NBA Finals Grab Bag
Stats, trivia, and other minutiae about the 79th NBA Finals.
Some stats, trivia, and other minutiae about the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers as the NBA gets ready to crown its 79th champion:
The Thunder have reached the NBA Finals for the fourth time in franchise history and the second time since moving to Oklahoma City. Their lone title came in 1979, when they were known as the Seattle SuperSonics.
The Pacers have advanced to the NBA Finals for just the second time since joining the league in 1976 (their previous appearance was in 2000). The Pacers participated in the ABA Finals five times in nine seasons, winning three championships.
The 18-win difference between the 68-win Thunder and the 50-win Pacers is the sixth-largest such disparity in NBA Finals history. Here are the top five (in each case, the team with more regular season wins won the title):
24 wins — Philadelphia 76ers (68) and San Francisco Warriors (44), 1967
24 wins — Milwaukee Bucks (66) and Baltimore Bullets (42), 1971
22 wins — Boston Celtics (62) and Houston Rockets (40), 1981
21 wins — Los Angeles Lakers (69) and New York Knicks (48), 1972
19 wins — Boston Celtics (52) and Minneapolis Lakers (33), 1959
Since January 1, the Thunder (53-13) and the Pacers (46-18) own the two best records in the NBA (regular season plus postseason). The Thunder’s average point differential over that span is plus-12.8 PPG, 7.7 PPG higher than that of the Pacers.
The Thunder beat the Pacers twice this season, 120-114 in Indianapolis on Dec. 26 and 132-111 in Oklahoma City on March 29. Overall, the Thunder went 29-1 versus Eastern Conference teams this season, the best interconference record since the NBA introduced conference play in 1970-71.
With a combined record of 80-18 (regular season plus postseason), the Thunder are just the fourth team in history to enter the NBA Finals with at least 80 wins. They join the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors (85-14), the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls (83-11), and the 1996-97 Chicago Bulls (80-15).
With a games-weighted average age of 25.4 years (based on age in years and days on the day of each playoff game), the Thunder are the third-youngest team in history to reach the NBA Finals. They trail the 1976-77 Portland Trail Blazers (25.2 years) and the 1950-51 New York Knicks (25.3).
The Thunder have won four games by 30 or more points in the 2025 NBA Playoffs, the most ever in a single postseason. The previous mark of three such wins was shared by the 1986-87 Los Angeles Lakers and the 1995-96 Utah Jazz.
The Thunder have committed 100 fewer turnovers than their opponents in the 2025 NBA Playoffs. Since the NBA began tracking team turnovers in 1970-71, the largest such difference for a single postseason is 79 by the 2018-19 Toronto Raptors.
The Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has scored 2,960 points in the regular season and playoffs combined. Only three players have reached the NBA Finals with a higher such figure (i.e., this does not include Finals statistics):
3,218 — Wilt Chamberlain, 1963-64
3,051 — Rick Barry, 1966-67
2,961 — Michael Jordan, 1992-93
Gilgeous-Alexander is the first MVP Award winner to reach the NBA Finals since Stephen Curry in 2016. That’s the longest span between Finals appearances by MVP Award winners in league history, surpassing the previous record of six years (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 1974 and 1980).
Gilgeous-Alexander won the regular season scoring title, averaging 32.7 PPG. The last scoring champion to play for an NBA Finals winner was Shaquille O’Neal with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1999-00.
Gilgeous-Alexander has produced at least 30 points and five assists in 10 games in the 2025 NBA Playoffs, one shy of the record of 11 such games in a single postseason shared by LeBron James (three times) and Michael Jordan (twice).
Thunder forward Jalen Williams (20.4 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 5.3 APG) is the fourth-youngest player to reach the NBA Finals with playoff averages of at least 20 PPG, 5 RPG, and 5 APG (i.e., this does not include Finals statistics). The only players to do so at a younger age are LeBron James (2007), Kobe Bryant (2001), and Russell Westbrook (2012).
The Thunder’s Chet Holmgren ranks second in blocks (32) and fourth in rebounds (137) in the 2025 NBA Playoffs. He’s averaging 16.4 PPG, 8.6 RPG, and 2.0 BPG in 16 games.
The Pacers are just the fourth No. 4 seed to reach the NBA Finals since the playoffs expanded to 16 teams in 1984, joining the 2005-06 Dallas Mavericks, the 2009-10 Boston Celtics, and the 2017-18 Cleveland Cavaliers. The only team in that span to win a title without earning a No. 3 seed or higher is the 1994-95 Houston Rockets, who were seeded sixth.
The Pacers advanced to the NBA Finals despite having a losing record through 35 games. Since the playoffs expanded to 16 teams in 1984, the only Finalists with a losing record at a later point in the season are the 2021-22 Boston Celtics (47 games) and the 2014-15 Cleveland Cavaliers (39 games).
The Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton has recorded five games with at least 10 assists and one or fewer turnovers in the 2025 NBA Playoffs. That ties Dennis Johnson (1987) and Chris Paul (2008) for the most such games in a single postseason since the NBA began tracking individual turnovers in 1977-78.
Haliburton lead all players with 156 assists in the 2025 NBA Playoffs. He’s averaging 18.8 PPG, 5.7 RPG, and 9.8 APG in 16 games, and has committed just 31 turnovers and 30 personal fouls (less than two per game in each category).
Pascal Siakam has scored in double figures in each of his 33 playoff games with the Pacers, averaging 21.3 PPG on 53.9% shooting from the field. That streak extends to 58 games dating back to his stint with the Toronto Raptors, where he won an NBA title in 2019.
Pacers center Myles Turner ranks first in blocks in the 2025 NBA Playoffs with 36. He’s averaging 15.2 PPG and 2.3 BPG in 16 games, shooting 52.5% from the field and 40.3% from 3-point range.
A total of 20 players have made at least 75 field goals in the 2025 NBA Playoffs. The top three by effective field goal percentage all play for the Pacers: Aaron Nesmith (64.2%), Turner (60.4%), and Siakam (58.8%).
The Pacers’ Rick Carlisle is the 10th head coach to lead multiple franchises to the NBA Finals (he piloted the Dallas Mavericks to a championship in 2011). Only three of those coaches have won titles with multiple franchises: Alex Hannum, Phil Jackson, and Pat Riley.