NBA Finals Game Seven Preview

The two best words in sports. Game. Seven. That’s what we have the privilege of witnessing in this year’s NBA Finals for the first time since the legendary battle between the Cavs and Warriors in 2016. No one outside of Indiana expected the Pacers to be in this position before the series started – not even me. But if you were to tell someone before the series how it got to a game seven, it would be about as you’d expect. Indiana’s three wins came in the form of another historic comeback capped by another Tyrese Haliburton game-winner on the road, a close victory at home won in the last few minutes and a dominating performance with their backs against the wall in game six. On the other side, Oklahoma City’s victories have come in the form of two dominating home wins and a grinder of a win on the road. But none of that matters now; all that matters is what lies ahead in one game to determine a champion.

So what exactly will it take to lift the Larry O’Brien trophy in this winner-take-all? For the Pacers, they have to try and replicate their adjustments that led to game six success. Possibly the biggest adjustment they made was their defensive aggressiveness. We saw a very similar style of defense from Indiana that we usually see from OKC, in terms of the way they were trying to poke and prod at the ball, cause deflections and force turnovers. The success that came from that also led to more fast-break opportunities leading to easier baskets on the offensive end, which is what usually makes the Thunder so good on both sides of the ball. Another big adjustment that the Pacers made is how they guarded Shai Gilgeous-Alexander down low near the block. For the most part in the first five games, the Pacers would send a soft double to either force the ball out of the MVP’s hands where it would swing to an open Thunder three or force him to turn away for a fadeaway that he can consistently make. However, in game six, when Indiana doubled, it was a much more quick and aggressive double, looking to throw SGA off rhythm and possibly force a turnover. If the Pacers are able to play with the same energy and aggressiveness on the road in game seven as they were at home in their game six blowout win, they have an excellent shot of bringing home the title.

For the Thunder, the keys are simple – can they win the turnover battle and can role players make open shots. If the answer is yes to both, the Oklahoma City Thunder will be your NBA champions; if the answer is no to both, the Indiana Pacers will be your NBA champions; If one answer is yes and the other is no, we’ll be in for an interesting game seven battle. The Thunder have lost both games where they’ve turned it over more times than the Pacers in this series, so they can’t let Indiana beat them at their own game with its aggressive defense like they did in game six. And their role players need to hit open shots. In this series and throughout the whole playoffs, OKC’s role players have shot the three-ball way better at home than on the road, and that’s also been a big deciding factor in outcomes as opponents have done their best to take it out of SGA’s hands across the postseason. So can that pattern continue, or will the Thunder’s cold shooting from game six carry over to game seven.

I absolutely cannot wait for this game. This will be the biggest game in every single one of those player’s lives, and it will be so fun to watch which young group will be able to come out on top and become NBA champions. As for my prediction, I have the Thunder winning this game, as I have a hard time believing the Pacers can replicate what they did defensively in game six for 48-straight minutes on the road, even with it being a game seven. I also believe OKC’s role players will shoot it much better at home as they have all playoffs. But Indiana has defied the odds so many times this postseason – can they do it one more time or will the Thunder cap off a historic season?