The Indiana Pacers have always been synonymous with grit, grind and toughness. The Pacers battling the giant markets of the National Basketball Association (NBA), as one of the smallest franchises embodies this. This 2025 Playoff campaign that saw the Pacers fall agonisingly short of their first NBA Championship. It was heartbreaking scenes in Oklahoma, as Pacer’s superstar Tyrese Haliburton who had battled the entire series with a calf injury.

This season everything clicked for the Thunder, with a 68-14 record (best in the NBA) as well as being top 5 in both offence and defence. They rolled through the playoffs with Shai continuing his MVP form and having key contributors from the players who have developed the past years. This is the first title in OKC history (not counting the 1 in Seattle) and is a blueprint for every team in the league going into a rebuild. OKC has reinvented the wheel, in a league that was lit