Pacers’ Viral Tyrese Haliburton Post Sets Stage for Game 7 of NBA Finals originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The Indiana Pacers forced a deciding Game 7 against the Oklahoma City Thunder by way of a blowout home victory on Thursday, June 19, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Indiana’s 17-point win will lead to the first winner-take-all Finals matchup since the Cleveland Cavaliers traveled to the Bay Area in 2016 and outlasted the defending champion Golden State Warriors by four points to capture the sole championship title in franchise history.
It could be tough for the Pacers and Thunder to live up to that precedent, considering the Cavaliers-Warriors contest featured LeBron James and Stephen Curry — arguably two of the best 10 players in NBA history, both of whom were in their career primes during the series — in an absolute slugfest.
Cleveland’s victory and a historic salary cap spike also led to Golden State acquiring Kevin Durant the following offseason and creating perhaps the best team of all-time, which went to three more consecutive NBA Finals and won two of them before both Durant and Klay Thompson suffered devastating injuries against the Toronto Raptors in the final series of the 2019 playoffs.
But the Pacers and Thunder will have their compelling storylines to battle for on Sunday night on Oklahoma City. The Thunder and MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander could set off the NBA’s newest dynasty as the youngest collective team to win a championship in league history before potentially extending all three of its top players — Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren — to longterm extensions this summer.
Meanwhile, the Pacers and Tyrese Haliburton could piece together arguably the most clutch playoff run ever and capture one of the unlikeliest titles in recent memory based on how long their betting odds have been the entire way — including starting the Finals in Oklahoma City as one of the biggest championhip underdogs of all-time.
The hype is already growing in both cities and across NBA social media, where the Pacers posted a viral photo of Haliburton from Thursday’s Game 6 that sets the tone for a potentially historic contest just two night from now.
necessary. pic.twitter.com/PdWjKkALwQ
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) June 20, 2025
“Necessary,” the Pacers’ official X account captioned the photo, referencing the Game 7 announcement flashing on the scorer’s table behind Haliburton.
Indiana enters Game 7 against Oklahoma City as 8.5-point underdogs, per ESPN BET.
Related: How Pacers Overwhelmed Thunder in NBA Finals Game 6
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 20, 2025, where it first appeared.
