2025 NBA Finals! New World Order: Shai vs. Hali

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thunder in 6

LFG PACERS

maybe it's crazy but I think this will be a really fun series

new blood!

i’m going to be optimistic and take thunder in 6…hoping indy can keep it close and interesting

I voted Thunder in 5, hoping for 6. I predict Indy will be able to split at home, so it's gonna rest on whether they can steal one of the first 2, bc I don't see them winning game 5 coming back to OKC.

Also this is my first time making a poll, didn't know how the timing would work out - if mods want to extend the voting a day until wednesday night that would be great

I vacillated between OKC in 5 or 6, but finally voted six bcz the Pacers vibes have been off the charts through most of their run to the Finals. those vibes could even take them all the way, if OKC has a couple turns of bad luck. always hard to vote against the vibe.

yea despite being a regular season behemoth OKC seem pretty beatable. Pacers are gonna give them a hell of a hard time. still think OKC in 5 probably the most likely scenario

I voted Thunder in 5. The teams are similar but Thunder have more star power, and are unlikely to lose barring injury. Chet's amazing and rounding back into form - he can shoot threes, play on the perimeter, and still offer top-notch rim protection.

It'll be interesting to see the Thunder defend the Pacers. In the other series, they've played against heliocentric players and have packed the paint, daring role players to shoot in the corners. But Pacers don't have anyone quite as individually threatening as Morant, Jokic, or Edwards, so they might use a more conventional defensive scheme.

They had mental hurdles to overcome against the Nuggets and gave up on one game after the Timberwolves shot hot from 3, but otherwise they've been rolling.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

The last time the Thunder lost at home to an Eastern Conference team was to the Pacers on 12 March 2024.

I voted Thunder in 6 but my heart's with Pacers in 7

voted okc in 5 but i think the actual games will be closer than that suggests

bise you are a mod yes? can you extend the voting deadline 48 hrs to 8pm thurs?

i don't think that's possible to do

i dont think i have that level of privilege tbh bc i am being silenced for my political views by ilx insiders

i'll have to get the latecomers' takes on the dark web i guess

stop the count

i voted entirely for what i hope will happen (Pacers in 7) not what i think will happen (Thunder in 5)

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

hoops are back tonight.

indy has to steal game 1

i regret to inform you that hoops are in fact back tomorrow night

espn scoreboard takes another victim

hey salute to rick carlisle feel like his rep took a hit in the luka era but with this indy team its clear hes still one of the best out there still at the cutting edge despite being around forever, hes built the perfect system for his roster and the buy in from the team and him is as high as youll see in the league its really not easy to keep playing fast keep the ball popping in crunch time of playoff games its not easy to keep playing yr bench big minutes so everyone can stay fresh enough to play that style but theyre doing it and its played off two years in a row

totally agree i’ve always liked rick and this run should solidify him as one of the best coaches of his era, he’s done it a bunch of different ways with a bunch of different teams and while he doesn’t suffer fools he also seems pretty good at not making himself the main character

espn scoreboard takes another victim

― lag∞n, Wednesday, June 4, 2025 3:44 PM (thirty-six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

FINE... stanley cup here we come

even more Canadians than the NBA finals

hoops are back tonight.

indy has to steal game 1

― lil $CHUB (Spottie), Wednesday, June 4, 2025 5:24 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

rick carlisle is a great coach and probably the best coach at looking just like jim carrey

"somebody stop me" - rick carlisle

hoops are back tonight.

indy has to steal game 1

― lil $CHUB (Spottie), Wednesday, June 4, 2025 5:24 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

― ヽ（´ー｀）┌ (CompuPost), Thursday, June 5, 2025 4:30 AM (five hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

we back baby

its hoops

beating the Heatles in the Finals as a massive underdog was genuinely one of the most impressive coaching feats I've ever seen

that dallas team was so locked in jj barea and what not

Even more impressive in retrospect given what the next decade looked like for LeBron

Honestly outside of my own team winning that was probably the most satisfying chip I can think of. 04 pistons right there too

otm

Carlisle has been wildly successful at each stop. Fired by Pistons so Brown could coach that chip-winning Detroit team, then fired by Larry Bird after a potentially chip-caliber team got derailed by Malice in the Palace, and Indy wallowed in the JOB years. TBH it does sound like he was grinding everyone's gears in Dallas (and was just never going to work with Luka).

Extremely excited to finally see how these teams match up. Thunder probably the only defense that can stop the Pacers, and Pacers haven't really faced a team in 2nd half of season who looked like they could keep up, wonder which team's quickness will surprise the other. If Thunder can significantly cut the fastbreak points and disrupt the passing lanes, Pacers are absolutely toast.

Hali will be hounded worse than any other matchup, although he's handled that much better on this run compared to last year. Really up to everyone else on the court moving enough to keep the Thunder off-balance and not jumping passing lanes. Hard thing to do!

if the pacers can just not turn the ball over theyve got a shot, of course thats a really hard thing to do vs the thunder, but on the other hand the pacers are good at not turning the ball over

If Pacers are swinging the ball around and not getting shots/angles, they usually try to force it into Myles/Siakam at the end of the clock for a quick midrange shot, and Thunder were very effective at guarding that in the last matchup. Another interesting contrast is the Pacers "random" offense v Thunder mystery switching defense, worried I'm going to have to watch the Thunder just pick-6 Pacers into the ground.

def a sad possibility

100 tons of hardshai beyond zings, Thunder also told Pacers their age and height and birthday when they met *:?

fwiw Vegas seems to think OKC is a huge favorite but I'm not so sure. the Pacers are as locked in as any playoff team I can remember and OKC has not exactly demonstrated a steely resolve when things go bad. that said they are a much better team so I still expect them to win but hopefully it gets interesting

Cason Wallace starting, had trouble stopping Siakam.

OKC are playing more normally, protecting the corners and not packing the paint - seems the right idea against Indiana.

Obi :(

just might work

Cers naysh

Ready to watch McConnell play himself into an MVP tonight ---->

game 7 time

da big game

the final nba game

give us the game

I'm bringing my A game tonight

hali!

i know why they call him hali the way he's berrying these 3s

ayye

Nooooooo

shit

oh noooooo i watched the replay

shit

yeah his calf did the thing

terrible terrible

fucking hell

that's his achilles innit

yeah

it sure af snapped like one

Stay mentally tough Pacers. They can still win this, but RIP that achilles

this is so sad

thanks to espn for cutting away during that moment in game 7 of the finals too

siakam is gonna put the team on his back

i'm sick over this

great playoffs this year but too many catastrophic achilles injuries to stars imo

yeah, dame, tatum, hali...am i missing anyone?

think thats all of them, absolutely crazy its a rare injury

and its the worst injury

Terrible 😔

league gotta look at this

some bad misses by jdub so far

yeah bummer this locks it in as the story of this year overshadowing some good series

pacers struggling to create any space, defense so tight

Man they gotta do it for Hali

They're doing a good job of hanging in there so far

Makes me happy Steph didn't rush back, honestly, seeing all this mayhem. League is going to be different missing these stars next year

Legalize HGH lol

Someone tell McConnell it's ok to pass the ball once in a while.

not sure how indys got the game tied with all these turnovers

gotta stay true to the mcconnell name and obstruct

xp

Reminds me of that Lakers Celtics game 7 where both teams were just gassed

hmm dont recall that one

damn just logged on and seeing the hali news. these guys take crazy risks trying to win it all.

I know I'm the 27th millionth person to complain about this but this halftime crew is so unpleasant

got them on mute

I go for 15 minute walks at halftime now.

Sick for hali and pacers fans. Three Achilles to major players in these playoffs is insane, ruins the current run and next year for their teams.. and maybe beyond. Devastating. No one should rush back from a calf strain but can’t say I blame him being this close to the promised land.

Wonder how the Pacers will approach next season, although I imagine they'll just stick w/ their current roster and let I guess Shep step up as the 3rd rotating pg, although he doesn't fill the same role offensively as TJ/Nemb/Hali.

Game has felt disjointed, wouldn't have guessed Pacers were up by one, wonder if Thunder go on a mega-run in the 2nd half, feel like it's just hanging there.

No one should rush back from a calf strain but can’t say I blame him being this close to the promised land.

I really wanted them to sit him Game 6/7 but I guess this is as close to once-in-a-lifetime moment as you can get.