Thunder in 7

Great ready for a fantastic Finals

Jalen Williams and the Thunder excel at creating turnovers. If they can do that against the Pacers, they’ll likely win the series. MATTHEW STOCKMAN/GETTY IMAGES

I’m not much for this prediction business. Coaches generally focus on right now, when it’s game time. But in the media, I know we are supposed to think bigger. So, for what it’s worth, I predict we are about to see an operatic spectacle over the next two weeks. The Thunder look to be a team for the ages, and perhaps a franchise for the ages too. Can Indy pull off yet another miracle upset? It’s absolutely possible, but at the very end I expect the Thunder to have just enough gas in the tank to win that final game.

Let me quickly point out some things you may not know, or may just find interesting:

• The Pacers have not lost two games in a row since early March. They have won 27 of their last 35 games, which includes three rounds of tough playoff games. Two of those losses came in early April, just after the Pacers had clinched homecourt advantage in the opening round of the playoffs.

• Also, the Pacers arrive in the Finals having been truly tested. I’m a big believer that the team that has had the tougher time slogging through their previous series has an edge in Game 1 of the next. Indiana has faced better and tougher teams than the Thunder and should come in a little more ready to ratchet up the intensity.

• OKC had their own test, sweating through a seven-game showdown against Nikola Jokić and the Nuggets. But most recently they faced the Timberwolves who, despite being competitive in a few games and winning one easily, displayed a low level of spirit and basketball savvy in the Western Conference finals. The Knicks, to my eyes, were far better.

• The best player in the series is the Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. But there’s one Pacer who won’t be surprised by a single thing Shai does. Andrew Nembhard was seven years old, and SGA was nine, the first time they played each other. They have a special relationship due to their rich history, which includes all kinds of time with Team Canada and a trip to the Olympics. SGA might average 40 in this series. But at the very least, the Pacers have a player who is very accustomed to guarding Shai.

• The projected starting ten players tonight feature five Americans, three Canadians, one American who spent most of his young life in Europe, and one Cameroonian. Neither team will start a single player who was drafted in the top ten.

On to the matchup: