And here we are. After weeks of NBA Playoff basketball, we’ve finally arrived at the series that will crown the next NBA champion. If you had told me in December that this season’s finals would be a matchup between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers, I would’ve likely responded by saying, “Oh, yeah, well that makes se—wait, Oklahoma and who?!” 

To think that Rick Carlisle was able to galvanize this young squad led by Tyrese Haliburton past the Bucks, Cavaliers, and New York Knicks is quite the feat. Granted, they did so while each of those teams, aside from the Knicks, suffered big injuries, with both Lillard and Darius Garland being out for much of their respective series. Nevertheless, that shouldn’t take away from their achievement. And now they’re here, on the biggest stage, taking on a formidable Oklahoma squad for the championship banner. 

Nobody is expecting the Pacers to win this series, and for good reason. SGA and Oklahoma have shown an immense amount of poise and consistency throughout both the regular season and these playoffs. Their defence, in particular, has been second to none, and it’s been the critical factor in these first two games of the finals. For as much as Haliburton’s continued heroics marred the Thunder’s first game as the Pacers came away with the win, with the entire world—myself included—saying “What the Hali?” the Thunder kept their poise and returned to Game 2 with a dominant performance. 

Watching the game, it was clear just how much of a suffocating hold the Thunder had on the Pacers’ offence from the get-go. They held Haliburton and his crew to a paltry 34.9% from the field and at the half, and slowed their pace all the way down to a 94.00 in the second half. Although Indiana “only” had 15 turnovers for the game (a far better outing than their first game, where they had an astonishing 24), watching the game felt as if they had many more, mainly because of how discombobulated they looked while having to play through OKC’s tight-knit defence. 

This series is far from over, and already we’ve had some surprises with Haliburton’s game-winner in Game 1. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Pacers pulled off some more last-minute heroics to come away with one more win. Even so, I can’t envision a scenario wherein such a well-rounded, proven, and even-keeled team like the Oklahoma Thunder don’t come away as this season’s NBA Champions.