The NBA Finals matchup is set, with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers ready to clash beginning on Thursday night. In their wake, the two contenders left the Minnesota Timberwolves and New York Knicks, respectively, after taking them down in this year’s conference finals.
The way the two series unfolded made for a stark contrast. Pacers-Knicks was grand theater, kicked off by an incredible Game 1 comeback win from Indiana and an all-time Tyrese Haliburton picture. The play grew sloppier as the Eastern Conference finals went on, but the games stayed largely close and competitive all the way to the last few minutes of Game 6. Thunder-Timberwolves, on the other hand, was a snoozer. OKC annihilated Minnesota in three of the five games (with a two-point victory in Game 4), and the Wolves somehow won by 40 points in the other. The wonder of watching the Thunder meat grinder go to work fades when they go up by 30 points in the first half of an elimination game.
