NBA Starting 5, June 21
to Game 7 is on.
from the Thunder & Pacers deciding a champion in the final game of the 2024-25 season. (Sunday, 8 ET on ABC)
June 21, 2025
The 2024-25 NBA season comes down to a single game
The Thunder & Pacers will add their story to Finals lore
A look back at the last seven Game 7s in the NBA Finals
The special bond the Thunder & Pacers share with their cities
“Big Game James” Worthy delivers with a Game 7 triple-double
One more sleep until Game 7…
make their final preparations for Sunday’s Game 7 (8 ET, ABC), they’ll hold the final media day of the season, beginning at 1:30 ET and streamed live on the NBA App.
– 1,230 in the regular season and 83 more in the Playoffs – the 2024-25 NBA season comes down to one single game.
NBA Finals.
Sunday (8 ET, ABC).
since the stakes have been so straightforward.
are building a rivalry in front of our very eyes with a Finals that has delivered thrilling moments through the first six games – with only seven points separating the two teams.
as they get ready for an epic Game 7 finale.
the first NBA championship to their city.
around the NBA waiting for these answers as the 20th Game 7 in Finals history draws near.
of our favorite reactions via social media:
, check out a few reads from around the NBA.
of the NBA Finals will be written by the Thunder and Pacers on Sunday night.
crowned, only 19 did so in a winner-take-all Game 7.
will be the first Finals Game 7 since 2016, when the Cavaliers completed the first 3-1 comeback in Finals history with a win over the Warriors at Golden State.
have only been alive for four NBA Finals Game 7s and now will be at the epicenter of the fifth such game since 2000.
Game 7 is the opportunity to cement themselves among the greatest teams in NBA history.
Game 7 is the chance to pull off one final comeback in a postseason filled with monumental rallies and late-game heroics.
separate the Thunder and Pacers as they enter Game 7 – a margin only matched five times in Finals history.
for the first Finals Game 7 in nearly a decade, here’s a look back at the most recent seven Game 7s, dating back to 1984 – the first year of the expanded Playoffs.
LeBron’s block and Kyrie’s game-winning 3 helped the Cavs stun the 73-win Warriors | Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images
After Ray Allen’s 3 saved Miami in Game 6, LeBron James (37 pts, 12 reb) led the Heat to their second straight title in Game 7 | Garrett Ellwood & Mike Ehrmann/NBAE via Getty Images
Ron Artest’s clutch 3-pointer lifted the Lakers past the rival Celtics for back-to-back titles | Christian Petersen/Getty Images
Tim Duncan (25 pts, 11 reb) led San Antonio to its third title in seven years | Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images
Hakeem Olajuwon (25 pts, 10 reb, 7 ast, 3 blk, 1 stl) led Houston past New York, bringing the franchise its first title | Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images
“Big Game James” Worthy saved his only career triple-double for a Game 7 win. | Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images | See more in Section 5 ⬇️
Cedric Maxwell (24 pts, 8 reb, 8 ast) led six Celtics in double figures as Boston’s balance helped defeat the Lakers | Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images
Dylan Buell/Getty Images
the Pacers sent the Indiana faithful inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse home with a win in their final home game of the season.
the Thunder will try to do the same for the OKC fans inside Paycom Center for the final game of the 2024-25 NBA season.
Game 7 on their home court through their regular-season dominance, with a league-best 68 wins, including 35 at home.
the Thunder are 10-2 at home in the Playoffs, and making more history in the process.
Morgan Givens/NBAE via Getty Images
in Game 7s in NBA Finals history.
look to push that mark to 16-4, the Pacers will try to join the 1969 & 1974 Celtics, 1978 Bullets and 2016 Cavs as the only road teams to clinch the title with a Game 7 road win.
between these teams and their respective cities that goes beyond the 48 minutes on the court in any given game. Williams recalled Thunder fans waiting to greet the team at the airport after Game 6.
OKC Thunder via Instagram
punched their tickets to the NBA Finals at home, allowing their fans to celebrate the moment and the accomplishment with them.
- Honestly, the city thrives in adversity. We’re constantly overlooked… But we’re resilient.” – he continued to the roar of the crowd
Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images
next year we’re gonna win it again.”
from coach Pat Riley at the Lakers’ 1987 championship parade set the bar for the 1987-88 Lakers to chase.
since the NBA had seen a repeat champion, but that didn’t stop Riley from challenging his team to do what hadn’t been done since 1968-69.
respond?
in the regular season, swept San Antonio in the first round and survived two seven-game series with Utah and Dallas to reach the Finals for a showdown with the Detroit Pistons.
as the series shifted back to L.A. for Games 6 and 7, the Lakers overcame an inspired performance from Isiah Thomas – scoring 25 points in the 3rd quarter on a sprained ankle – to win Game 6 and force a winner-take-all Game 7.
it wasn’t three-time Finals MVP Magic Johnson or two-time Finals MVP Kareem Abdul-Jabbar that played the hero.
who recorded the only triple-double in his entire career (36 pts, 16 reb, 10 ast) to lead the Lakers to a 108-105 win in Game 7.
The win earned Worthy Finals MVP honors, and proved Riley’s proclamation from the previous summer true.
Years later, Worthy reflected on his mindset entering the game and the zone he reached during his masterpiece.
“Being down 3-2 against the Pistons, no matter where you play, it’s got to make you think about what your destiny may be…
“We felt confident coming back home. We had two games at home, so we knew we could pull this off, especially after we got that Game 6.
“And from my perspective, Magic and Kareem, they have carried the Lakers so many years and won so many championships that I really felt like it was my turn to help my teammates out.
“I had to step it up. And in ‘88, after winning in ‘85 and ‘87, I just felt like I felt my Junior year in college. I felt like it was my turn, and I tried to play to that level…
“When you’re in a zone like that, you just feel unstoppable. Everything kind of slows down, and you don’t get tired. And no matter who’s in front of you, you feel like you can take them.
“You almost feel like you’re hypnotized. And nothing fazes you. You don’t hear the crowd. You’re just into sweat equity at that moment
“It’s just what you live for in those moments, in a Game 7 like that.”
