Preview: Oklahoma City Thunder vs Indiana Pacers - prediction, team news, lineups

The Oklahoma City Thunder will go in search of parity when they welcome the Indiana Pacers to PayCom Center for Monday's Game Two of the 2025 NBA Finals.

For the away side, securing a commanding 2-0 advantage will be the target to put themselves halfway through winning a first-ever NBA title in franchise history.

Match preview

In keeping with what has undoubtedly been a thrilling postseason journey so far, Game One of the finals certainly delivered another classic as the Oklahoma City Thunder fell to a heart-wrenching 111-110 defeat against the Pacers.

Mark Daigneault's men made a typically fast start to proceedings and went into the interval with a 12-point advantage, which became 15 in the early knockings of the final 12 minutes, but what followed was a horror show to say the least.

Despite an impressive display from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the fourth quarter, where he racked up 10 of his 38 points, the Thunder were outscored 32-16 down the stretch and became the first team to lose an NBA Finals game having led by at least nine points with three minutes left.

The Thunder suffered a similar capitulation in the opening chapter of their second-round series against 2023 champions the Denver Nuggets, although they mounted an immediate response in Game Two on that occasion.

While Gilgeous-Alexander can come away with his head held up high from Friday's defeat, Chet Holmgren had a game to forget as he managed just six points and will need to get back to his best if Monday's hosts are to get themselves back on track.

The Indiana Pacers etched their name into more playoff history books with a crazy Game One win over the Thunder to move within three more victories of rising to the pinnacle of American basketball.

Having not led at any point in the game, Rick Carlisle's men were set for a wire-to-wire defeat before Tyrese Haliburton knocked down a late game-winner for the fourth series running to silence the PayCom Center.

The Pacers have now come back from a 15-point deficit five times during the current playoffs, the most by any team in a single postseason run since 1998, while Friday's win saw them become just the third team in history to win a finals game after being 15 points down at any stage in the fourth quarter.

Carlisle's Dallas Mavericks side, led by the great Dirk Nowitzki, were the last to achieve the feat en route to victory over the Miami Heat in the 2011 finals, highlighting how much of a fighting spirit the 65-year-old usually instils in his team.

As admitted by several members of the Pacers team, the Indiana-based outfit did not have the best of performances en route to victory last time out and will know they need to improve in their upcoming Game Two encounter.

Taking better care in possession of the ball would be a good place to start for Monday's visitors off the back of an abysmal 24 turnovers in Game One, which is almost double their average of 12.5 in the playoffs so far.

Oklahoma City Thunder NBA Playoffs form:

Indiana Pacers NBA Playoffs form:

Team News

Long-term absentee Nikola Topic is still out of contention for the Oklahoma City Thunder due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament that will keep him out until the start of next season.

Isaiah Hartenstein was surprisingly removed from the starting five in favour of Cason Wallace on Friday, and it remains to be seen if Daigneault will revert to his usual lineup.

Indiana Pacers forwards Jarace Walker and Isaiah Jackson are both unavailable through ankle and Achilles injuries respectively, although the former could be back in time to suit up for Game Three.

Obi Toppin came up with some big shots down the stretch as he tied the record for the second-most threes made in an NBA final debut with 5-8 shooting from behind the arc.

Oklahoma City Thunder possible starting lineup:

Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort; Wallace, Williams; Holmgren

Indiana Pacers possible starting lineup:

Haliburton, Nembhard; Nesmith, Siakam; Turner

We say: Thunder to win by 6+ points

The Thunder were left shell shocked at the sound of the final buzzer last time but must now pick themselves up to avoid going 2-0 down in the series.

We are backing them to return to winning ways in front of their fans and kick-start their hunt for NBA glory.

Written by
Adepoju Marvellous

Previews by email