The highlights of the finals: Alexander vs. Harry, the battle between the Spurs General Manager, the origins of the two teams and George

The first game between the Thunder and the Pacers will start on Friday. The 2025 NBA Finals match has been confirmed. The Indiana Pacers will face the Oklahoma City Thunder, with the first game kicking off on June 6. Both teams have gone through a long battle and now they will compete for the championship. The Pacers advanced through six games against the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals, while the Thunder eliminated the Minnesota Timberwolves to win the Western Conference championship after five games. The Thunder were a big favorite from the start (the odds were -700 according to Draft Kings), but the Pacers played a role that wasn't favored for most of the playoffs, so that didn't feel different for them.

This may not be the showdown that everyone expected, but it must be an exciting series between two teams with extremely high tactical qualities and who have proven themselves capable of winning the championship. As we quickly look forward to the start of the NBA Finals, here are three highlights that will affect the series.

Shay Gilgers Alexander vs. Teres Halliburton

This will be the main highlight of this series. Halliburton just beat the Eastern Conference and proved to everyone — mainly the NBA players who voted to be the most overrated player in the league — that he deserves to be regarded as one of the top defenders today. Halliburton doesn’t always deliberately show his scoring ability, because he tends to involve his teammates and accumulate assists rather than pursue scoring performance with high shots. But we saw in Game 4 against the Knicks that Halliburton was perfectly capable of taking into account both without sacrificing the quality of the game, which scored 32 points, 15 assists, 12 rebounds, 4 steals and 0 turnovers.

But now Halliburton will face his most severe defensive test, and the opponent Thunder will send several defensive players to disrupt his rhythm. Alex Caruso once miserably made Anthony Edwards in the Western Conference Finals, and the intensity of his physical confrontation may also bother Halliburton, but the Pacers are far better than the Timberwolves in terms of ball transfer, so this strategy may not be as effective.

On the other hand, the Pacers will also be in a hurry when trying to limit Alexander, who was recently elected to the regular season MVP and Western Conference Finals MVP. Alexander caused trouble for the Timberwolves, using his arm span and high ball maker to cut into the inside, complete a difficult end or go to the free throw line. There is no Jaden McDaniels on the Pacers, but we just saw Aaron Nesmith doing well enough in a close chasing Jaren Brunson, although he certainly needs to avoid a four-foul per game throughout the playoffs when trying to defend Alexander. Fortunately, Andrew Nemhard can take the lead if Nesmith is in foul trouble. In fact, Nemhard may first face Alexander as the main defender before making adjustments.

The direction of this series will start with the performance of the two All-Star guards, and if other playoff games can be used as a reference, we should be looking forward to some exciting performances from these two players.

Lineup depth may determine the direction of the series

These are two teams with high-quality lineup depth. The Thunder have the advantage in numbers, as the ninth man in their rotation may be better than the Pacers’ eighth or seventh overall rotation player. So on paper, the Thunder will have an advantage in this, but this doesn't always translate into actual performance on the field.

We saw Jaylen Williams play his All-Star against the Timberwolves, but he struggled to be an efficient offensive threat in the second round against the Denver Nuggets. If Williams is in a bad shape, the Thunder can count on players like Chet Holmgren to step up, and we've seen Caruso have an abnormally 20-point game, but the Thunder need Williams to stay steady. It's a team with great depth, but they still need their two All-Star players to stay at the All-Star level in almost every game. The Pacers aren't that dependent on one or two players to get most points, even in most games, probably relying on a duo of Halliburton and Eastern Conference Finals MVP Pascal Siakam for the offense.

But all five starters of the Pacers averaged double-point scores, and their substitute scores ranked third in the playoffs. The Pacers proved almost everyone’s mistake during this finals trip and performed well for most of the time, but they need players like Nesmith, Nemhard and Miles Turner to play.

Turner in particular, he would be the X-factor for the Pacers, and if Homegren defended him at a low post, he needed to take advantage of the misalignment opportunity. If Isaiah Haltenstein is against Turner, the Pacers can open up space and create opportunities for Halliburton to break through the basket. The Pacers need Benedict Mathering to be better at defense when on the court and not to make careless mistakes or make some reluctant moves. The Pacers need their role players to continue their performance against the Knicks, because while the Thunder may be able to win four games on the top two or three players, that's not how the Pacers make it to the NBA Finals.

One common point

In addition to being the last two teams that stand tall, the Thunder and the Pacers have some other things in common. Both teams are located in the small ball market in the league, making this NBA Finals matchup symbolize the victory of the small ball market team.. They are both led by young All-Star point guards, and both teams are led by those who have started their careers under San Antonio Spurs scouting division RC Buford - Thunder's Sam Presti and Pacers' Kevin Prichard. But there is another important connection between these two teams, and this connection has almost become the reason why they both entered the NBA Finals, that is Paul George.

is not just because George has played for both teams, although it is true. The point is that both teams traded the All-Star forward in exchange for direct – and indirect – helping them build the assets of NBA Finals-level teams.

George and the Pacers

For the Pacers, it was not a direct deal to George that magically brought them to where they are now, but this was undoubtedly the first domino to fall. The Pacers traded George to the Thunder in July 2017 for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis. It was the end of an exciting Pacers basketball era, with George leading the Pacers to the Eastern Conference Finals twice. But after seven years playing for the team that picked him at the 10th pick in 2010, George is about to enter the final year of his contract and is not going to renew his contract, so the Pacers traded him one year in advance for some rewards.

Sabonis and Oladipo were an unexpected success for the Pacers, who led the team to the playoffs five times, although they never made it through the first round. After those five years, the Pacers missed the playoffs for two consecutive years. By the 2021-22 season, a period of brewing another defeat season, the Pacers decided it was time to end Sabonis's era with the Pacers. In February 2022, the Pacers sent Sabonis to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for a series of chips with Halliburton as the core. We now know that Halliburton has had a huge success with the Pacers. They wouldn't have gotten Halliburton if it weren't for the Pacers' trade George to the Thunder, especially for Sabonis, who has been the core of the team's success and the cornerstone of the foreseeable future.

George and the Thunder

The situation is more direct and clear for the Thunder. George spent two All-Star seasons there after being traded to the Thunder, but he always wanted to play in Los Angeles. When George played for the Pacers, he initially wanted to go to the Lakers. But in the summer of 2019, when Kawhi Leonard just led the Raptors to the championship, George told the Clippers that if they could get Leonard, he would sign with them. So the Clippers paid a huge price in their deal with the Thunder, including giving away Alexander, five future first-round picks and two draft picks swap rights.

The Clippers not only gave the Thunder their team core Alexander and a future MVP trophy, but one of the draft picks - the 2022 first-round draft picks given by the Clippers in that deal - ended up becoming Jaylen Williams, who was selected for the All-Star Game, NBA All-Squad and All-Defensive Team this season. The deal also brought Trey Mann to the Thunder, who later traded it, and they still have the Clippers' unprotected first-round pick in 2026, which can be used to continue to strengthen this roster, which is only four games away from the NBA championship.

No one could have predicted that trading George would have such a wonderful result for the Thunder and Pacers, but George's trade value has helped them build two sets of squads for the championship over the years, which is really an interesting idea.

Author: Jasmyn Wimbish

Translator: GWayNe