The Oklahoma City Thunder spent years building up to this moment. On Sunday night, it finally became a reality. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points and added 12 assists. His performance helped the Thunder pull away in the second half to beat the Indiana Pacers, 103-91, in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, securing the franchise’s first championship since relocating from Seattle in 2008.
The win capped a season that saw Oklahoma City finish with 84 total victories — tying the 1996–97 Chicago Bulls for the third-most in NBA history — and confirmed the Thunder as a rising force built through patience, development, and culture. Gilgeous-Alexander, the league’s Most Valuable Player, was named Finals MVP to complete a historic individual campaign.
“It doesn’t feel real,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “So many hours. So many moments. So many emotions. So many nights of disbelief. So many nights of belief. It’s crazy to know that we’re all here, but this group worked for it. This group put in the hours, and we deserve this.”
Thunder Take Control in Second Half
The Thunder entered Game 7 facing a Pacers team that had pushed them to the brink with timely shooting and fast-paced offense throughout the series. Indiana led 48–47 at halftime despite losing All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton early in the first quarter to an Achilles injury. But the game shifted quickly after the break.
Oklahoma City outscored Indiana, 34–20, in the third quarter and never trailed again. The Thunder’s defense ramped up their intensity, capitalizing on Indiana’s lack of a primary ball handler and generating transition opportunities that broke the game open. Gilgeous-Alexander controlled the tempo, Jalen Williams added 20 points and four assists, and Chet Holmgren delivered a standout performance with 18 points, eight rebounds, and five blocks — the most ever in a Finals Game 7.
“When you have an extra guard out there who can climb up into the ball and cover ground, it lets us turn up the heat,” Holmgren said. “It’s all about tradeoffs. We gave up a little size, but we made it tough for them to run anything.”
Despite some offensive struggles against the Pacers at times, Holmgren was a vital figure throughout the season for Oklahoma City, anchoring their interior defense and serving as an effective interior play finisher with further upside.
“There were a lot of nights where I was out there on will power and anti-inflammatories,” Holmgren said. “I’m just so happy I didn’t quit and we made it.”
Culture Over Everything
What separated this Thunder team wasn’t just youth or talent; it was cohesion. Head coach Mark Daigneault, who guided the team from the lottery to the top of the league in five years, was consistently praised by players for his poise and emotional leadership throughout the postseason.
“They behave like champions. They compete like champions,” Daigneault said. “They root for each other’s success, which is rare in professional sports. I’ve said it many times and now I’m going to say it one more time: they are an uncommon team — and now they’re champions.”
The bond within the locker room was evident. Isaiah Hartenstein, a veteran who joined the team in free agency last summer, credited Daigneault for fostering a genuine support system.
“He really cares about us as people, not just players,” Hartenstein said. “When we bring our kids around, he’s the first one to play with them. If you’ve got problems off the court, he’s the first to listen.”
The postgame celebration reflected their youth and inexperience with this stage. Players fumbled with goggles, bottles sprayed prematurely, and laughter echoed through the locker room as the reality of a title sunk in.
“None of us knew how to pop champagne,” Hartenstein said, laughing. “We were asking AC [Alex Caruso] for a tutorial. It wasn’t in sync, but we figured it out.”
For Luguentz Dort — who went undrafted in 2019 and became a mainstay in Oklahoma City’s rotation through effort and defense — the moment was personal.
“I was born in Canada, but my parents immigrated from Haiti,” Dort said. “Haiti has been through a lot. I’m happy to be a Haitian here at the biggest stage, being a champion now.”
Williams, who added 20 points in the clincher, said the emotions hit hard when the buzzer sounded.
“I looked up, and my mom was crying in the stands,” he said. “That made me tear up a little bit. It kind of just hit me — everything we worked for. All the sacrifices, all the hours. To share it with your family? That’s what it’s all about.”
Insane shot from Bob Mills SkyNews 9 as OKC celebrates the Thunder winning the NBA Finals. pic.twitter.com/swCtVdbeAq
— Cody Nagel (@CodyNagel247) June 23, 2025
A Banner for Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City now joins the list of NBA champions, not just with a title, but with a foundation that appears built to last. The Thunder became the seventh different franchise to win a championship in the last seven seasons, a run of parity unlike any in league history. But this title felt more like a start than a culmination.
The franchise’s only other championship came in 1979 as the Seattle SuperSonics. There is no banner for that title in Oklahoma. This fall, for the first time, one will hang — earned by a new era of Thunder basketball.
General manager Sam Presti’s long-term vision, built through the draft and internal development, was validated in full. Gilgeous-Alexander, acquired in the 2019 Paul George trade, has blossomed into a superstar in his sixth season with the Thunder. Holmgren and Williams stepped up as co-stars—the rest of the roster filled in around them with discipline and purpose.
Gilgeous-Alexander recalled the message Presti shared with the team after Holmgren’s injury in 2022.
“He came into the room and said, ‘Our destiny is what we make it,’” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “That stuck with me. We can do whatever we want to do.”
Now, they’ve done it — and Oklahoma City finally has a championship to call its own.
“This is a huge moment for everybody here — the city, the fans, Clay [Bennett], Sam [Presti], Coach Mark, all the players, the staff,” Holmgren said. “I’m just so happy we get to share it together.”
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