David wounded, but failed to slay Goliath

It is unfeasible to say that it has not been a NBA Finals worthy of emotion and enjoyment, of delivery, of effort, of happiness and also of sadness. A battle in which we have seen David fight until the last second against Goliath. However, unlike the biblical story, it was the giant who defeated the young shepherd, who, moreover, ended up badly wounded. The Oklahoma City Thunder won the first Ring in their history at the expense of the Indiana Pacers, who could not be blamed for anything (103-91).

Just as the Boston Celtics did last season, the Thunder have managed to remain the best franchise until the final moments. From the very first moment, when the 2024-2025 season started last October, every step they took implied an aggrandizement of their figure, to the point of being a colossus that could not be defeated.

In the regular season, the Thunder ended up being the most in-form franchise: a record of 68 wins and only 14 losses confirms this. The Playoffs came and it was more of the same. First it was the Memphis Grizzlies who could not slow them down, but their slingshot and stones did not do any kind of damage to those from Oklahoma City and they ended up being swept. Later came the turn of the Denver Nuggets of Nikola Jokić, who, despite hurting the NBA champions three times, finally failed to take them down. In the Western Conference Finals, the Minnesota Timberwolves saw how that giant was already too big to try to eliminate.

It was the turn of the NBA Finals and the Thunder landed, logically, as the heavy favorites. Facing them were the Pacers, a franchise that entered the decisive playoffs with a lot of stealth, like that unexpected hero that appears and ends up writing his name in the books. Like a David. In his case, he has been a brave, steely 'shepherd', with a more than solid roster that has been able to push the Thunder, Goliath, to the limits.

Haliburton's injury

The Pacers attacked with their slingshot and stones, forced, stood up to their titanic rival and took the NBA Finals to the seventh and final game, a confrontation in which they eventually succumbed to the power of the Thunder. But losing the Ring was not the only bad news; there was another that was probably worse.

Barely seven minutes into the game, Tyrese Haliburton ruptured his Achilles tendon. The sight of the Indiana star lying on the floor—his face covered in tears as he pounded the court in agony—moved everyone watching, whether seated in the Paycom Center or following along on screens around the world. To call it chilling would be an understatement.

Gilgeous-Alexander, on par with Abdul-Jabbar, O'Neal and LeBron

Haliburton's injury was a tough setback for a Pacers that had to face the remaining 41 minutes badly wounded, without their guide. As if it were a ship without a rudder, something that undoubtedly benefited the Thunder, who have, in their ranks, the best basketball player in the world at the moment.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander again gave a recital, as he has become accustomed to all this year. The Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the regular season closed his participation with a double-double (29 points and 12 assists) with which he placated any effort from the Pacers.

The Canadian's great season has left all the fans speechless, and logically also the best basketball league in the world, who has valued him and rewarded him with the NBA Finals MVP award.

Those two individual distinctions, along with the fact that he won the Ring and was the season's leading scorer, make SGA the fourth player in NBA history to achieve those four milestones in the same campaign, something only Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O'Neal had accomplished.

Soon, the Thunder will reward the best basketball player in the world with the best contract in NBA history.