Category: NBA

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Adam Silver expects NBA to take next steps toward expansion this summer

OKLAHOMA CITY — NBA expansion has felt like a pot of water sitting on the NBA's stovetop for a long time, with the heat kept on low. Everyone knows that eventually the heat will be cranked up, the water will boil, and there will be cooking, but so far, everything is just being kept warm.

This July, expect the NBA to turn up the heat.

That was the takeaway from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, speaking to the media before Game 1 of the NBA Finals. He was asked about the owners' temperature on expansion.

"I'd say the current sense is we should be exploring it," Silver said. "I don't think it's automatic because it depends on your perspective on the future of the league. As I've said before, expansion, in a way, is selling equity in the league. If you believe in the league, you don't necessarily want to add partners. On the other hand, we recognize there are underserved markets in the United States and elsewhere…

"We have an owners' meeting in July in Las Vegas. It will be on the agenda to take the temperature of the room. We have committees that are already talking about it. But my sense is at that meeting, they're going to give direction to me and my colleagues at the league office that we should continue to explore it."

That exploration will be a more formal process, although Silver, always cautious in his public statements, wouldn't go beyond that.

"What I expect is if a decision is made that there should be further exploration by the league office and presumably a committee of team owners, it would be more of a formal process," Silver said.

What that likely means is the league starts meeting with potential ownership groups.

"There's been no lack of interest. Certainly I've gotten a lot of unsolicited calls," Silver said. "I essentially have said to people from several different cities, We're just not engaging in that process right now. I want to be fair to everyone. So I don't want to have meeting with some and not others.

"So if we were to say yes, we're now going to move into a more formal exploratory phase, we would take those meetings and in addition likely we would engage with outside advisors who would look at markets, look at economic opportunities and media opportunities, et cetera."

The expectation in league circles is that the NBA will ultimately move forward with expansion, with two teams: Seattle and, most likely, Las Vegas. Silver and the league office had wanted to wait for a new CBA to be in place (ensuring stability) as well as the new television deal finalized before moving forward. Those are now done.

The NBA also waited for the sale of the Boston Celtics — with the franchise value in that sale set at $6 billion — before moving forward, so the league could have an idea what it could ask for in expansion fees. The sale of the Portland Trail Blazers, a process that has just begun, will also be factored into that expansion price tag.

Expect the heat to be turned up on the expansion process this summer when the owners get together in Las Vegas. Maybe then everything will move toward a boil.

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Celtics draft fits: How Thomas Sorber could boost Boston's frontcourt

Celtics draft fits: How Thomas Sorber could boost Boston's frontcourt originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Boston Celtics have begun a pivotal offseason for the franchise.

One position group that could see significant change is the frontcourt. Kristaps Porzingis is entering the final year of his contract. If the Celtics try to get under the second apron of the luxury tax, the star center could be a player who is moved to shed salary.

Veteran centers Al Horford and Luke Kornet have expiring contracts and will become unrestricted free agents in July. Both of them have been key players off the Celtics bench the last couple seasons.

If any of these players depart Boston in the offseason, how will the Celtics add some much-needed talent and depth in the frontcourt? Well, the 2025 NBA Draft could be the best place to find it.

The Celtics own the No. 28 overall pick in the first round and the second pick (No. 32 overall) in the second round.

One player who fits what the Celtics are looking for and could fall to them in the late first round is Georgetown center Thomas Sorber.

Learn more about Sorber and his fit with the C’s below:

Thomas Sorber’s bio

  • Position: Forward/Center
  • Height: 6-foot-10
  • Weight: 255 pounds
  • Birthdate: Dec. 25, 2005
  • Birthplace: Trenton, New Jersey
  • College: Georgetown

Thomas Sorber’s collegiate stats

  • 2024-25: 14.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 2.0 blocks per game, 53.2 field goal percentage (24 games)

Thomas Sorber’s collegiate accolades

  • All-Big East Third Team
  • Big East All-Freshman team

Thomas Sorber’s highlights

Why Thomas Sorber fits with Celtics

Sorber averaged 14.5 points per game last season. He has good touch around the rim and is effective on lobs off the pick-and-roll. He’s also able to beat slower players off the dribble and finish at the rim. Sorber isn’t much of a 3-point shooter, though. He shot 16.2 percent on 1.5 3-point attempts per game.

Sorber doesn’t have to shoot lights out from 3-point range to be a quality NBA player. But as NBC Sports Boston’s Celtics insider Chris Forsberg explains, it would definitely improve Sorber’s potential at the next level if he could become an average (or better) outside shooter.

“The Hoyas big man is coming off of foot surgery, but he was named to the Big East All-Freshman team,” Forsberg said. “His offensive game was close to the rim. The question is: Can he fully develop a 3-point shot? If he does, he has the potential to become more than just a defensive rotational player.”

Two areas where Sorber could help the Celtics immediately is rebounding and defense. He crashes the glass at both ends of the floor and is a real shot-blocking presence at the basket.

Sorber’s versatile skill set would make him worthy of the No. 28 pick.

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Another dramatic come-from-behind win. How do the Pacers keep doing this?

OKLAHOMA CITY — The statistics are mind-boggling:

• Indiana has five 15+-point comebacks in these playoffs.
• Indiana is 5-3 when trailing by 15 or more in these playoffs.
• Tyrese Haliburton has four game-winning or game-tying buckets in the final 5 seconds these playoffs (Game 5 vs. Milwaukee, Game 2 vs. Cleveland, Game 1 vs. New York, and now Game 1 vs. Oklahoma City).

How do the Pacers keep doing this?

Turning disrespect into fuel.

"That's been our thing the whole year, even at the beginning of the playoffs. Everybody got the other team winning every single game," Obi Toppin said. "We just go out there and always do what we do."

That fuel wasn't just everyone picking against Indiana in these playoffs, it dates back to last season and the Pacers' run to the Eastern Conference Finals, Haliburton said.

"After you have a run like last year, and you get swept in the Eastern Conference Finals, and all the conversation is about is how you don't belong there and how you lucked out to get there, and that it was a fluke. Guys are going to be pissed off," Haliburton said. "We're going to spend the summer pissed off. And then you come into the year with all the talk around how was a fluke, you have an unsuccessful first couple months, and now that's easy for everybody to clown you, talk about you in a negative way.

"I think as a group, we take everything personal, like as a group, it's not just me, it's everybody. I feel like that's the DNA of this group."

“Ultimate Confidence”

The other thing the Pacers discussed was their unshakable confidence in themselves.

When did Indiana start to believe it could win this game?

"When I got off the bus, I put on my shoes, there was never a disbelief as a group," Haliburton said.

Haliburton embodies that.

"Ultimate, ultimate confidence in himself..." Myles Turner said of his team's star. "When it comes to the moments, he wants the ball. He wants to be the one to hit that shot. He doesn't shy away from the moment and very important this time of the year to have a go-to guy. He just keeps finding a way and we keep putting the ball in the right positions and the rest is history."

That confidence means the Pacers don't panic when trailing, they just focus on small victories that add up to big ones.

"I thought we did a great job of just walking them down," Haliburton said. "When it gets to 15, you can panic, or you can talk about, 'How do we get it to 10? How do we get it to five from there?' So, you know, I think all [playoffs], that's what we preached as a group, is when we get down big, let's just find a way to incrementally get it down."

"We stay connected. We’re going to play until the whistle blows," said Andrew Nembhard, who was critical in the Game 1 comeback by scoring or assisting on 16 fourth-quarter points and playing strong defense on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the fourth.

That leads to dramatic endings, even if it isn't always pretty getting there. Not that the Pacers care.

"Come May and June, it doesn't matter how you get them, just get them," Haliburton said. "So we'll take it."
And they'll take a 1-0 lead in the NBA Finals.

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NBA Finals Ad Inventory Sells Fast Despite Ratings Worries

Squish them together into one sprawling 12,338 square-mile mass, and the 77 counties that make up the blended Indianapolis and Oklahoma City markets would yield a grand total of 1.99 million TV homes, or 1.6% of the national base. Given the relatively undersized reach of this hypothetical conjoined entity—by way of comparison, the top-ranked New York City market crams 7.49 million TV households into an area that’s one-third the size of our Indy-OKC hybrid—it’s not unreasonable to suggest that the TV audience for the 2025 NBA Finals is likely to be one of the smallest on record.

Naturally, NBA commissioner Adam Silver has done what he can to downplay the Designated Market Area chatter, arguing that the participation of clubs repping smaller media markets is very much by design. “I’m happy whatever team ends up in the Finals,” Silver said Wednesday during an appearance on FS1’s Breakfast Ball. “It’s been intentional, from our standpoint, to create a system, a collective bargaining agreement, that allows more teams to compete.”

As far as the league’s media partners are concerned, Silver’s system seems to be working. Through the conference finals, Disney and TNT Sports have generated $344.8 million in sales revenue, per EDO Ad EnGage estimates, flat versus the analogous period in 2024. Overall in-game deliveries are up 3.3% year-over-year, with an average draw of 4.49 million viewers per window.

While Silver insisted that real hoops fans will tune in to the Pacers-Thunders series regardless of demography, he acknowledged there may be some slippage among more casual observers on either coast. “We’re going to have to go through a process … where people are accustomed to tuning into the Finals because the two teams deserve to be there, and [because] it’s the best basketball,” Silver said before noting that the Super Bowl matchup has almost no material impact on the Big Game’s deliveries.

(Fair point, although invoking the NFL in a conversation about audience size is sort of like comparing a Sumerian deity to the guy who sold you your life insurance policy.)

If the NBA’s Final Boss is justifiably vexed about how seemingly secondary concerns tend to dictate the size of the league’s audiences, ABC’s advertisers aren’t nearly as bothered by the DMA issue. According to Jim Minnich, who serves as senior VP, revenue and yield management at Disney’s ad sales team, only a “couple of avails” remain in Games 1-4 of the Finals, while “a handful” of Game 5 units are still up for grabs. Speaking on the eve of the Pacers-Thunder opener, Minnich said the Finals sell-through is at 80%, with scatter demand coming in hot on the heels of a 7% year-over-year ratings boost for the 27 playoff games on ESPN and ABC.

All told, 85 advertisers have staked out territory in the Finals, a roster that includes 17 first-time buyers. Of the returning clients, 62% have increased their spend compared to last year’s Mavericks-Celtics series.

“We’re very well sold coming into this,” Minnich said during a Wednesday afternoon video call. “We’re seeing double-digit scatter price increases over [the 2024-25] upfront, and we’re seeing double-digit scatter volume growth. There’s been high demand across the board.”

As marketers increasingly look to the NBA Finals as a vehicle for fresh creative, a host of in-game integrations will be deployed as a means to shake up the break structure. Among the brands that will be rolling out custom integrations include Google, Domino’s, Ford, Coors Light and Burger King, the latter of which is bowing a new musical highlight package during Sunday’s broadcast of Game 2.

Many of these integrations will riff on the myriad ways in which the NBA overlaps with American pop culture, a theme that served as a throughline during the paparazzi fever dream that was the Eastern Conference Finals on TNT Sports.

“Looking back at the Knicks-Pacers series, there was so much conversation swirling around Celebrity Row,” Minnich said. “Advertisers, especially those looking to reach younger, more affluent viewers, recognized this and wanted to get involved in the conversation.” While Timothée Chalamet reinvented himself as the Taylor Swift of Madison Square Garden, marketers that aren’t necessarily endemic to in-game NBA buys began scooping up units in a bid to insert themselves in the national chit chat around the actor and his equally fired-up celebrity pals.

As it happens, the Hell’s Kitchen native effectively has helped Minnich’s crew shift units ever since he popped up on ESPN’s College GameDay to flex his football cred and promote the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown. (Chalamet was an easy get, as Disney’s Searchlight Pictures produced the film.) “That GameDay appearance was a great example of how pop culture and sports intersect, while underscoring all the different entry points that exist across our platforms,” Minnich said. “Moments like that are why more advertisers seem to be coming around to the idea that sports is for everyone.”

Of course, outside of Pat McAfee and maybe Lon Chaney Jr.’s ghost, you’re probably not going to see a whole lot of famous Hoosiers/Sooners taking in the action from the pricey seats at Gainbridge Field House and Paycom Center. But the NBA’s core audience of upscale consumers will have plenty of star power to feast on nonetheless, as this year’s Finals features the youngest cast of players in nearly half a century.

“We are ecstatic to see two new teams in the Finals,” Minnich said. “I wouldn’t even call them up and comers, because Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander] is the MVP and Halliburton may have just made himself a household name after that show he put on against the Knicks.” As the NBA embraces the end of the superteam era and legends like LeBron James and Steph Curry near quitting time, this new crop of stars will be tasked with the not-inconsiderable task of growing the game from markets that lie far from the bright lights of New York, L.A. and Chicago.

“I don’t necessarily think it’s just about the big markets anymore,” Minnich said. “There’s a lot to be said for the sheer number of stars in the league and the new competitive environment.” (Second-apron parity promises to continue to keep things fresh at the top; no NBA team has won back-to-back titles since Golden State in 2017 and 2018.)

Ultimately, Minnich is projecting a longer series for the Finals (“this is not going to be, you know, four-none”), and while he isn’t making any predictions as to which team will walk away with Larry O’Brien’s gold-plated hardware, he’s not counting out the prospect of a Game 7.

“I think the Pacers have the depth to compete,” Minnich said. “All they have to do is pick one off in OKC and one at home and we have an even series.”

Should the Finals grind on for the full seven, the subsequent deliveries will largely offset any unspectacular early TV numbers. In this century, only four series have required a seventh frame, with the average audiences ranging from 19 million for the Spurs-Pistons decider in 2005 to 31 million for the second Cavaliers-Warriors series in 2016. ABC will have to get there without the built-in boost of the NYC DMA, but outside the megalopolis lift, nothing guarantees a crowd quite like duration.

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The unsinkable Pacers don’t need the lead. They just need the last word

Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers is defended by Luguentz Dort of the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second quarter of Thursday’s Game 1 of the NBA finals.Photograph: William Purnell/Getty Images

This is why you play the games, as the old adage goes. In recent years, the later rounds of the NBA playoffs – and the finals in particular – have felt rote. They’ve gone chalk. The drama was minimal, even under the brightest lights of the league’s biggest stage. This year has been different: a playoffs filled with suspense, tension and plot twists galore. But at the start of the finals, the scene was set for a regression to the intrigue-less mean. Every roundtable pundit, basketball expert, and barbershop patron outside of Indiana state lines had Oklahoma City – basketball’s best team from wire to wire – winning the series easily.

But Tyrese Haliburton, the instigator of several of this postseason’s most jaw-dropping twists, knows a thing or two about drama. It oozes out of his pores. And he and his Indiana Pacers had other plans.

Schedule

Best-of-seven-games series. All times US eastern time (EDT). 

Thu 5 Jun Game 1: Pacers 111, Thunder 110

Sun 8 Jun Game 2: Pacers at Thunder, 8pm

Wed 11 Jun Game 3: Thunder at Pacers, 8.30pm

Fri 13 Jun Game 4: Thunder at Pacers, 8.30pm

Mon 16 Jun Game 5: Pacers at Thunder, 8.30pm*

Thu 19 Jun Game 6: Thunder at Pacers, 8.30pm*

Sun 22 Jun Game 7: Pacers at Thunder, 8pm*

*-if necessary

How to watch

In the US, all games will air on ABC. Streaming options include ABC.com or the ABC app (with a participating TV provider login), as well as Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, fuboTV, DIRECTV STREAM, and Sling TV (via ESPN3 for ABC games). NBA League Pass offers replays, but live finals games are subject to blackout restrictions in the US.

In the UK, the games will be available on TNT Sports and Discovery+. As for streaming, NBA League Pass will provide live and on-demand access to all Finals games without blackout restrictions.

In Australia, the games will broadcast live on ESPN Australia. Kayo Sports and Foxtel Now will stream the games live, while NBA League Pass will offer live and on-demand access without blackout restrictions.

The Pacers did not lead for 47 minutes and 59.7 seconds of Game 1 on Thursday in Oklahoma City. On a night when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the regular-season MVP, scored 38 points and no Indiana player topped 19, it should have been a wrap. The Thunder’s suffocating defense, among the league’s best, forced a famously ball-conscious Indiana team – one that averages just 12 turnovers a game – into coughing it up 19 times in the first half alone. That’s hardly a recipe for success. Yet somehow, the Pacers came out victorious, against the odds, against the physics, against conventional basketball logic. Because that’s what they do. You can’t beat the Pacers by playing 47 minutes and 59.7 seconds of winning basketball. They demand all 48.

Related: NBA finals: Indiana Pacers stun Oklahoma City Thunder in final second to win Game 1 thriller

This was the fifth comeback victory of 15 or more points for the Pacers this postseason alone, the most by any NBA team in the play-by-play era. Haliburton has hit a game-winning shot in all four rounds of these playoffs, each feeling more improbable than the last: his Pacers have been underdogs in each of those series and never more so than they were when they entered the Paycom Center on Thursday. For all the talk heading into the series about how Indiana had never seen a defense like the Oklahoma City’s, we seem to have forgotten, as a general basketball viewing populace, about another key factor: Oklahoma City have never seen a team like Indiana in the last two minutes of the fourth quarter.

“They have a lot of belief,” Oklahoma City head coach Mark Daignault said, after his team’s dispiriting loss, of his ballsy Indiana opponent. “They never think they’re out of it. So they play with great belief, even when their backs are against the wall.” That belief – unwavering, unshakable – is Indiana’s secret sauce. And with every impossible comeback, it compounds on itself. The more they pull off, the less impossible it all feels.

After Thursday’s win, Haliburton reflected on where that belief started: last year’s humiliating sweep in the Eastern Conference finals. “After you have a run like last year but end up getting swept – and all the conversation is about how you didn’t belong there, how you lucked out, how it was a fluke – guys are gonna spend the summer pissed off,” he said. “Then you come into this year, and after an unsuccessful first couple of months, it’s easy for everybody to clown you. I think, as a group, we take everything personal.”

On the character of his team, which has left opposing crowds stunned at every turn this postseason, he sums it up simply: “We don’t give up until it’s zero on the clock.”

Haliburton says being the underdog, proving people wrong, has become part of the team’s identity. “It’s fun,” he says, to win when you’re not supposed to. And this win, like all of Indiana’s wins have been , was a true team effort – even if Haliburton’s flair for the dramatic grabs most of the headlines. It was a true win by committee, whether it was Aaron Nesmith muscling his way to a critical rebound on a bad ankle, Andrew Nembhard coming up with late-game heroics on both ends (including a huge stop on Gilgeous-Alexander), or Obi Toppin scoring 11 of his 17 points in the second half off the bench. All five Pacers starters scored in double figures – so did Toppin – but none cracked 20.

It’s probably not the platonic ideal for a basketball team to rely on procuring its biggest wins in such white-knuckle fashion, but the Pacers sure are good at it, and it makes for a hell of an entertainment product. And in the highly competitive and intense NBA postseason, where wins become harder and harder to come by, teams will take them however they can, messy and chaotic as they may be. After Thursday’s instant classic, Haliburton summed up the Indiana ethos succinctly: “Come May and June, it doesn’t matter how you get ‘em. Just get ‘em.”

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Last-second winner puts Pacers ahead in NBA Finals

Tyrese Haliburton
Indiana cut the deficit to one with 48.6 seconds before Haliburton scored the winner [Getty Images]

Tyrese Haliburton scored in the final second as the Indiana Pacers snatched victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in game one of the NBA Finals.

His 21-foot shot put the Pacers in front for the first time in the match, with 0.3 seconds remaining as they secured a 111-110 win.

The Thunder, with home court advantage for the first two games, had led by 15 points during the fourth quarter, and in the closing seconds the ball was in the hands of NBA most valuable player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

However, he missed a two-point attempt with 12 seconds remaining and the Pacers grabbed the rebound, passed the ball to Haliburton and he drove down the court before hitting the winning points.

It's the fourth time in the 2025 play-offs that the 25-year-old has recorded a big-time score - three times to win a match and once to force overtime.

Indiana won despite turning the ball over 25 times, with 20 of those coming in the first half.

"It's not the recipe to win," Haliburton said.

"We can't turn the ball over that much. (But) come May and June, it doesn't matter how you get them, just get them."

Team-mate Myles Turner said of Haliburton: "Some players will say they have it, but there are other players that show it. He wants to be the one to hit that shot. He doesn't shy away from that moment."

Gilgeous-Alexander was the game's leading scorer with 38 points, while Pascal Siakam top scored for the Pacers with 19 points, followed by Obi Toppin with 17.

"We played like we were trying to keep the lead instead of trying to extend it or be aggressive," said the Thunder's Jalen Williams.

Game two of the best-of-seven series is also in Oklahoma and will start at 19:00 local time on Sunday, 8 June (01:00 BST on Monday).

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Caitlin Clark, Tyrese Maxey, the basketball and sports worlds react to Tyrese Haliburton's game-winner

In the first half of Game 1, the Pacers were trying to adjust to — and were a little overwhelmed by — the speed, intensity, and physicality of the Oklahoma City defense, which is why Indiana turned it over 19 times. In the second half the Pacers looked more comfortable, found their rhythm, then came from 15 points down in the fourth quarter to do this:

Around the NBA and the sports world, people were stunned. Except in Indiana, where it was a celebration, starting with Caitlin Clark.

Here is just a sampling of the reaction to that shot.

It wasn't just the basketball world reacting.

For his part, Haliburton credited his new signature shoes.

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Pacers steal Game 1 of the NBA Finals with another Tyrese Haliburton clutch game-winner

OKLAHOMA CITY — Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers have done it again.

Indiana now has five 15+ point comebacks these playoffs, it has won every Game 1 this postseason, and when it needed a clutch shot Haliburton has stepped up all playoffs long.

That didn’t change in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on a night the Thunder were the better team for 45 minutes — leading by nine with 2:30 remaining — but when it came to executing in the clutch, it was once again the Pacers. Haliburton silenced Loud City and sent Pacers fans into a frenzy.

Indiana stole Game 1 of the NBA Finals on the road, 111-110. The Pacers hold a 1-0 series lead, with Game 2 set for Sunday in Oklahoma City.

That gives the Thunder a couple of days to stew on the one they feel they let get away — the Thunder had 17 more scoring opportunities (and took 16 more shots) but couldn’t knock enough of them down.

For the Pacers — who embraced their underdog status — this was just more of what they do.

Obi Toppin may have best summed up the night for Indiana: He had a brutal first half, turning the ball over three times, missing some defensive rotations, but he settled down in the second half and ended up leading the team with 17 points. It was a balanced Pacers’ attack with six players in double figures, three of them also racking up double-digit rebounds.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander looked like an MVP for most of the night, scoring 38 points, but the Pacers generally did a good job of staying home on other players and letting him cook. Those other players shot 36.8% on the night.

For much of the night, it felt like the Thunder were going to blow this game open, but they never did — and Indiana never quit.

In the first half, Oklahoma City’s defense was the embodiment of the famous Mike Tyson quote, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” The Thunder’s swarming defense forced 19 first-half Pacers turnovers, 11 of them live-ball, and were lucky only to be down a dozen, 57-46 at the half.

However, the Thunder turned those 19 turnovers into just nine points — too often looking for a knockout 3-pointer rather than simply getting to the rim — and that, combined with OKC shooting 5-of-20 from the midrange in the first 24 minutes, kept the Pacers within striking distance.

The Pacers lost the possession game in the first half. Add in the six offensive rebounds the Thunder had in the first 24 minutes and Oklahoma City had 18 more scoring opportunities. They just didn’t take advantage of them.

Oklahoma City opened the game with the first twist of the series, going small and starting defensive guard Cason Wallace instead of big man Isaiah Hartenstein. It didn’t take long before the Pacers started to attack that with off-ball screens forcing Wallace to switch onto the bigger Pascal Siakam. That sparked a 10-3 run, and in what would be a theme of the night, the Thunder pulled away and the Pacers roared back.

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NBA finals: Indiana Pacers stun Oklahoma City Thunder in final second to win Game 1 thriller

Tyrese Haliburton celebrates with Aaron Nesmith after a remarkable comeback.Photograph: Julio Cortez/AP

Nearly every analyst coming into this year’s NBA finals had the Oklahoma City Thunder beating the Indiana Pacers comfortably. The first three quarters of Game 1 did very little to contradict those predictions until the final minutes, when all hell broke loose.

The reigning NBA MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, looked like, well, the NBA MVP for much of the game as he led the scoring with 38 points. His Thunder team went out to an early 7-0 lead and were 57-45 up by half-time. The second half seemed to be going the same way with the Thunder 15 points up at one point in the fourth quarter.

Schedule

Best-of-seven-games series. All times US eastern time (EDT). 

Thu 5 Jun Game 1: Pacers 111, Thunder 110

Sun 8 Jun Game 2: Pacers at Thunder, 8pm

Wed 11 Jun Game 3: Thunder at Pacers, 8.30pm

Fri 13 Jun Game 4: Thunder at Pacers, 8.30pm

Mon 16 Jun Game 5: Pacers at Thunder, 8.30pm*

Thu 19 Jun Game 6: Thunder at Pacers, 8.30pm*

Sun 22 Jun Game 7: Pacers at Thunder, 8pm*

*-if necessary

How to watch

In the US, all games will air on ABC. Streaming options include ABC.com or the ABC app (with a participating TV provider login), as well as Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, fuboTV, DIRECTV STREAM, and Sling TV (via ESPN3 for ABC games). NBA League Pass offers replays, but live finals games are subject to blackout restrictions in the US.

In the UK, the games will be available on TNT Sports and Discovery+. As for streaming, NBA League Pass will provide live and on-demand access to all Finals games without blackout restrictions.

In Australia, the games will broadcast live on ESPN Australia. Kayo Sports and Foxtel Now will stream the games live, while NBA League Pass will offer live and on-demand access without blackout restrictions.

And then the Pacers, as they so often have in these playoffs, started to fight back. With a minute remaining they had made it a one-point game at 110-109. With a second to go it was still 110-109 and Tyrese Haliburton had a chance to steal the game for the Pacers in outrageous fashion. Just as he had against the New York Knicks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, he did not miss when it mattered. His basket put the Pacers up 111-110 and won them the game. Remarkably, the Pacers led for just 0.3 seconds – the blink between Haliburton’s shot and the buzzer.

Haliburton’s shot was the latest game-winner in an NBA finals contest since Michael Jordan’s buzzer-beater to sink the Utah Jazz in 1997, also in Game 1.

“We’ve just had to figure out how to win in so many ways all year,” said Haliburton. “We’re just a really resilient group, I’m just really proud of this group. We keep believing and we stay together. It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.”

Once again, Indiana had found a way back in these playoffs. On 29 April, they trailed Milwaukee 118-111 with 34.6 seconds left in overtime and won 119-118. On 6 May, the Pacers trailed Cleveland 119-112 with 48 seconds left and won 120-119. On 21 May, they trailed New York 121-112 with 51.1 seconds left in regulation and won 138-135 in overtime. Thursday’s comeback was the Pacers’ fifth from 15 or more points down this postseason, an NBA record.

“That’s a really good team,” Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault said. “Credit them for not only tonight but their run. They’ve had so many games like that that have seemed improbable. And they just play with a great spirit and they keep coming. They keep playing.”

The Pacers had staged the biggest fourth-quarter comeback in a finals game since Dallas came from 15 down to beat Miami in 2011. The coach of those Mavericks: Rick Carlisle. The coach of these Pacers: Rick Carlisle. His decisions on Thursday certainly helped. When the Pacers were 15 points down early in the fourth, Carlisle called time and subbed out all five players, seeking a spark. It worked. The Pacers outscored the Thunder 15-4 over the next 3:26 to make it 98-94 with a little over six minutes remaining. It was a foundation that would help them stage their remarkable comeback.

Haliburton’s last-gasp heroics spoiled a brilliant outing by Gilgeous-Alexander, whose 38 points were the third-most in an NBA finals debut behind only Allen Iverson (48 in 2001) and George Mikan (42 in 1949).

Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is on Sunday night in Oklahoma City. Both teams may just about have recovered by then.

“Man, basketball’s fun,” Haliburton said, reflecting on the end of the game.

It was hard to disagree.

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Caitlin Clark, NBA fans react to Pacers stunning Thunder in NBA Finals Game 1

Caitlin Clark, NBA fans react to Pacers stunning Thunder in NBA Finals Game 1 originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Indiana Pacers did it again.

Now known for their late comebacks and never-say-die attitude, the Pacers pulled off yet another incredible play to steal Game 1 of the NBA Finals at the Oklahoma City Thunder Thursday.

After Shai Gilgeous Alexander failed to score the dagger shot in the closing seconds, the Pacers pushed the ball up in the dying moments.

When Haliburton got the ball, he took it just inside the arc and nailed his pull-up jumper with 0.3 seconds on the clock.

The Thunder had a chance at a last-second inbounds play, but it deflected away from the rim.

Haliburton finished the game with just 14 points on 6 of 13 shooting, but added 10 rebounds, six assists and a block in 39 minutes. Pascal Siakam led Indiana with 19 points in a balanced team effort, while Gilgeous-Alexander, the league MVP, anchored the Thunder with 38 points. The next highest-scoring teammate had 17 points.

After Haliburton’s shot, the NBA world couldn’t help but feel several different emotions. Here are some of the best reactions to Haliburton’s iconic shot:

Game 2 in Oklahoma City is set for Sunday, June 8 at 8 p.m. ET, 5 p.m. PT.

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Tyrese Haliburton hits game winner, Pacers steal NBA Finals Game 1 vs. Thunder

Tyrese Haliburton hits game winner, Pacers steal NBA Finals Game 1 vs. Thunder originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Welcome to the NBA Finals, Tyrese Haliburton.

The Indiana Pacers stunned the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 Thursday, winning at the death 111-110 in a game they trailed for all but three-tenths of a second.

After Shai Gilgeous-Alexander failed to put the game to bed, the Pacers flew down the court and Haliburton took control. With 0.3 seconds remaining, Haliburton’s pull-up jumper hit all net.

Alex Caruso had a late inbounds throw for a last-gasp chance, but it deflected away from the rim.

Oklahoma City held several double-digit leads throughout the game, going as high as 15 at one point. Indiana brought it down to six in the closing seconds of the third quarter before Gilgeous-Alexander drilled a three to push it back to nine.

But just when Oklahoma City looked to be closing out a solid home opener in the fourth, Indiana turned on the jets with a late run and the Thunder unable to buy a bucket.

Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 38 points on 14 of 30 shooting. Jalen Williams added 17, but struggled with 6 of 19 shooting. Lu Dort brought strong two-way presence with 15 points on 5 of 10 scoring to go with four steals and two blocks, while Alex Caruso added 11 points off the bench and his usual defensive grit.

But the Pacers, when it mattered most, scored the key buckets, even without one dominant scorer. All five starters hit double figures, with Pascal Siakam’s 19 leading the way. Obi Toppin came off the bench for 17 points on 6 of 9 shooting, the second best point total on the team.

Haliburton had just 14 points on 6 of 13 shooting, but the one basket at the end made the difference. He also recorded 10 rebounds, six assists and a block.

Indiana has seen multiple key baskets from Haliburton throughout its run to the championship series. Haliburton delivered game winners against the No. 5 Milwaukee Bucks, No. 1 Cleveland Cavaliers and No. 3 New York Knicks.

With a game winner already off the checklist for the NBA Finals, what transpires next for both franchises seeking their first ever title will be highly intriguing.

Game 2 is set for Sunday, June 8 at 8 p.m. ET, 5 p.m. PT.

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Tyrese Haliburton hits game winner, Pacers steal NBA Finals Game 1 vs. Thunder

Tyrese Haliburton hits game winner, Pacers steal NBA Finals Game 1 vs. Thunder originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Welcome to the NBA Finals, Tyrese Haliburton.

The Indiana Pacers stunned the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 Thursday, winning at the death 111-110 in a game they trailed for all but three-tenths of a second.

After Shai Gilgeous-Alexander failed to put the game to bed, the Pacers flew down the court and Haliburton took control. With 0.3 seconds remaining, Haliburton’s pull-up jumper hit all net.

Alex Caruso had a late inbounds throw for a last-gasp chance, but it deflected away from the rim.

Oklahoma City held several double-digit leads throughout the game, going as high as 15 at one point. Indiana brought it down to six in the closing seconds of the third quarter before Gilgeous-Alexander drilled a three to push it back to nine.

But just when Oklahoma City looked to be closing out a solid home opener in the fourth, Indiana turned on the jets with a late run and the Thunder unable to buy a bucket.

Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 38 points on 14 of 30 shooting. Jalen Williams added 17, but struggled with 6 of 19 shooting. Lu Dort brought strong two-way presence with 15 points on 5 of 10 scoring to go with four steals and two blocks, while Alex Caruso added 11 points off the bench and his usual defensive grit.

But the Pacers, when it mattered most, scored the key buckets, even without one dominant scorer. All five starters hit double figures, with Pascal Siakam’s 19 leading the way. Obi Toppin came off the bench for 17 points on 6 of 9 shooting, the second best point total on the team.

Haliburton had just 14 points on 6 of 13 shooting, but the one basket at the end made the difference. He also recorded 10 rebounds, six assists and a block.

Indiana has seen multiple key baskets from Haliburton throughout its run to the championship series. Haliburton delivered game winners against the No. 5 Milwaukee Bucks, No. 1 Cleveland Cavaliers and No. 3 New York Knicks.

With a game winner already off the checklist for the NBA Finals, what transpires next for both franchises seeking their first ever title will be highly intriguing.

Game 2 is set for Sunday, June 8 at 8 p.m. ET, 5 p.m. PT.

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Thunder's Jalen Williams matches NBA legend Bill Walton for remarkable feat

Thunder's Jalen Williams matches NBA legend Bill Walton for remarkable feat originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Oklahoma City Thunder star Jalen Williams made history by stepping onto the court in the NBA Finals on Thursday.

The league announced that the 24-year-old forward became the first player in his third season or earlier to be an All-Star, an All-NBA Team selection and an All-Defensive Team selection and to play in the NBA Finals in the same season since Hall of Famer Bill Walton in 1976-1977.

Williams was in the starting lineup for Game 1 of the Finals against the Indiana Pacers on Thursday to complete what has been a breakout season for the No. 12 pick in the 2022 draft.

He averaged 21.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.1 assists this season while earning his first All-Star selection. After the season he was named Third-Team All-NBA and All-Defensive Second Team, making both for the first time.

By taking the court in Game 1 of the Finals on Thursday against the Indiana Pacers, Williams completed an NBA accolade checklist that had not been done in nearly five decades.

Walton, the No. 1 pick in the 1974 draft by the Portland Trail Blazers, finished his third season with averages of 18.6 points and a league-leading 14.4 rebounds and 3.2 blocks per game.

He finished second in MVP voting behind the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but made Second-Team All-NBA and All-Defensive First-Team. Walton then led the Trail Blazers to their first and only NBA championship after defeating the Philadelphia 76ers in six games.

Williams and the Thunder need four more victories to check off that final box, which would give Oklahoma City its first NBA championship, and be the franchise’s first title since winning as the Seattle SuperSonics in 1979.

Who is Jalen Williams?

Williams is a forward for the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder.

How old is Jalen Williams?

Williams is 24-years-old. He was born on April 14, 2001.  

Where is Jalen Williams from?

Williams was born in Denver, Colorado. He attended high school in Arizona.

Where did Jalen Williams go to college?

Williams played three seasons at Santa Clara in California.

When was Jalen Williams drafted?

Williams was the No. 12 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft by the Thunder.

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Thunder's Jalen Williams matches NBA legend Bill Walton for remarkable feat

Thunder's Jalen Williams matches NBA legend Bill Walton for remarkable feat originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Oklahoma City Thunder star Jalen Williams made history by stepping onto the court in the NBA Finals on Thursday.

The league announced that the 24-year-old forward became the first player in his third season or earlier to be an All-Star, an All-NBA Team selection and an All-Defensive Team selection and to play in the NBA Finals in the same season since Hall of Famer Bill Walton in 1976-1977.

Williams was in the starting lineup for Game 1 of the Finals against the Indiana Pacers on Thursday to complete what has been a breakout season for the No. 12 pick in the 2022 draft.

He averaged 21.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.1 assists this season while earning his first All-Star selection. After the season he was named Third-Team All-NBA and All-Defensive Second Team, making both for the first time.

By taking the court in Game 1 of the Finals on Thursday against the Indiana Pacers, Williams completed an NBA accolade checklist that had not been done in nearly five decades.

Walton, the No. 1 pick in the 1974 draft by the Portland Trail Blazers, finished his third season with averages of 18.6 points and a league-leading 14.4 rebounds and 3.2 blocks per game.

He finished second in MVP voting behind the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but made Second-Team All-NBA and All-Defensive First-Team. Walton then led the Trail Blazers to their first and only NBA championship after defeating the Philadelphia 76ers in six games.

Williams and the Thunder need four more victories to check off that final box, which would give Oklahoma City its first NBA championship, and be the franchise’s first title since winning as the Seattle SuperSonics in 1979.

Who is Jalen Williams?

Williams is a forward for the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder.

How old is Jalen Williams?

Williams is 24-years-old. He was born on April 14, 2001.  

Where is Jalen Williams from?

Williams was born in Denver, Colorado. He attended high school in Arizona.

Where did Jalen Williams go to college?

Williams played three seasons at Santa Clara in California.

When was Jalen Williams drafted?

Williams was the No. 12 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft by the Thunder.

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Knicks made offer for Suns star Kevin Durant at last season's NBA trade deadline: report

The Knicks' 2024-25 season ultimately ended in disappointment, with a six-game series loss to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals, but the team also won 51 games and proved to be a legit championship contender.

And it sounds like they nearly added another superstar in the process.

According to ESPN's Shams Charania, the Knicks made an offer to the Phoenix Suns to try to acquireKevin Durantat the trade deadline.

"On Kevin Durant, I will say this: There was some mutual interest between Kevin Durant and the Knicks at the trade deadline. The Knicks made an offer for Kevin Durant at the NBA trade deadline," Charania said on Thursday.

SNY NBA Insider Ian Begley recently noted that he believes it’s unlikely that the Knicks would ultimately pull the trigger on a trade for Durant this offseason.

Durant, a 15-time All-Star, averaged 26.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 4.2 assists with the Suns in 62 games last season, before an ankle injury ended his season.

In 17 career seasons, Durant has averaged 27.2 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 4.4 assists while shooting 39.0 percent from three-point range. A four-time scoring champion, Durant is eighth on the all-time scoring list with 30,571 career points.