season for the ages. Oklahoma City won 84 games between the regular season and the playoffs, tying the 1996-97 Chicago Bulls for third-most in any season.
Only Golden State (88 in 2016-17) and the Bulls (87 in 2015-16) won more.
It’s the second championship for the franchise. The Seattle SuperSonics won the NBA title in 1979; the team was moved to Oklahoma City in 2008.
Pacers fan BJ Spratt drove with his daughter from Pittsburgh to watch the game in Indy. Spratt said it was a disappointing ending, but he’s still proud of how much this year’s team accomplished.
“It’s been amazing, especially after they finished the regular season,” Spratt said. “They show so much heart and take this to seven games. Nobody expected it.”
Pacers fan Brad Knight said the team is truly a family affair. His mom attended the watch party with him and his wife is one of the team’s dancers. Knight said nothing that happened in the final game takes away from the team’s run the past few months.
“Of course you want to, you know, put the cherry on top of an amazing postseason, but this was incredible,” Knight said. “It’s something I will never forget.”
Both Spratt and Knight say they believe the Pacers will bounce back next year and hopefully have another run like this one.
Home teams are now 16-4 in NBA Finals Game 7s. And the Thunder became the seventh champion in the last seven seasons, a run of parity like none other in NBA history.
Contact WFYI All Things Considered newscaster and reporter Samantha Horton at shorton@wfyi.org or on Signal at SamHorton.05.
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