2025 NBA Finals: Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Indiana Pacers

Shoutout to @bcast89, @kpdark, @Coastal for getting it right.

 

I came specifically crap on how DULL their celebration is. If this is the changing of guard from old to new, goodness.. And we called the Duncan Spurs teams "boring"? Spurs showed 50 times more excitement after their 19th whatever title. And this is a record YOUTHFUL team with no jubilence

I'm wanting to assume the org adopted a "workmanlike" culture of "poise" and tempered execution over excitability, until the very end. And maybe that tempered mode happened to spread through the city.

But always believed that there's really one basic expectation of entertainers & performers - That they gotta show they CARE about what they do. That's ultimately what connects to fans, even past skills or lack of skills. Because someone who clearly doesn't want to be there is the most off-putting thing. Sensing that someone just showed up cuz they had to is a vibe killer.

I don't think a team that almost won 70 games lacks drive. But maybe these players are starting to make too much money lol. I know the contract will always be the "real ring". But optics wise, team success should look a little more communicabley joyful. Just my opinion

 

I hate that OKC won in this fashion. I think Pacers would've won if Hali didn't go down.

Presti does deserve it though, his drafting history is just insane. Hit after hit. You literally cannot have a bad team when Sam Presti is your GM, he is probably the best drafting GM of all time.

We also have two eras of basketball thanks to Presti. Harden and Sengun.

OKC fans, definitely don't deserve it. They've been spoiled all their lives, from rooting for a team with 3 future MVPs to another stacked team lead by another MVP in SGA. **** OKC and their fans.

On the bright side, it's good that OKC is getting their winning out of the way. Most players who win this young get bored of the chase and don't care to get better. Or they demand to get paid big in the off-season and stop trying as hard. Perhaps if OKC winning now means we have a better chance of winning in the near future.

On the dark side, maybe OKC is filled with players who are a different breed and one isn't enough for them. Maybe they want to 3peat and hungry to do so. Then we're really going to have to hope our young core outside of Sengun make the all-star leap because on paper, even after we got KD, the Thunder as a team look much better than us. MVP with an all-nba sidekick followed by a DPOTY level 3rd option and a bench that's just as deep as anyone else in the league. This isn't even mentioning the massive hoard of first rounders they have stockpiled up.

Oh, I forgot to mention their douchbag owner who stole their team from Seattle, **** that guy. He definitely does not deserve any titles.

 

I worry about the next group.....Spurs, whoever drafts Dybantsa and the Boozers......

The Spurs will be after Giannis, Luka, whoever is still good and international.

The top of the East has proven they can hang with the West.......unfortunately.

 

I just think whoever played Top 10 Defense of All Time got to be pretty tired to celebrate and getting photographed and sign autographs.........

After a Game 7......

 

Convinced Pacers win if Haliburton played the whole game, though it was embarrassing to see how Toppin seem jittery from the get go and the lack of getting Siakam the ball in his spots. All they do for 15-20 seconds is dribble hand off on the perimeter, dribble into corners where it’s hard to get out of and penetrate into the paint with very little cutting.

I do think even with the referees not being bad, SGA got some bullshit calls in the 1st half and Caruso, Dort and even Wallace are allowed to just grab arms, push and pull however they see fit. Pacers deserved this way more and I hate how much power referees and narrative have. Had this been called evenly, easily the Pacers win it. Lot of respect for them!

 

lame ass game 7.

okc has to be the most underwhelming champion in years

 

Is it just me or was the celebration in OKC a little off. It seemed like nobody was genuinely excited.

 

They would have rather smoked some joints than drink. It's a Zoomer thing

 

They really are not getting much respect for this one lol. I think first of all, they beat an underdog team BUT also a team who played with one legged Hali for nearly half of the series as well. If this were the Cavs or Celts (who we expected to make it) maybe they'd get more love for this one, but going up against a Pacers team with a hurt Hali did no favors for their legacy status to be sure. I personally think if Haliburton never strained his calf the Pacers win this series.

Also, the flopping and ref favoring will be hard for fans to ignore. That bit with TJ having his hand held is a disgrace to the NBA, it's one play for sure but then you have stuff like that and Dort flopping like a fish all over the place and not being able to touch SGA...

But a championship is a championship in the end, they all count the same, but I do feel like if this is the only championship they win many people would think of it more as "Ah yeah, that one year OKC won..." and not much more. They have more work to do but they are definitely a team talented enough to win more.

 

That game 4 loss for Indiana was brutal and decided the series in my opinion. Hali getting hurt was a huge bummer and I think the game would have been closer at the end, who knows.

But Indiana not being able to finish off game 4 not only cost the championship, but also a year of Haliburton's prime in the end.

 

So let me get this straight. Since the Rockets last played in and won the Finals, the Spurs became a dynasty and the Mavs and Thunder have played in multiple Finals and won championships. And let’s say Jalen Green has peaked (correct me if I’m wrong he isn’t in his “prime”), we dumped him for a 36 year old beta who ruins franchises. Great. Nice job. We are ****ed for another 30 years.

 

If we had KD's 25 a game
Versus
Jalen's 9 a game

We might be hoisting the trophy.

Rocket River

 

I understand the frustration with Green, but we also harp on how foolish the Clippers were to ship out SGA who at the time looked limited, something like 12 ppg. Young guys who work hard can transform their game, though I have no idea if Green works hard or not.

 

Maybe Green will learn someday. But you can see the difference between him and SGA. The Pacers locked down SGA all game and he didn't shoot well. But he kept finding open teammates. OKC didn't shoot well in the first half. But when their shots started to fall, SGA piled up assist after assist.

I really don't like SGA's flopping. But you can't deny that he's a smart player. A lot of times, what separates stars from other players on top of skills is IQ.