Category: NBA

Kevin Durant does have some leverage on where he gets traded. He has one year, at $54.7 million remaining on his contract, any team that trades for him will want to sign him to an extension. Durant can always say, "I will not re-sign with you."

Durant wants to be traded to the San Antonio Spurs or Houston Rockets, reports Sam Amick of The Athletic. Shams Charania of ESPN added the Miami Heat to those two teams. Amick adds that Durant may not get his wish, the Suns are most concerned with the best return they can get and if a team is willing to risk him walking after one year — as Toronto did to land Kawhi Leonard for the 2018-19 season (which worked out well for them) — the Suns will listen. Durant is seeking a two-year extension for more than $100 million.

Both the Spurs and Rockets would be considered title contenders if they add Durant. The Spurs have Victor Wembanyama in the paint and De'Aaron Fox at the point, Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle, and they are almost certainly drafting Dylan Harper with the No. 2 pick in less than two weeks. The Rockets were the No. 2 seed in the West last season, boasting a core of young players such as Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson. However, the playoffs revealed that this team lacks an elite-level, go-to scorer they can trust in the playoffs, and they also need more spacing and scoring in the half court. Durant checks all those boxes.

However, both the Spurs and Rockets like their current cores, and have spent the last few years protecting their assets and building slowly. To suddenly trade some of that core for a 37-year-old Durant would be a dramatic shift, and the offers may reflect that. The Suns have been unimpressed by the Spurs' offers built around Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson, and Harrison Barnes, reports Jake Fischer of The Stein Line.

The perception leaguewide is that the Rockets and Spurs are looking for a steal of a deal, not the kind of trade haul the Suns are hoping to land for the future Hall of Famer. There have also been reports that the Spurs are not pushing hard to get any deal done. San Antonio reportedly would be willing to trade the No. 14 pick in this year's NBA draft, but not the No. 2 pick or parts of their young core. The Rockets' offer reportedly would focus around Jabari Smith Jr.

One thing to take from these latest rumors: Everyone expects Durant to be traded by or at the draft (unless it is a situation where a handshake deal is in place to make a trade after July 6, when the new NBA fiscal year begins). A Durant trade is coming, sooner rather than later. The only question is where.

It’s Monday, June 16, and the Indiana Pacers (50-32) and Oklahoma City Thunder (68-14) are all set to square off from Paycom Center in Oklahoma City for Game 5 of the NBA Finals.

Oklahoma City took Game 4 at Indiana, 111-104, behind 62 combined points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (35) and Jalen Williams (27), plus 14 points and 15 rebounds via Chet Holmgren. The OKC trio combined to shoot 24-of-51 from the field (47%) and a perfect 27-for-27 from the free-throw line.

The Thunder out-scored the Pacers 31-17 in the fourth quarter with Gilgeous-Alexander posting 15 of the final 16 points for Oklahoma City. Pascal Siakam led Indiana with 20 points and 8 rebounds, while Tyrese Haliburton poured in 18 points and 7 assists.

We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on the how to catch tipoff, odds, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.

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Game details & how to watch Pacers vs. Thunder live today

• Date: Monday, June 16, 2025
• Time: 8:30PM EST
• Site: Paycom Center
• City: Oklahoma City, OK
• Network/Streaming: ESPN / ABC

Never miss a second of the action and stay up to date with all the latest team stats and player news. Check out our day-by-dayNBA schedule page, along with detailed matchup pages that update live in-game.

Game odds for Pacers vs. Thunder

The latest odds as of Monday:

• Odds: Pacers (+310), Thunder (-395)
• Spread:  Thunder -9.5
• Over/Under: 223.5 points

That gives the Pacers an implied team point total of 106.5, and the Thunder 116.5.

Want to know which sportsbook is offering the best lines for every game on the NBA calendar? Check out the NBC Sports’ Live Odds tool to get all the latest updated info from DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM & more!

Expert picks & predictions for Monday’s Pacers vs. Thunder game

NBC Sports Bet Best Bet Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports) likes the Thunder to win in 6 games (+105):

"Indiana had its chance to go up 3-1 headed back to OKC but Shai Gilgeous-Alexander put the Thunder on his back in the fourth quarter to split the series 2-2. That could have been the nail in the coffin for the Pacers, but only time will tell.

For +105 odds and considering the Thunder are -395 home favorites in Game 5 and should be at least -180 favorites in Game 6, I like the value in the exact series score to be Thunder in 6. If you like the Pacers to win the series, I think there is value on Pascal Siakam to win NBA Finals MVP at +850 to +1000"

Please bet responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline at 1-800-522-4700.

Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the NBA calendar based on data points like recent performance, head-to-head player matchups, trends information and projected game totals.

Once the model is finished running, we put its projections next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.

Here are the best bets our model is projecting for today’s Pacers & Thunder game:

• Moneyline: NBC Sports Bet is staying away from a play on the Moneyline.
• Spread: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play ATS on the Indiana Pacers at +9.5.
• Total: NBC Sports Bet is staying away from a play on the Game Total of 223.5.

Want even more NBA best bets and predictions from our expert staff & tools? Check out the Expert NBA Predictions page from NBC Sports for money line, spread and over/under picks for every game on today’s calendar!

Important stats, trends & insights to know ahead of Pacers vs. Thunder on Monday

• Oklahoma City is 2-0 in Game 5's this postseason, while Indiana is 2-1
• Tyrese Haliburton has recorded at least six assists in all four NBA Finals games
• Pascal Siakam has recorded at least six rebounds in all four NBA Finals games
• Jalen Williams has scored at least 17 points in all four NBA Finals games
• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 30-plus points in three of the four NBA Finals games
• Chet Holmgren has double-doubled in the past two games
• Alex Caruso has scored double-figures in two of four NBA Finals games

If you’re looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our NBA Top Trends tool on NBC Sports!

Follow our experts on socials to keep up with all the latest content from the staff:

- Jay Croucher (@croucherJD)
- Drew Dinsick (@whale_capper)
- Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports)
- Brad Thomas (@MrBradThomas)

The best evidence of how much Steven Adams came to mean to the Houston Rockets came in the fourth quarter of Game 4 in their playoff series against the Warriors: Steve Kerr employed the hack-an-Adams strategy, in part to get him off the court. Golden State didn't have an answer for him on the glass and kept trying the strategy the next few games (with not much success).

Adams will remain with the Rockets on a three-year, $39 million extension, a story broken by Shams Charania of ESPN.

This is a good deal for the Rockets, the $13 million a season average price tag is below the mid-level exception for next season. With a few teams looking for a quality center, larger offers may have been available to Adams on the open market. Also, it's not yet known if the third year of this contract is fully guaranteed. This contract could ultimately set the market for other veteran backup centers, such as Al Horford.

Rockets GM Rafael Stone traded for Adams during the 2023-24 season, knowing he would be out for the remainder of the season but seeing him as a fit as a backup center this season. Adams had to be brought along slowly, but as his minutes ramped up his value to this team — particularly on the offensive glass and setting strong picks — became evident. By the end of the season, coach Ime Udoka was playing a double-big lineup with Adams and Alperen Sengun for stretches.

Adams didn't put up big counting stats — after the All-Star break he averaged 4.3 points and 6.3 assists a game in almost 16 minutes a night — but his value to the team was clear. Now the Rockets have locked up their guy for the coming years.

NDIANAPOLIS — "He never blinks, never shies away from the moment."

Alex Caruso's description of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is apt. This was the biggest moment in Gilgous-Alexander's young career, and there may not be a more crucial one in the future. The MVP-leader of Oklahoma City had been bottled up again by the physicality and pressure of Indiana's defense for three and a half quarters. Every possession was tough for him, the Thunder couldn't shake SGA free. He couldn't get his teammates going and had zero assists on the night.

With 3:52 left in the game, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault leaned into his stars — he started asking for Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams pick-and-rolls. The goal was to force a switch and get Aaron Nesmith off SGA and get Andrew Nembhard on him — Gildgeous-Alexander shot 6-of-9 for the game with Nembhard as his primary defender.

It worked. This pick-and-roll threw off the Pacers' defense just enough to allow SGA to score 15 of the Thunder's final 16 points (eight from the free throw line) in the final four minutes of the game and secure the win and tie the NBA Finals 2-2 heading back to Oklahoma City.

" Winning, especially this time of the season, it comes down to the moments, it's going to come down to late game," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "Every team is good. There's rarely going to be a blowout. It comes down to the moments and who is willing to make winning plays on both ends of the floor.

"I relish those moments, love the moments, good or bad. When I was a kid shooting at my driveway, I'd count down the clock for those moments. Now I get to live it."

Part of what keeps the Thunder calm and focused in those moments is Gilgous-Alexander's steady, focused, stoic demeanor.

"You really wouldn't know whether he's up three, down three, up 30, down 30, eating dinner on a Wednesday," Daigneault said. "He's pretty much the same guy."

"You wouldn't know if it was a preseason game or it's Game 4 of the NBA Finals down 2-1 with him," said OKC's Alex Caruso, who had 20 points and five steals of his own in the win. "That's why we have such a good mentality as a group. That's why we are able to find success in adversity. No matter what's going on, you look at him and he's the same. Underneath that stoic personality or (his) look on the court is a deep, deep-rooted competitiveness. That is sprinkled throughout the whole team."

Holmgren’s defense

In those final minutes, the Pacers hunted another Thunder star, Chet Holmgren, getting him switched onto Tyrese Haliburton. That was the matchup Indiana wanted: Holmgren on an island against the Pacers' All-NBA guy.

It didn't work.

"I had just given up two drives right before that. Just kind of trying to learn from those and play them better in those instances," Holmgren said of his play late. "I feel like I got a good contest. He was still able to get it off. He shoots a high-arcing shot. The whole time it's in the air, a lot's going through your mind. I'm just glad we were able to get those stops and close out the game."

"We don't [switch] a ton with him because he's just so impactful at the rim, but he can really switch," Daigneault said. "It's funny, when he was coming out of the draft, that was one of the things that they really recognized with him, is that he's very switchable. He's got great feet. We just found ourselves behind the ball in a lot of plays tonight. The switching was able to get that under control late. We can't do that unless he can do that. He was outstanding tonight."

It feels like the Thunder snatched momentum in these NBA Finals with the win, tying the series 2-2 as they head home for Game 5.

Still, this was a game where the Pacers were the better team for 42 minutes, as their defense effectively bottled up SGA and the Thunder for much of the night. It's a game they could have won if not for their own shooting troubles in the final minutes — they scored one bucket in the final five minutes — in the face of more defensive pressure.

If the Thunder are going to win a critical Game 5 at home, they are going to need a lot more Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams and Holmgren.

The Knicks are done flirting with other teams' coaches (well... probably) and have settled into focusing on coaches currently available.

The Knicks are set next week to interview Taylor Jenkins (the recently-fired Memphis Grizzlies coach) and Mike Brown (a veteran NBA coach, most recently of Sacramento, where he helped them break their playoff drought), reports James Edwards III at The Athletic. However, they may not be alone, and the Knicks may not be done with coaches currently employed by other teams.

The Dallas Mavericks' Jason Kidd and the Chicago Bulls' Billy Donovan are two the New York might circle back to in the coming weeks, according to league sources. The belief around the league is that Kidd and Donovan are looking for contract extensions from their current franchises, and if those don't materialize, they might be open to joining the Knicks.

In addition to Jenkins and Brown interviewing next week, New York is also expected to start contacting organizations to speak with assistant head coaches about the opening, per a league source.

That could open the door for New York to interview former Knicks assistant coach Johnnie Bryant, who is currently an assistant in Cleveland, was a finalist for the Phoenix Suns' job, and is a favorite with a segment of the Knicks fan base.

New York fired Tom Thibodeau — who had just led the team to its first Eastern Conference Finals in 25 years — without an upgrade at coach lined up, or even a clear plan of succession in place. They reached out to five teams (that we are aware of) to inquire about their currently employed coaches, however, all five did not give New York permission to talk to those coaches.

Jenkins is the winningest coach in Grizzlies history, but was fired with three weeks to go in the season. He has a good reputation around the league, which remained intact after the firing, as the team went 4-9 without him (including the playoffs). There were reports he had lost the locker room, and in particular star Ja Morant, in large part because of a change in offensive philosophy this season — one pushed by team management.

Brown coached the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Eastern Conference Finals during the LeBron James era — where he developed ties with current Knicks power broker William "Worldwide Wes" Wesley — as well as coaching the Lakers and Kings. He also interviewed for the Knicks job in 2020, when it went to Thibodeau.

Whoever the Knicks hire as coach, they are not rushing into a deal. They will interview Jenkins and Brown, then possibly others (former Denver coach Michael Malone is out there, but league sources tell NBC Sports it's a long shot that he gets his foot in the door, he is seen as too similar to Thibodeau). They will wait to see if the situation in Dallas or Chicago changes. With no other coaching vacancies, New York is not going to lose a candidate it likes to another team.

INDIANAPOLIS — Oklahoma City did to Indiana what the Pacers have done to everyone else all playoffs and season long.

Indiana led by seven entering the fourth quarter in a game where it had largely been in control but it could never quite pull away. Then, with its season hanging in the balance, Oklahoma City played at its peak. The Thunder defense held the Pacers to one bucket from the floor in the final five minutes of the game, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander took over and scored 15 points in the fourth quarter.

“We got stagnant, their second shots were a big problem,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said postgame, referencing the four offensive rebounds the Thunder had in the fourth quarter.

The result was only the second clutch game the Pacers lost this postseason, a 111-104 Thunder win that ties the series up at 2-2.

What has been a highly entertaining, well-played Finals will see Game 5 Monday night in Oklahoma City. It also feels like a series that is going to go seven games.

The Pacers have focused their defense this series on denying Gilgeous-Alexander the ball, then when he does get the rock and drives they make it hard to get his teammates involved and get their offense flowing. They did that in Game 4. The problem was that SGA took on the challenge and scored 35 on the night.

This is the loss Indiana will regret if it does not win the series, on the night the Thunder were just 3-of-17 from beyond the arc (Indiana was 11-of-36, just 30.6%, but they still outscored OKC by 24 from beyond the arc). While Pacers fans in the building (and online) want to complain about foul calls the Thunder shot just five more free throws than the Pacers, and that was bolstered by some intentional fouling at the end.

Thunder coach Mark Daigneault made the first big adjustment of the series, returning to the double-big starting lineup of Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein, which had been effective throughout the Western Conference postseason.

It didn’t work — for the first time this series it was Indiana getting off to the fast start leading 20-12 behind fast starts from Pascal Siakam and Myles Turner (the Thunder starting five was -2 for the night).

Indiana had the ball moving a step ahead of Oklahoma City’s rotations and it was getting great looks. Indiana was also knocking down its jumpers (only six of their first 24 points came in the paint).

Despite the hot start by the Pacers and some cold shooting from 3 by the OKC, the Thunder were hanging around, and at the end of a high-scoring first quarter, the Pacers were only up one, 35-34.

Midway through the second quarter, Obi Toppin was hit with a flagrant foul on Alex Caruso for what was a non-basketball play (but might have been just a hard playoff foul in another era). Hartenstein had a few words for Toppin after that, but nothing came of it.

Toppin drew a flagrant himself on Lu Dort later in the quarter.

Indiana led 60-57 at the half and the difference was 3-point shooting: The Pacers were 7-of-19 from 3, while the Thunder were 1-of-10. The Thunder were 6-of-21 on shots outside the paint in the first half.

In the third quarter, the Pacers played like sharks smelling blood in the water — the crowd could sense it, their defensive pressure seemed to ramp up and the shots kept falling. Indiana led by 7 after three and Pacers fans were ready to celebrate being closer to an NBA title than the franchise had ever been.

Then came the Thunder’s fourth quarter and everything is even again.