The NBA conference finals have officially come to an end with the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder advancing to the NBA finals. According to the NBA analysts, they give OKC a 76.6 percent chance of winning. The Pacers will be the underdogs in this series which is why their fans are hoping to see an upset against OKC.
“In my opinion, OKC Thunder vs the Indiana Pacers is going to be a very good NBA finals to watch. But I think Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder will come out with the trophy because they have a handful of players that will dominate in certain areas,” sophomore Noah Jacobson said.
One of the best games in the conference finals was game one when the Pacers beat the Knicks after being down by double digits late in the fourth quarter. The Pacers were down two with seven seconds left and Tyrese Haliburton ran down the court into the paint, turned around and ran to the 3 point line and shot it at the buzzer. It went in, but his foot was on the line and they counted it as a two, as it went into overtime but Haliburton and the Pacers came out with the win 138-135 for game one.
“When Haliburton hit his buzzer- beater it was definitely one of the best games I’ve seen so far. After he hit the buzzer-beater to tie the game, he did Reggie Miller’s choking celebration,” junior Charlie Sheridan said.
The Pacers also won game two, but eventually won game 3 to make the lead 2-1 for the Pacers. Game four Pacers won again and then in game five the Knicks won giving them another shot to win it all but fell short in game six losing the series 4-2.
“I think Haliburton and the Pacers will upset the number one seed OKC in the Finals and Haliburton will get the MVP,” junior Nick Lawson said.
In the West, OKC won 4-1 against the Timberwolves. The best game was game four in the Timberwolves’ territory. Number 9, Nickeil Alexander-Walker was the leading scorer that night, leading with 23 points. But that was not enough to get the job done against Gilgeous-Alexander, who led with 40 points in game four.
“The series between the Timberwolves and Thunder was a pretty easy series for the Thunder, winning 4-1,” sophomore Om Patel said.
Fans think OKC will be victorious in the end.
“In the NBA Finals, Shai and the Oklahoma City Thunder will take over and win in 5 games against Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers,” sophomore Grady Smith said
