The 2025 NBA Finals tip off Thursday night. Both the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers are looking for long-awaited championships. The Thunder have never won a title since moving to Oklahoma City in 2008. The Pacers have never won an NBA title (though the franchise won three ABA championships in the early 1970s).
The Thunder are the clear favorites in these finals. OKC, led by NBA MVP Shai GIlgeous-Alexander, won an league-best 68 games in the regular season. They’re 12-4 so far in these playoffs, and, after needing seven games to get past the Denver Nuggets in the second round, dispatched the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games to win the West finals.
The Pacers are the underdogs for their third consecutive series. Indiana knocked out the No. 1 seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round and then took out the Knicks in the Eastern Conference finals. The Pacers have an identical 12-4 playoff record to the Thunder, but OKC’s point differential is +173 in those 16 games while Indy’s is +66.
Time: 8:30 p.m. | Date: Thursday, June 5
Location: Paycom Center — Oklahoma City
TV channel: ABC | Live stream: fubo (Try for free)
Odds (via bet365): Thunder -9.5, O/U: 230
Thunder vs. Pacers: Game 1 best bets
The Thunder have played nine home games this postseason. They’ve lost one of them and outscored their opponents by 221 points in total within those games. Only one of those home playoff wins has been by single digits. Yes, this is an enormous spread for a Finals game, but the Thunder have been as close to untouchable in their own building as possible this postseason. Indiana has been good on the road, but obviously against inferior competition relative to the monster they’re about to face, and both of their road losses this postseason have come by double digits. I’m expecting the Thunder to storm out of the gates in this one and win comfortably. The pick: Thunder -9.5
Here are the point totals from the last five Game 1s of the NBA Finals: 194, 183, 193, 203, 199. These tend to be low-scoring games. There are nerves involved in Game 1 of the Finals. It takes time for teams to settle in, and these are two very young teams without players who have made it this far before. They’ll settle in eventually, but this point total is far too high when you remember the best defense in the NBA is involved here. The pick: Under 230
I want one pro-Pacers bet in here and here’s an interesting one: the Thunder allow the most corner 3s in the NBA, almost 37% of Aaron Nesmith’s 3s come in the corner and he shot 47.2% from there this season. The Thunder are so aggressive hunting turnovers that they sacrifice good looks, so I’m expecting Nesmith to take advantage with a couple of triples. The pick: Nesmith Over 1.5 3s
