Pacers Notes: Nesmith, Haliburton, Bradley, Walker
Aaron Nesmith went to the NBA Finals in 2022, but in a much smaller role than he’ll have this year, writes Souichi Terada of MassLive. Nesmith was in his second NBA season when Boston faced Golden State three years ago, and he mostly made limited appearances in the playoffs. His career didn’t take off until he was traded to Indiana shortly after that series ended.
Speaking at Finals media day on Wednesday, Nesmith said the Pacers got a lesson in how to handle an extended playoff run after being ousted in the conference finals last season.
“We just learned how hard it is to get here and not taking being in this position for granted,” he said. “Understanding most guys don’t play this long into the season, into the year. Just having our bodies right, our legs underneath us. I think it’s very helpful.”
Nesmith played a huge role in helping Indiana reach the Finals for the first time in 25 years. He’s averaging 14.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 16 playoff games while shooting 50% from three-point range. He was the hero of the Game 1 victory against New York, scoring 20 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter.
Nesmith acknowledges that his team is a huge underdog against Oklahoma City, but he believes the key to an upset will be dictating the style of play.
“Continue to play Pacers basketball,” he said. “That’s what got us here. I think that’s what’s going to help us succeed in the Finals. That’s what we’re going to have to do.”
There’s more on the Pacers:
- Tyrese Haliburton gets inspired when he hears people dismiss his team, according to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. The Pacers weren’t favored to beat Cleveland or New York, but have compiled a 12-4 record in the playoffs, the same as the Thunder. “I’ll continue to tell you guys in certain moments that it doesn’t matter what people say, but it matters — and I enjoy it,” Haliburton said. “I think the greats try to find external motivation as much as they can and that’s something that’s always worked for me.”
- Haliburton shared details of the team’s flight to Oklahoma City, which had to be diverted due to weather and wound up arriving more than three hours late, per Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files (subscription required). “We took off, and I slept the whole plane ride, which I don’t normally do,” Haliburton said. “We landed, I was ready to get up. They said we were in Tulsa. We sat there for another hour. Then took off again. Felt like we were in the air for another hour and a half. … So, like a five-hour travel day. We might as well travel to Portland.”
- Backup center Tony Bradley has some familiarity with his Finals opponent after being sent to Oklahoma City as part of a three-team deal at the 2021 trade deadline. Bradley, who appeared in 22 games during his time with the Thunder, told Clemente Almanza of OKC Thunder Wire that he enjoyed watching Shai Gilgeous-Alexander develop into a star. “Honestly, he’s the same player. When I was here, he was just getting more recognition,” Bradley said. “Of course, he’s improved since I’ve been with him, but I’ve seen the potential was there.”
- As expected, Jarace Walker isn’t available for Game 1 of the NBA Finals after spraining his right ankle in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Bradley, who has been dealing with a left hip flexor strain, is active.
Pacers Notes: Nesmith, Haliburton, Canadians
Aaron Nesmith didn’t miss any games after spraining his right ankle in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals vs. New York, but playing through the injury wasn’t easy, according to the Pacers wing, who was limited to 16 minutes in Game 5 and just under 20 in Game 6, his two lowest totals of the postseason (he also had some foul trouble in Game 6).
“It took a lot (to return for Game 4),” Nesmith said on Wednesday, per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. “It was pretty much rehab every minute of that day. It was cold tub, game-ready, hyperbaric chambers, it was red light therapy. It was manual wave, it was shock wave. Anything you could name we kinda threw it at the ankle, but there was no chance I was missing that game.”
Although the Pacers haven’t had as much rest between the conference finals and the start of the NBA Finals as the Thunder, Indiana still had four full days off prior to Thursday’s Game 1. Few Pacers appreciated those off-days more than Nesmith.
“I needed ’em,” he said. “I was looking forward to these days off. I took ’em, and I’ll be ready.”
Here’s more on the Pacers:
- Given the challenges the NBA has faced over the years trying to find a way to stop teams from tanking, the league should be rejoicing that Indiana has made it to this year’s NBA Finals, writes Jason Lloyd of The Athletic. As Lloyd details, team owner Herb Simon has long had an aversion to tanking, so the Pacers have never really done it — the club was stuck in the middle at times, but has won fewer than 32 games in a season just once in the past 35 years.
- Following an on-court altercation with Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo at the end of the Pacers’ first-round series win, Tyrese Haliburton‘s father John Haliburton was effectively banned from attending games. However, that ban was lifted for Pacers home games midway through the Eastern Conference Finals as long as the elder Haliburton watched from a suite. For the NBA Finals, he won’t be prohibited from attending games at either arena, Dopirak writes for The Indianapolis Star. “I think the commentary around my dad got a little ridiculous,” Tyrese said. “Of course, I’m going to say that. I’m his son. It got a little over the top. He was wrong. That is what it is. I don’t think any of us want to be defined by our worst moments. That’s just sports media. Sometimes we just take a super good thing or a super bad thing and overblow it. It is what it is. He’s learned from it. It won’t happen again. Love my pops dearly. Really thankful he’s going to be in the building along with me on this journey.”
- Both teams competing in the NBA Finals have multiple Canadians on their rosters, with Andrew Nembhard and Bennedict Mathurin representing the Pacers and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luguentz Dort competing for the Thunder. Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca takes a look at the shared history among those players, three of whom represented Canada in last year’s Olympics, while Julian McKenzie of The Athletic specifically examines the bond between Montreal natives Mathurin and Dort, who grew up minutes from one another and each describes the other as being like “a brother.”
Pacers Notes: Pierce, Haliburton, Flight, Defending SGA, Underdog Role
Lloyd Pierce had a rough two-and-a-half seasons as a head coach with the Hawks from 2018-21. Pierce, now one of Rick Carlisle‘s top assistants with the Pacers, is hoping for another shot at being an NBA head coach, he told Marc J. Spears of Andscape.
“I took a head coaching job and I learned a lot,” Pierce said. “I want to be able to prove to myself. More than anything, I want to propel an organization to where we are right now, the NBA Finals.
“Every competitor struggles with the day they were let go. And so, everything you do moving forward is first self-awareness, and then second it’s do what you need to do to get back in that seat and prove everybody wrong, and more importantly prove it to yourself. And I’m definitely more about proving myself, and so I’m not stressing over it. But I definitely feel like I deserve an opportunity to get back in that seat again.”
We have more on the Pacers:
- Considering the team’s slow start, the Pacers made an unexpected rise to the top of the Eastern Conference. Star guard Tyrese Haliburton plans to savor his first taste of the NBA Finals, Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star writes. “This is a really exciting time for me personally to have this opportunity,” Haliburton said. “This is something I’ve wanted to do my whole life. Last year, having playoff success in my first playoff run and being unsuccessful to start the season, for me I thought a lot about, wow, maybe I took last year for granted. I didn’t know what the playoffs were going to look like as the year was going on. I didn’t know if we’d be a play-in team or where we’d stack up in the end with how we were playing early in the year. I’m definitely not taking this for granted. Learning to appreciate every day and remember all these days as best as I can.”
- The Pacers’ flight to Oklahoma City on Tuesday took an unexpected turn. The team’s charter flight was first diverted to Tulsa due to severe weather in Oklahoma. Then, after refueling there, the plane was re-routed around another band of weather before finally landing in Oklahoma City about three-and-a-half hours behind schedule, according to The Associated Press.
- How will they defend Thunder star guard and Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander? Rylan Stiles of Sports Illustrated tackles that topic, speculating that Andrew Nembhard will likely serve as the point-of-attack defender. Stiles also anticipates the Pacers will attempt to clog the driving lanes as SGA works to get to his spots at the elbow, the baseline and the rim.
- The Pacers are heavy underdogs to win the championship and they’re comfortable in that role, Dopirak writes. “We’ve all been doubted at some point in time of our lives,” Carlisle said. “You look in the mirror, you gotta face the doubts and you decide, how are you going to go forward? Are you going to fight through and find a way or are you going to find an excuse. Our team is a bunch of guys who have found a way in a lot of different situations.”
Pacers Notes: Finals Odds, Siakam, Turnaround, Turner
The oddsmakers and bettors don’t believe the Pacers have much of a chance in the Finals against the Thunder. At BetMGM, the Pacers have +500 odds to win the championship, making them the biggest underdogs in the NBA Finals since the Cavaliers in 2018, Prince J. Grimes of the Indianapolis Star notes. The Warriors won those Finals in a sweep.
In fact, the oddsmakers believe it will be a quick series. The betting favorite for the length of the series is a 4-1 Thunder victory. Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the huge favorite to win Finals MVP at -625 odds with Tyrese Haliburton a distant second at +700.
We have more on the Pacers:
- Pascal Siakam has developed into the ideal second star for the Pacers, Eric Koreen of The Athletic writes. Koreen outlines how Siakam has expanded his game over the years, both before and since the trade that sent him from Toronto to Indiana. Siakam, named the Most Valuable Player of the Eastern Conference Finals, is averaging 21.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists while shooting a blistering 46.3 percent from long range in 16 postseason games.
- Siakam was instrumental in the team’s turnaround from a 10-15 start, particularly by offering words of encouragement to Haliburton, who was struggling with his shooting at the time, as Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star details. Ramping up their pressure defense and inserting Aaron Nesmith into the starting lineup were some of the other keys to the Pacers’ dramatic rise to the top of the Eastern Conference.
- Myles Turner believes the era of the “super team,” with established All-Stars banding together to win the championship, has ended. “I think it’s a new blueprint for the league,” Turner said, per Joe Vardon of The Athletic. “I think the years of the super teams and stacking, it’s just not as effective as it once was, you know what I mean? Since I’ve been in the league, the NBA has been very trendy; it just shifts. But the new trend now is just kind of what we’re doing. OKC does the same thing — young guys get out and run, defend and use the power of friendship.”
And-Ones: European Prospects, Extension Candidates, Dynasties
As we outlined last month when we passed along the list of prospects invited to the NBA’s draft combine, a player who is invited to the combine and declines to attend without an excused absence becomes ineligible to be drafted.
Many of the prospects who were granted excused absences from the combine in Chicago were international players whose teams were still playing. According to Erik Slater of ClutchPoints (Twitter link), the NBA is holding pre-draft activities (measurements, drills, etc.) this week in Treviso, Italy for those players whose commitments overseas prevented them from traveling to Chicago.
That group, Slater says, includes Noa Essengue (who is playing in Germany), Joan Beringer (Slovenia), Nolan Traore (France), Ben Saraf (Germany), Hugo Gonzalez (Spain), Bogoljub Markovic (Serbia), and Noah Penda (France).
It’s unclear whether all of those players will be able to attend the event in Treviso, since some of their seasons still aren’t over. Essengue and Safar, for example, both play for Ratiopharm Ulm, which is currently competing in the semifinals of the Basketball Bundesliga playoffs in Germany. Game 2 of that series will be played on Wednesday.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- While the free agent class of 2025 isn’t particularly star-studded, there will be no shortage of veteran extension candidates to monitor this offseason, as Bobby Marks details for ESPN. Marks takes an in-depth look at which players seem likely to sign new deals in the coming months, including Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox, and Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr., and which players are longer shots for new contracts. That latter group includes players who would benefit financially from waiting, like Lakers guard Austin Reaves, and some who are unlikely to get an offer from their current team, such as Pelicans forward Zion Williamson.
- Is it bad for business that the NBA’s age of dynasties appears to be over? Tania Ganguli of The New York Times considers that topic in an in-depth story open to non-subscribers.
- Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report proposes a complex three-team deal involving the Celtics, Mavericks, and Nets that would save Boston a projected $230MM+, fortify Dallas’ backcourt, and send a pair of draft assets to Brooklyn along with mostly expiring contracts.
NBA Finals Notes: Thunder, Pacers, MVPs, Market Size, More
A blockbuster 2017 trade between the Thunder and Pacers helped set the stage for the 2025 NBA Finals, writes Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman. On June 30 of that year, Oklahoma City agreed to send Domantas Sabonis and Victor Oladipo to Indiana in exchange for Paul George.
None of those players will be playing in these NBA Finals, but George and Sabonis were later used to acquire several of this series’ stars. Sending George to the Clippers in 2019 netted the Thunder a trade package that included Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the future draft pick that eventually became Jalen Williams. As for the Pacers, they dealt Sabonis to Sacramento at the 2022 trade deadline as part of the six-player trade that landed Tyrese Haliburton in Indiana.
As Anthony Slater of The Athletic writes, you can go back even further to find the key trade that instigated the series of roster moves that saw Oklahoma City acquire George.
Back in 2008, then-SuperSonics general manager Sam Presti was able to extract two first-round picks from Phoenix to take on Kurt Thomas‘ unwanted salary and get the Suns out of the tax. Presti used the first of those picks to draft Serge Ibaka, who was traded in 2016 to Orlando for Oladipo and Sabonis — the exact package that the Thunder used a year later to land George.
Here’s more on the upcoming NBA Finals:
- Gilgeous-Alexander and Haliburton rank first and second, in that order, in two lists published today by ESPN.com. In the first, Tim Bontemps ranks the 2025 postseason MVPs, with the Thunder and Pacers point guards leap-frogging Jalen Brunson for the top spots following the conference finals. In the second, Bontemps and Kevin Pelton rank the top 20 players in the NBA Finals, with Pascal Siakam, Williams, and Chet Holmgren rounding out the top five.
- Indianapolis is the 25th-largest media market in the United States, while Oklahoma City comes in at No. 47. Will a spring showdown between two small-market franchises affect the NBA’s bottom line? According to Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic, while the revenue generated by merchandise and ticket sales may fell well short of a New York-vs.-Los Angeles-type Finals, the league won’t really have to worry about a one-year ratings dip after having finalized a new long-term media rights deal in 2024. “There’s really no direct impact between ratings and financial success, certainly in the near term,” a former senior NBA executive told The Athletic. “If you have bad ratings for the next decade then that limits your TV rights. But I don’t think anyone in the NBA is worried about that right now because the revenues for TV are guaranteed.”
- Law Murray of The Athletic takes a closer look at how the Thunder and Pacers compare to one another in terms of the possession battle. As Murray details, neither team turns the ball over much, but Indiana has been the worst offensive rebounding team of the 16 clubs in the playoffs and doesn’t force opponent turnovers at nearly the same rate as Oklahoma City. Neutralizing the Thunder’s usual advantage in possessions and shot attempts will give the Pacers their best chance at pulling off the upset.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Named Western Conference Finals MVP
Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was unanimously named the Most Valuable Player of the Western Conference Finals following Wednesday’s series win over Minnesota, earning all nine votes from a panel of media members (Twitter link).
Gilgeous-Alexander, who was also the NBA’s regular season MVP for 2024/25, averaged 31.4 points, 8.2 assists, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.8 steals in 36.4 minutes per game across five games vs. the Timberwolves.
While his 45.7% field goal percentage and 31.8% mark on three-pointers were both well below his usual rates, the 26-year-old was the engine of Oklahoma City’s offense and was a +43 during his 182 minutes of action in the third-round series.
Jalen Williams (22.2 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 4.4 APG, 2.0 SPG, .494/.462/.833 shooting) and Chet Holmgren (18.0 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 1.6 BPG, .567/.368/.714 shooting) also had big series for the Thunder, fueling a dominant all-around performance that sends the franchise to its first NBA Finals appearance since 2012.
The conference final MVP is a relatively new award, having been introduced by the league in 2022. Stephen Curry won the inaugural award in 2022, followed by Nikola Jokic in 2023 and Luka Doncic in 2024.
The player who is named the Western Finals MVP receives the Magic Johnson trophy.
Thunder Notes: Williams, Postseason Experience, Sanders, SGA
Named to the All-NBA Third Team last week, Thunder forward Jalen Williams delivered an offensive gem in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals on Monday. He posted a postseason career-high 34 points in the 128-126 victory over the Timberwolves, giving OKC a commanding 3-1 series lead.
Williams went 13-of-24 from the field, including 6-of-9 from 3-point range. He had 13 points and four turnovers when his team got blown out in Game 3.
“I feel like if you’re not really good, you’re probably not going to have any [scrutiny], so just play with it, just keep going,” Williams said, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN. “A lot of people that are talking about me can’t do what I do, and I know that, and I think that gives me a lot of confidence to just go out there and do whatever the team needs.”
We have more on the Thunder:
- Oklahoma City has found different ways to get it done in this postseason, Tony Jones of The Athletic notes. The Thunder have been a great regular-season team for two years but this is the first time they’ve also become a great playoff team, according to Jones. In Game 4, they held off numerous Timberwolves runs. “I thought we did a good job of continuously moving the scoreboard,” coach Mark Daigneault said. “We especially did that late in the game, when there were situations down the stretch where it was a possession game. I thought the guys did a great job, taking it a possession at a time.”
- While they’re five wins away from a championship, the Thunder are also busy preparing for the future. They have scheduled a pre-draft workout with Kobe Sanders, a 6’7” guard, Rylan Stiles of Sports Illustrated tweets. Sanders averaged 15.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.1 steals last season for Nevada. Sanders is ranked No. 69 on ESPN’s big board.
- MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Timberwolves’ Nickeil Alexander-Walker are cousins and best friends. They’re now competing against each other for a trip to the Finals. “For both of us to be where we are is special, and to compete against each other is even more special,” Gilgeous-Alexander told Andscape’s Marc J. Spears within an in-depth feature on their relationship. “But I am trying to take his head off for sure, completely.”
Thunder/Wolves Notes: SGA, Nuggets Series, Randle, Edwards
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander made sure to let his teammates know that his 2025 Most Valuable Player award belonged to them as much as it did him, Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman writes.. Gilgeous-Alexander averaged over 30 points per game for the third year in a row en route to his first career MVP as the Thunder went 68-14 this season.
“You guys are really like my brothers, and I really mean that,” Gilgeous-Alexander said to his teammates. “And without you guys, none of this would be possible, and I want you guys to know this award is your award, too.”
Gilgeous-Alexander lost last year’s MVP race in a landslide, but bested Denver’s Nikola Jokic this time around.
“All the moments I got cut, traded, slighted, overlooked, I had nights where I thought I wasn’t good at basketball, had nights where I thought I was the best player in the world before I was,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.
We have more from the Thunder/Wolves playoff series:
- The Thunder are back to their dominant ways after a challenging second-round series against the Nuggets, Anthony Slater of The Athletic writes. Neither of their first two games against Minnesota have been particularly close. “Our resolve in that series is what got sharpened,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “We had our backs against the wall and had to respond multiple times.”
- Julius Randle has been one of the major drivers for the Timberwolves‘ Western Conference Finals push, but he had his first tough game of the postseason in Game 2 against the Thunder, scoring just six points and making only two of his 11 field goal attempts. As Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic writes, Randle’s poor showing came at the worst time for the Wolves, who now face a 0-2 deficit. “We know what type of defense they are,” Randle said. “They’re going to swarm you. So I’ve got to get myself into actions, setting screens, on the move. I think I was just like standing and spectating a little too much today.”
- Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards refused to speak to reporters after Game 2 after he was fined $50K for dropping an f-bomb during his media session after Game 1, per Krawczynski (Twitter link).
2024/25 All-NBA Teams Announced
The 2024/25 All-NBA teams have been officially announced by the league (Twitter link).
A total of 100 media members voted on the All-NBA teams, with First Team votes counting for five points, Second Team votes counting for three points, and Third Team votes counting for one point.
This year’s All-NBA teams are as follows:
First Team
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder (500 points)
- Nikola Jokic, Nuggets (500)
- Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks (500)
- Jayson Tatum, Celtics (500)
- Donovan Mitchell, Cavaliers (414)
Second Team
- Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves (318)
- LeBron James, Lakers (289)
- Stephen Curry, Warriors (244)
- Evan Mobley, Cavaliers (238)
- Jalen Brunson, Knicks (232)
Third Team
- Cade Cunningham, Pistons (223)
- Karl-Anthony Towns, Knicks (172)
- Tyrese Haliburton, Pacers (79)
- Jalen Williams, Thunder (73)
- James Harden, Clippers (68)
The top four vote-getters, Antetounmpo, Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokic, and Tatum, were all unanimous selections to the First Team. James led the Second Team with 17 First Team votes, compared to Mitchell’s 61. Cunningham was the only member of the Third Team to receive First Team votes (six) — he also earned 10 more Second Team votes than the next closest vote-getter, as Towns had 40.
This announcement marks the first All-NBA selections for Cunningham, Mobley, and Williams, and – on the other side of the coin – the 21st consecutive selection for James. No other player in NBA history has been named to more than 15 All-NBA teams.
Curry set a franchise record with his 11th All-NBA selection. Edwards became just the fourth Timberwolves player to be named to multiple All-NBA teams, joining Kevin Garnett, Kevin Love, and Towns.
Other players who received votes, along with their respective point totals, were the Rockets‘ Alperen Sengun (58), the Grizzlies‘ Jaren Jackson Jr. (55), the Clippers‘ Ivica Zubac (15), the Cavaliers‘ Darius Garland (6), the Kings‘ Domantas Sabonis (4), the Pacers‘ Pascal Siakam (4), the Heat‘s Bam Adebayo (3), the Hawks‘ Trae Young (3), and the Suns‘ Devin Booker (2).
The Cavs, Knicks, and Thunder were the only teams to feature multiple All-NBA players. Both the Thunder and Knicks are currently playing in the conference finals for a shot at advancing to the NBA finals.
This is the second year that All-NBA teams have been positionless and have required players to meet a 65-game minimum to qualify for consideration.
Several players, starting with Cunningham, gained or lost eligibility for salary increases due to the All-NBA results. We have more details here.