This is it. It's time for Game 7. The season will end with a new champion.
The Indiana Pacers sent the NBA Finals to the ultimate game, on Thursday night to tie the title series at 3-3.
The all-or-nothing deciding game of the series is Sunday night in Oklahoma City.
It will be the 20th Game 7 in NBA Finals history. Home teams have gone 15-4 to this point 鈥 but a road team won the most recent one of these showdowns, when Cleveland topped Golden State in 2016.
Setting up Game 7 of the NBA Finals
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June 22 history
This year will mark the second NBA Finals to end on June 22. The other was in 1994, when Houston beat New York in Game 7.
Other than the COVID-19-affected finals of 2020 and 2021 (the 2020 finals ended on Oct. 11 and the 2021 finals ended on July 20), only two NBA seasons have gone deeper into the calendar.
The 1999 finals ended on June 25 and the 2005 finals ended on June 23. Both were won by San Antonio.
Moving on up, Part 1
The win in Game 5 of the NBA Finals was Oklahoma City鈥檚 83rd of the season (68 regular season, 15 playoffs).
The Thunder won鈥檛 catch Golden State and its record 88 wins in 2015-16, nor will it catch Chicago and its 87 wins in 1995-96.
But the Thunder could move into a tie with the 1996-97 Bulls for No. 3 all-time for most wins in a season.
A look at where the Thunder are on the all-time wins list:
88 wins 鈥 Golden State, 2015-16
87 wins 鈥 Chicago, 1995-96
84 wins 鈥 Chicago, 1996-97
83 wins 鈥 Golden State, 2016-17; Oklahoma City, 2024-25.
Moving on up, Part 2
Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has scored 3,143 points this season when combining the regular season and the playoffs. That's tied with Elgin Baylor (1962-63) for the 14th most in NBA history.
The MVP easily could make the top 10 on Sunday as well. He needs:
2 points to pass Wilt Chamberlain (3,144 in 1960-61) for the 13th most in a season.
6 points to pass Michael Jordan (3,148 in 1986-87) for 12th.
14 points to pass Kevin Durant (3,156 for the Thunder in 2013-14) for 11th.
21 points to pass Jordan (3,163 in 1991-92) for 10th.
24 points to pass James Harden (3,166 in 2018-19) for ninth.
That鈥檚 where the potential climb realistically ends: Gilgeous-Alexander would need 65 points to pass Jordan for the eighth-highest scoring season in NBA history.
(And if the NBA Cup championship game counted, he already would have 3,164 points and be alone in 10th place on the single-season list.)
Betting odds
Oklahoma City (-300) is still the favorite 鈥 but no longer a huge one 鈥 to win the NBA title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. Indiana's odds are now +240 after the Game 6 win.
The Thunder are 7.5-point favorites over Indiana for Game 7. That's down a point from Friday.
The Pacers covered in 14 of their first 22 games of these playoffs. The Thunder 鈥 favored in every game so far 鈥 covered 10 out of 22 times to this point.
NBA Finals schedule
All games of the NBA Finals will be aired on ABC.
June 5 鈥
June 8 鈥
June 11 鈥
June 13 鈥
Monday 鈥
Thursday 鈥
Sunday 鈥 Game 7, Indiana at Oklahoma City, 8 p.m. EDT
At least six games, twice
This is the first time since 2022 that both the NBA Finals and the Stanley Cup Final went at least six games.
The Florida Panthers won their second consecutive Stanley Cup on Tuesday night, finishing off a six-game series with the Edmonton Oilers.
A close finals, geographically
The 688 miles by air between Oklahoma City and Indiana 鈥 by road, it is a bit longer 鈥 represents the shortest distance between finals cities in 69 years. That doesn鈥檛 count the pandemic 鈥渂ubble鈥 season, when the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat were in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, for the entirety of the 2020 finals.
The last time a between-cities finals trip was this short was 1956, with only 530 miles separating Fort Wayne and Philadelphia.
Other short finals trips, in air miles: Syracuse to Fort Wayne (489 miles, 1955), Rochester to New York (253 miles, 1951) and Baltimore to Philadelphia (90 miles, 1948).
The longest distance between finals cities was Boston to San Francisco for the 2022 finals; those cities are 2,704 miles apart by air. That鈥檚 just about 10 miles longer than Boston to Oakland, and about 100 miles longer than Boston to Los Angeles.
Under the current league format, the shortest possible distance between finals cities would be the 297 miles that separates Minnesota and Milwaukee. That鈥檚 just a bit shorter than Memphis-Atlanta (331) and Minnesota-Chicago (334).
Key upcoming events
June 25 鈥 NBA draft, first round.
June 26 鈥 NBA draft, second round.
SGA is the MVP
A recap of Oklahoma City鈥檚 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander鈥檚 winning of the NBA MVP award.
The story:
The reaction:
Steve Nash speaks:
The notebook:
Stats of the day
鈥 Pacers coach Rick Carlisle is one of eight coaches in NBA history to lead multiple franchises to the NBA Finals. Larry Brown, Bill Fitch, Alex Hannum, Phil Jackson, Pat Riley, Bill Sharman and Gene Shue are the others. Of those coaches, only Hannum, Jackson and Riley have won an NBA title with two different organizations. Carlisle, who coached Dallas to the 2011 NBA title, could join that list.
鈥 Think things are even? The Thunder are 2-2 in this series when leading after one quarter and the Pacers are 1-1. Both teams are 2-1 when leading at halftime. The Thunder are 2-2 when leading after three quarters, the Pacers are 1-1.
Quotes of the day
鈥淭he flow to the day doesn鈥檛 change. You鈥檙e in your own bed. You have shootaround at your building. You eat your pregame meal from your chef or your whoever. It鈥檚 very comfortable, the whole flow to the day, and then the crowd is behind you. They give you energy, whether you鈥檙e up or down or whatever is going on in the night. It鈥檚 an advantage.鈥 鈥 Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, of playing a Game 7 at home.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a championship game. Do or die. Mentality is just ... you shouldn鈥檛 have to get hyped to play this game. I think the situation is what it is.鈥 鈥 Pacers center Myles Turner.
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AP NBA:
The Associated Press
