By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer

OKLAHOMA CITY — In these NBA Finals, a team is four wins away from getting the last laugh.

Ask anyone on the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers if they’re still fueled by doubters, and the answer is probably going to be an immediate “yes.” Thunder star and league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander went 11th in his draft. Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton went 12th in his. Both sides have undrafted players in their rotation.

Here they are: The NBA Finals, which start Thursday night in Oklahoma City. The Thunder have, by far, the NBA’s best record this season. The Pacers have the league’s second-best record since Jan. 1, including playoffs. And both teams have rolled through the postseason, going 12-4 in the first three rounds.

“I’ll continue to tell you guys in certain moments that it doesn’t matter what people say, but it matters – and I enjoy it,” Haliburton said. “I think the greats try to find external motivation as much as they can and that’s something that’s always worked for me.”

It’s not like more motivation is needed. Not for the next couple of weeks, anyway. Indiana is chasing its first NBA title. Oklahoma City – technically – is also seeking its first; the franchise won a championship when it played in Seattle in 1979. These are teams that combined to win 49 games just three seasons ago, and now they’re the last two standing.

“Staying true to who we are is the reason why we’re here,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We’d be doing ourselves a disservice if we changed or tried to be something we’re not once we got here. We’ve had success doing so. If we want to keep having success, we have to be who we are. It’s organic. It’s nothing we have to think about or force. It’s just who we are, no matter the moment.”

The Thunder are enormous favorites in the series, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, and understandably so. They’re 80-18 including the regular season and postseason, plus went 29-1 in the regular season against the Eastern Conference and have more double-digit wins – 61 and counting – than any team in any season in NBA history.

“We’ve got a lot of work cut out for us,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “A lot of our guys have been through a lot of situations where they’ve been underdogs in the past. It’s simply going to come down to us being able to play our game at the best possible level. We’re going to need to take care of the ball because these guys turn people over at an historic rate, and we’re going to have to make some shots.”

The Thunder want no part of hearing this series will be easy. The way Indiana – a No. 4 seed in the East – got through Giannis Antetokounmpo and Milwaukee in Round 1, a top-seeded Cleveland team in Round 2 and New York in Round 3 and never faced an elimination game has captured Oklahoma City’s full attention.

“Their attack is very simple. The theoretical way to stop it is simple,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “In reality it’s very difficult to do, as you can see from the way that they’ve really had their way with everybody. … They pump a 99 mph fastball at you. You can prepare all you want for that. When you’re in the batter’s box, it’s different when it’s time to hit it.”

DEFENSE MIGHT DECIDE IT

These teams have two of the NBA’s best offenses, but this year’s title hopes might swing on the other facet: Who has the better defense?

While both teams made major improvements from last season’s respective rosters in the conference finals and conference semifinals, Carlisle, who led Dallas on its only title run in 2010-11 knows just how difficult the challenge can be, especially against Oklahoma City.

“Their depth of great defenders is staggering,” he said before listing names. “Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander) is a great scorer, but he’s also a great competitor. You’ve got Jalen Williams, you’ve got (Lu) Dort, you’ve got (Alex) Caruso, and a bunch of other guys. People talk about (Aaron) Wiggins, Cason Wallace and all these guys are great competitors. And then they’ve got the rim protection to go along with it.”

That combination helped the Thunder roll to the top seed in the Western Conference for the second straight year.

Apparently, it was just a warmup. During the franchise’s first Finals run since 2012, the Thunder’s scoring defense has been even stingier – allowing just 106.3 points per game compared with 107.6 over the first 82 games – while yielding fewer than 100 points in half of their 12 postseason wins.

While Indiana has not matched those numbers, the Pacers eliminated three teams that each averaged more than 115 points during the regular season. In 16 playoff games, they held those three teams below their averages 11 times.

Naturally, Daigneault has been taking notes.

“If you look at this playoff run, you’ll see how challenging they are for their opponents, and the way they defend contributes to their team identity. It’s not just offense,” he said. “Their defensive philosophy is very much aligned with their offensive philosophy, so it creates a certain air to the game when you play against them. It is difficult to play against, as you can see from the way that they’ve really run through the Eastern Conference to get here.”

Their rosters were constructed in similar fashions, too.

Both teams are young, rely on deep benches to wear down opponents late and feast on turnovers. The Thunder average a postseason best 21.3 points per game off turnovers while the Pacers are second at 18.5.

But with so much focus on the high-scoring, up-tempo offenses, it’s easy to overlook their defenses or worse – see it as a glaring weakness.

A year ago, Indiana gave up 120.2 points per game in the regular season. This year that number dropped to 115.1, and in the postseason it’s down to 113.3.

What changed?

Indiana’s top three defenders – Aaron Nesmith, Andrew Nembhard and Myles Turner – are all relatively healthy now.

Nesmith missed 2½ months with a sprained left ankle before returning in January and working his way back into game shape. He sprained his right ankle in Game 3 of the conference finals against the Knicks but played in each of the final three games.

Nembhard also missed nearly a month early this season with tendinitis in his left knee, and Turner, Indiana’s rim protector, has overcome an assortment of nagging injuries.

But Indiana also changed its focus after getting swept by Boston in 2024.

“Last year, all that was being said was we couldn’t win because we didn’t guard anybody and all we do is try to outscore people,” Haliburton said. “We’ve taken such a big step on the defensive end as a group, and I think the step we made on that end of the floor is why we’re here. We’ve got our work cut out for us (in this series).”

Neither Carlisle nor Daigneault would disclose their defensive assignments entering Game 1, though there’s a good chance Nembhard and Nesmith will somehow find themselves pitted against Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams.

On the flip side, Oklahoma City may deploy its two all-NBA defenders, Williams and Dort, against the combination of Haliburton and Nembhard.

But regardless of the assignments, this is a matchup of wills most believe will determine the next NBA champion.

“All tests are fun, and we get to do it on the biggest stage any of us have ever played on,” Williams said. “So it’ll be a very fun challenge. Like I said, that’s a really good team. Obviously, they’re in the Finals for a reason. Nobody just waltzes into the Finals. So it’ll be our ultimate test.”

YOUNG THUNDER

The Thunder are the youngest team to make the NBA Finals in 48 years, according to data provided by the league. With an average age of about 25 years and seven months, they’re the youngest finalist since Portland in 1977.

That said, hearing about it is getting, well, old.

“Young or not, when you can learn from whatever situation you’re thrown in, that makes you better,” Thunder guard Jalen Williams said. “I think that’s why we’re here in this moment.”

PAST FINALS

There are four players on these teams with previous NBA Finals experience.

Indiana forward Pascal Siakam averaged 19.8 points in six games with Toronto, helping the Raptors win the title in 2019. Oklahoma City guard Alex Caruso averaged 6.3 points in six games with the Lakers, helping them past Miami in the 2020 Finals in the pandemic bubble in Orlando.

Indiana center Thomas Bryant got in one game of Denver’s 2023 Finals victory over Miami, and the Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith played for Boston in the Celtics’ loss to Golden State in the 2022 Finals.

BUSY OKC

There will be a Game 1 in Oklahoma City on Thursday night – and a Game 2 on Thursday night as well.

At Paycom Center, there’s Game 1 of the NBA Finals. And Devon Park, about a 15-minute drive away from the Thunder home floor, will play host to Game 2 of the Women’s College World Series between Texas and Texas Tech that same night.

If the softball facility – which will be the site of the Olympic softball tournament for the 2028 Los Angeles Games – is filled, that means about 32,000 people will be watching championship games in Oklahoma City on Thursday.

AP sports writers Michael Marot and Cliff Brunt contributed to this story.

PACERS AT THUNDER

What: NBA Finals, Game 1

When: Thursday, 5:30 p.m. PT

Where: Paycom Center, Oklahoma City

TV/radio: ABC (Ch. 7), 710 AM

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