The Oklahoma City Thunder are headed to the NBA Finals. The Indiana Pacers have a chance on Thursday night to join them.
The Thunder raced out to a big early lead and cruised past Minnesota 124-94 on Wednesday night to win the Western Conference title in five games. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 34 points and was the unanimous West finals MVP.
The Pacers lead the New York Knicks 3-1 in the Eastern Conference finals. Game 1 of the NBA Finals is June 5 in Oklahoma City.
SGA is the MVP
A recap of Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's winning of the NBA MVP award.
The story: Gilgeous-Alexander tops Jokic for MVP award
The reaction: SGA tears up when talking about his wife
Steve Nash speaks: Canada's 1st MVP thrilled to see SGA follow him
The notebook: Jokic finishes top-2 for 5th straight year, Giannis' streak ends, LeBron gets votes
Thursday's national TV schedule
8 p.m. EDT — Indiana at New York (TNT)
Saturday's national TV schedule
8 p.m. EDT — New York at Indiana (TNT), if necessary
Betting odds
Oklahoma City (-750) is an even bigger favorite now to win the NBA title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. Indiana (+650) remains the second choice, followed by New York (+2800).
The Knicks are a 4.5-point favorite over Indiana on Thursday.
Conference finals schedules
East (all 8 p.m. EDT) — Game 1, Indiana 138, New York 135, OT; Game 2, Indiana 114, New York 109; Game 3, New York 106, Indiana 100; Game 4, Indiana 130, New York 121; Game 5 at New York on May 29; Game 6 at Indiana on May 31; Game 7 at New York on June 2.
West — Game 1, Oklahoma City 114, Minnesota 88; Game 2, Oklahoma City 118, Minnesota 103; Game 3, Minnesota 143, Oklahoma City 101; Game 4, Oklahoma City 128, Minnesota 126; Game 5, Oklahoma City 124, Minnesota 94.
NBA Finals schedule
June 5 — Game 1, at Oklahoma City, 8:30 p.m. EDT
June 8 — Game 2, at Oklahoma City, 8 p.m. EDT
June 11 — Game 3, at Indiana or New York, 8:30 p.m. EDT
June 13 — Game 4, at Indiana or New York, 8:30 p.m. EDT
June 16 — Game 5, at Oklahoma City, if necessary, 8:30 p.m. EDT
June 19 — Game 6, at Indiana or New York, if necessary, 8:30 p.m. EDT
June 22 — Game 7, at Oklahoma City, if necessary, 8 p.m. EDT
Award season
The All-NBA team had Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum and Donovan Mitchell on the first team, and LeBron James — at 40 years old — making an All-NBA team for the 21st time.
Other awards this season:
— Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won the MVP award.
— Stephon Castle was a unanimous All-Rookie team selection.
— Oklahoma City's Sam Presti won executive of the year.
— Cleveland's Kenny Atkinson won coach of the year.
— Boston's Jrue Holiday won the social justice award and the sportsmanship award.
— Atlanta's Dyson Daniels won most improved player.
— San Antonio's Stephon Castle won rookie of the year.
— Golden State's Stephen Curry won the Twyman-Stokes teammate of the year award.
— Golden State's Draymond Green won the hustle award.
— Cleveland's Evan Mobley won defensive player of the year.
— New York's Jalen Brunson won clutch player of the year.
— Boston's Payton Pritchard won sixth man of the year.
Scoring leaders
The highest-scoring games by players so far in this year's playoffs:
48 — Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland vs. Indiana, May 6
44 — Nikola Jokic, Denver at Oklahoma City, May 13
43 — Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland vs. Indiana, May 9
43 — Jamal Murray, Denver vs. LA Clippers, April 29
43 — Anthony Edwards, Minnesota vs. LA Lakers, April 27
43 — Jalen Brunson, New York vs. Indiana, May 21
42 — Jayson Tatum, Boston at New York, May 12
42 — Nikola Jokic, Denver at Oklahoma City, May 5
40 — Jalen Brunson, New York at Detroit, May 1
40 — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City at Minnesota, May 26
39 — Jalen Brunson, New York vs. Boston, May 12
39 — Kawhi Leonard, LA Clippers at Denver, April 21
39 — Pascal Siakam, Indiana at New York, May 23
Key upcoming events
June 2 — Last possible date for Game 7 of Eastern Conference finals.
June 5 — Game 1, NBA Finals. (Other games: June 8, June 11, June 13, June 16, June 19 and Game 7, if necessary, will be June 22.)
June 25 — NBA draft, first round.
June 26 — NBA draft, second round.
Draft lottery
Dallas had 1.8% odds to win the No. 1 pick in the draft lottery — but overcame those odds and now has the opportunity to draft Cooper Flagg. The Mavericks won the lottery last Monday night in Chicago.
— Flagg, just a kid from Maine, hasn't forgotten his roots
— From Rutgers to the lottery for Harper, Bailey
— A Chinese teen is a draft hopeful, and has big shoes to fill
— Rick Welts has seen this before
Comeback season
The Knicks — again — added to the list in Game 3 of the East finals.
There have been six wins by teams that trailed by 20 points or more so far in these playoffs. That's the most in any postseason during the play-by-play era, which started with the 1997 playoffs.
The biggest deficits that were successfully overcome:
29 — Oklahoma City at Memphis, April 24 (Thunder won 114-108)
20 — Indiana vs. Milwaukee, April 29 (Pacers won 119-118)
20 — New York at Boston, May 5 (Knicks won 108-105)
20 — Indiana at Cleveland, May 6 (Pacers won 120-119)
20 — New York at Boston, May 7 (Knicks won 91-90)
20 — New York at Indiana, May 25 (Knicks won 106-100)
Last-second Pacers rallies
Indiana has pulled off three last-minute rallies from at least seven points down to win in these playoffs:
— April 29: Trailed Milwaukee 118-111 with 34.6 seconds left in overtime, won 119-118.
— May 6: Trailed Cleveland 119-112 with 48 seconds left, won 120-119.
— May 21: Trailed New York 121-112 with 51.1 seconds left in regulation, won 138-135 in overtime.
Stats of the day
— Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will be the first player to win MVP and appear in the NBA Finals in the same season since Stephen Curry for Golden State in 2016.
— Indiana's Myles Turner had three blocked shots in Game 4 of the East finals, giving him 177 this season (including the regular season and postseason). That allowed him to pass San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama for the most in the NBA this season; Wembanyama had 176 and hasn't played since February.
— There have been 10 playoff games decided by at least 30 points in these playoffs, tying the record set in 2016. Oklahoma City is the first team with four such wins in a single postseason.
Quote of the day
“They're a great team, well-coached. Top to bottom, they're pretty good. Just tip my hat to those guys." — Minnesota's Anthony Edwards, on the Thunder.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
Credit: AP
Credit: AP