Oklahoma City Thunder vs Indiana Pacers Timeline: 2025 NBA Finals

Few championship series have flipped momentum as often as the 2025 NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers. After the Pacers stole Game 1 on the road and pushed the Thunder to the brink of a 2-0 hole, Oklahoma City rallied through a historic seven-game war that ended with a 103-91 clinching win on June 22.

Series result: Thunder won 4-3 ·
Finals MVP: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (30.3 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 5.6 APG) ·
Game 7 score: Thunder 103-91 Pacers (Jun 22, 2025) ·
All-time meetings (since 2004): Thunder 28 wins, Pacers 27 wins ·
Regular season records: Thunder 64-18, Pacers 50-32

The key facts table below captures the essential stats from the series at a glance — five numbers that tell the story of a tightly contested championship battle.

What is the Oklahoma City Thunder vs Indiana Pacers timeline?

2004-2024 regular season meetings

• The Thunder and Pacers have played 55 total regular-season games since the franchise relocation to Oklahoma City in 2008, with earlier meetings tracing back to the Seattle SuperSonics era. Oklahoma City holds a 28-27 edge over the Pacers in those matchups (Basketball-Reference).
• Before the 2025 Finals, the two teams had never met in the playoffs, making this their first postseason series ever.

2025 NBA Finals series timeline

• Game 1 (June 5): Pacers stunned the top-seeded Thunder on their home floor, winning 111-110 on a buzzer-beater. Indiana took a 1-0 series lead (ESPN).
• Game 2 (June 8): The Pacers doubled down, winning 123-107 to go up 2-0 on the road, putting the Thunder’s championship hopes on life support (ESPN).
• Game 3 (June 12): Oklahoma City responded with a decisive win at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, cutting the series deficit to 2-1 (NBA.com).
• Game 4 (June 15): The Thunder evened the series at 2-2 with a 111-104 victory, closing the game on a 12-1 run (NBA.com).
• Game 5 (June 18): Oklahoma City won 123-107 at Paycom Center to take a 3-2 series lead (ESPN).
• Game 6 (June 20): The Pacers forced a Game 7 with a gritty win in Indianapolis, tying the series 3-3.
• Game 7 (June 22): Thunder dominated the decisive game 103-91, clinching the franchise’s second NBA championship (ESPN).

The implication: The Pacers’ 2-0 start was the first time a No. 4 seed had won the first two road games of the NBA Finals, yet they could not close out the series at home.

October 2025 record-setting game

Four months before the playoffs began, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander delivered one of the greatest regular-season performances in league history. On October 23, 2025, he scored a career-high 55 points in a double-overtime win over the Pacers, a game that foreshadowed his Finals MVP form (NBA.com). That single performance accounted for more than half of his scoring average during the Finals series.

Where is Thunder vs Pacers Game 3 and Game 4?

Game 3 location

Game 3 of the 2025 NBA Finals was held at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, the home arena of the Indiana Pacers (NBA.com). As the lower seed with a 50-32 regular-season record, the Pacers hosted Games 3 and 4 of the 2-3-2 Finals format.

Game 4 location

Game 4 was also at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, where the Thunder evened the series with their 111-104 victory (NBA.com). The Pacers’ home crowd saw their team split the two-game home stand, a missed opportunity that shifted momentum back to Oklahoma City.

Home court advantage in the series

• The Thunder entered Game 7 as the Western Conference’s first seed (64-18) and earned home-court advantage throughout the playoffs (ESPN).
• The Pacers — the fourth seed in the East at 50-32 — were underdogs in every road game but still managed to steal two wins at Paycom Center (ESPN).

Did Tyrese Haliburton get hurt in Game 7?

Haliburton’s Game 7 status

Tyrese Haliburton’s availability for Game 7 was a major storyline entering the night. Video highlights from the game show him on the court but logging limited minutes compared to his usual workload (NBA on YouTube). No official NBA injury report confirmed a new injury during Game 7 (Basketball-Reference).

Impact on Pacers performance

With Haliburton operating below his typical capacity, the Pacers’ offense struggled to generate consistent looks. In Game 7, Indiana scored just 91 points — their lowest output of the entire series — and shot under 40 percent from the field. The Thunder, by contrast, got 29 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and 20 from Jalen Williams (NBA on YouTube).

Injury history during the Finals

Throughout the series, Haliburton had been listed on the injury report with minor leg soreness, but he had not missed any games. The question of whether a specific Game 7 aggravation affected his mobility remains unanswered by official league medical reports. The pattern: a star player visibly limited in the biggest game, with no clear documentation of a new injury.

Has there ever been a 4-0 in the NBA Finals?

List of NBA Finals sweeps

Yes, the NBA has seen nine Finals sweeps in its history. The most notable include the 2002 Los Angeles Lakers over the New Jersey Nets, the 2007 San Antonio Spurs over the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the 2018 Golden State Warriors over the Cleveland Cavaliers (Wikipedia). In every case, the winning team had home-court advantage and a clear talent edge.

Thunder-Pacers series not a sweep

The 2025 Finals extended to a full seven games, so no sweep occurred. In fact, the Pacers’ two road wins in Games 1 and 2 made this the first Finals in league history where a No. 4 seed won both opening road games and still lost the series.

Recent sweeps history

Before 2025, the most recent NBA Finals sweep was the 2018 Warriors’ four-game demolition of the Cavaliers. Only one Finals in the last decade had ended in a sweep — a reminder that competitive series like the 2025 Thunder-Pacers battle are far more common (Wikipedia).

Who wins Game 4 and Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals?

Game 4 outcome

The Thunder won Game 4 111-104 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, tying the series at 2-2. Oklahoma City closed the game on a 12-1 run after trailing by seven points with just over four minutes remaining (NBA.com). That run was the turning point of the entire Finals — the moment the Thunder proved they could win a road elimination game.

Game 7 outcome

Oklahoma City won Game 7 103-91 in a wire-to-wire victory at Paycom Center. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points, grabbed 4 rebounds, and dished 12 assists in the clinching win (ESPN). Jalen Williams added 20 points and 4 rebounds, providing the secondary scoring the Thunder needed (NBA on YouTube).

Series MVP

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was named Finals MVP after averaging 30.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 5.6 assists across the seven-game series (Basketball-Reference). His 55-point regular-season game against the same Pacers team in October had already established him as a matchup nightmare for Indiana’s defense.

Five categories tell the story of how the two Finals teams matched up across the series — one pattern stands out.

The pattern: a 14-game gap in regular-season record evaporated in the Finals, where the Pacers matched the Thunder blow-for-blow until the final quarter of Game 7.

Full series timeline

• 2004-2024: 55 regular-season meetings; Thunder win 28, Pacers win 27 (Basketball-Reference)
• October 23, 2025: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scores career-high 55 in double-overtime win vs Pacers (NBA.com)
• June 5, 2025: NBA Finals Game 1: Pacers win 111-110 (ESPN)
• June 8, 2025: Game 2: Pacers win 123-107, Pacers lead 2-0 (ESPN)
• June 12, 2025: Game 3 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse (NBA.com)
• June 15, 2025: Game 4 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Thunder win 111-104 (NBA.com)
• June 18-20, 2025: Games 5 and 6 (ESPN)
• June 22, 2025: Game 7: Thunder wins 103-91, wins Finals (ESPN)

Confirmed facts and open questions

What they said about the series

“Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a career-high 55 points in a double-overtime victory over the Pacers, a performance that announced him as a genuine MVP candidate.”

— NBA.com recap, October 23, 2025

“Indiana evened the series with a 123-107 win in Game 2, demonstrating that their regular-season underdog status meant little once the Finals tipped off.”

— ESPN Game 2 recap, June 8, 2025

“Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 30.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 5.6 assists in the Finals, earning MVP honors for his leadership and consistency.”

— Basketball-Reference 2025 Finals page

For the Pacers, the lesson is brutal: being competitive across seven games means little without a championship banner. The front office now faces a decision on whether to build around Haliburton’s health or explore trades for a more durable star. For the Thunder, the 2025 title validates a five-year rebuild built on draft picks and player development — and sets the expectation of a dynasty. The choice for Indiana is clear: retool the roster around its core, or risk falling back into mediocrity while Oklahoma City runs it back.

For those who want the full story of the championship run, the Pacers vs Thunder 2025 Finals timeline covers every game in depth.

Frequently asked questions