Why The 2025 NBA Finals Matchup Stands Out

The road to the 2025 NBA Finals has been a long time coming for both teams involved.

It is the first Conference Championship in 25 years for the Indiana Pacers. Before their series loss to the Boston Celtics in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals, it was their deepest playoff run since 2014.

The Oklahoma City Thunder, on the other hand, are in their deepest playoff run since 2012. In the middle of these Finals hiatuses, both teams saw multiple years of moderate regular-season production. Indiana experienced a five-year stretch of being eliminated in the first round, while Oklahoma City had a four-year stretch with the same results in the same time span.

The inability to take the next step for both of these teams led to a rebuilding period at the start of the decade. Now, as we conclude the first half of the 2020s, the Pacers and Thunder have reached the mountaintop of the NBA, with one final opponent to overcome.

Regardless of which team wins this year’s NBA Championship, however, both rosters are built better than the league has seen in its current era.

Could this lead to the Thunder and Pacers becoming this generation’s Cavaliers-Warriors or Heat-Spurs?

For the first time since the NBA Luxury Tax was implemented in 2003, both teams that have reached the Finals did so without accruing any penalties for being over the Salary Cap.

On the season, the Pacers had just the 18th-highest team salary in the NBA, with the Thunder spending $4 million less, placing them at 25th in basketball.

Starting with the Thunder, General Manager Sam Presti has yet again proved how he has been able to hold the same position since 2007.

Led by league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the 27-year-old point guard is the oldest starter on the team’s playoff roster. His $38.3 AAV takes up about half of the team’s salary cap, which is counteracted by the combined $38 million being given to Chet Holmgren, Luguentz Dort, and Jalen Williams for the 2024-25 season.

The acquisition of Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein added to the team’s defensive abilities, which led to the best defensive and net ratings in the NBA.

This adjustment to their defense, which was the fourth-best in basketball the season prior, was a major catalyst to the team’s deeper postseason run.

The development of Williams as the second-option offensively, improving his scoring to 21.6 points per game in the regular season, and 20.4 in the postseason, was the other significant improvement.

More than any other statistical standpoint, however, the experience gained in last year’s postseason allowed the homegrown core returning in 2024-25 to be ready for the moment.

Because of this, the Thunder have a 5-1 record in games ending in a two-possession or less deficit.

When it comes to winning games late, the Pacers may have gained more experience from this year’s postseason than other teams have in their franchise histories.

In the same criteria, the Pacers have a 4-1 record. But this close-game record does not do justice to the 6-2 road record the Pacers have in the postseason, alongside the numerous second-half comebacks on the Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks on their road to the Finals.

These historic comebacks are a testament not only to the mentality of the Pacers but also to their playing style.

In the regular season, the Pacers ranked fifth in fast-break scoring and ranked seventh in terms of pace. Led by Tyrese Haliburton at point guard, Indiana has made an effort to emphasize their ability to run in transition.

This can be seen in Haliburton’s 9.8 assists per game in the postseason, which leads all players. A majority of these assists have come to Myles Turner, Aaron Nesmith, and Andrew Nembhard, who are all averaging over 14 points per game throughout the postseason.

Pascal Siakam, who leads all Pacers with 21.1 points per game in the postseason, has certainly made an impact on the fast break as well. But his ability to score in the halfcourt has been the biggest key to their ability to win the Eastern Conference.

From the perspective of Pacers General Manager Chad Buchanan, this had to be what he envisioned when trading for Siakam in 2024.

While Haliburton and Siakam may not be the most feared one-two punch in the NBA by name alone. If you look at their efficiency, however, they argue for two of the best in basketball.

With both being signed to the rookie maximum extension, it does limit the options for the rest of the roster.

This is where the correct scouting of Nembhard and Bennedict Mathurin, alongside the strategic signings of Neswith and Obi Toppin have allowed the Pacers to fill out a championship-finalist roster.

With a roster all able to run in transition, shoot effectively from three (with seven players currently shooting over 40% from three in the postseason), and no obvious glares defensively, the Pacers bring a unique attack to the rest of the league.

And, with the culmination of strong drafts and veteran signings for both the Pacers and Thunder, it leads to a Finals matchup nobody could have expected at the start of the 2020s.

But this is because both teams’ philosophy to get here is different from the two methods constantly seen in the NBA. With the mentality that the only options are to either sign one or multiple superstars or to tank in hopes of winning the lottery and drafting the next superstar, the 2025 Finals proves that there is another option.

The culmination of talent around the franchise centerpiece has not only set them both up for a chance to hoist the Larry O’Brien in 2025 but for years to come.

While some difficult decisions lie ahead of both teams, with players like Holmgren and Mathurin about to make more money, both the Thunder and Pacers are set up better for the future than most teams in the Finals have been in recent history.

This will likely lead to other teams hoping to mimic their style. However, as outlined in this article, it is significantly more difficult to do than the other two philosophies. Presti and Buchanan should be commended for their abilities to permit the situation they both find themselves in.