NBA Finals 2025 odds & preview: Thunder vs Pacers betting tips

The 2025 NBA Finals are here, so Ladbrokes looks at the odds, betting tips and key matchups ahead of the Oklahoma City Thunder meeting the Indiana Pacers.

The Oklahoma City Thunder, who had the league's best regular season record, have stormed through the postseason playing fearless, fast-paced basketball. Led by NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC will take some stopping.

But the Indiana Pacers have thrived as the underdog, eliminating the Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks in their playoff run so far. In Tyrese Haliburton, they have one of the NBA's elite operators in the clutch.

Now, two of the NBA’s youngest teams will battle it out for a first-ever championship. From game odds to prop bets and key players to watch, here’s your complete guide to the NBA Finals.

The Indiana Pacers lead the series 1-0 after another dramatic Tyrese Haliburton game-winner, with 0.3 seconds left, stole a 111-110 victory on the road.

• Monday June 9, 1am BST @ Paycom Center, OKC
• Oklahoma City Thunder -6.5 point favourites
• Over/Under Points 227.5

The Oklahoma City Thunder are favourites to win Game 2 of the NBA Finals, with the bookies expecting them to bounce back at home despite the last-gasp loss. OKC are 8-2 at home in the playoffs so far, and SGA appears to be locked in.

The Thunder are an excellent two-way team with few weaknesses. Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren are effective secondary shooting options, while Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein dominate off the board.

The Indiana Pacers won road games to open up their past two series' against the Knicks and the Cavs, and they repeated it yet again on the biggest stage, turning around a 15-point fourth quarter deficit to win Game 1 in Oklahoma City.

The Pacers have great balance and depth, with six players averaging 10+ points a game during the playoffs. They did well to win despite 25 turnovers in Game 1, so will need to cut that down with OKC unlikely to be so forgiving in future.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 32.7 points, 6.4 rebounds and 5 assists per game in the regular season, en route to becoming just the second Canadian to win NBA MVP.

He has scored at least 30 points in eight of the last nine games, and rose to the occasion in the latter stages of the Thunder's series wins against the Nuggets and the Timberwolves.

In the two regular season meetings between the Thunder and the Pacers, SGA scored a combined 78 points, before putting up 38 points in the Game 1 loss. His over/under for Game 2 is set at 34.5 points.

Tyrese Haliburton has been at the centre of the Indiana Pacers' run to the Finals, with clutch game-winners in each previous round of the playoffs against the Bucks, Cavs and Knicks. He repeated the trick to stun the Thunder home crowd in Game 1.

Haliburton is averaging 18.6 points and 9.2 assists per game in the playoffs, and he is happy to make the right play rather than forcing things unnecessarily. The point guard has a Double-Double (10+ in two separate stat categories e.g points & assists) in five of the last seven games, with 14 points and 10 rebounds in Game 1.

He had a quiet opening game before the incredible ending, but has shown repeatedly he only needs one moment, and preferably within the final few seconds. It will be interesting to see going forward how Haliburton handles the elite Thunder defense, which mostly contained Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards.

Haliburton may be the Pacers' star, but Pascal Siakam is Indiana's most consistent player. He won the Conference Finals MVP for his performance against the Knicks, shooting above 50% throughout the series.

Siakam's Game 2 in New York, where he scored 39 points on 65% of attempts, was a particular highlight, giving the Pacers a 2-0 lead after two road games. After winning a championship with the Toronto Raptors in 2019, the veteran will look to utilise that experience.

He is averaging 20.9 points a game in the playoffs, and has at least 30 in three of the last six. After scoring 19 points in Game 1 Siakam's points total for Game 2 is set at 18.5.

Chet Holmgren is one of the vital cogs in the Thunder machine, both offensively and defensively. As well as averaging 15.8 points per game as a third option behind SGA and Williams, Holmgren has 8.4 rebounds and 2 blocks per game during the playoffs.

After getting at least 11 rebounds in five of their seven games against the Nuggets, Holmgren hasn't had more than 7 rebounds in his past six games. He had an underwhelming Game 1, scoring just 6 points with 6 rebounds. Perhaps something to consider with his rebound total set at 8.5 for Game 2.

• Best-of-seven series
• Home court advantage: Oklahoma City Thunder
• Game schedule follows the 2–2–1–1–1 format
  

• Money Line refers to the outright winner of a particular match.
• Handicap Betting, also known as point spread betting, levels the playing field by adding and subtracting points from each team. For example, if the Thunder are favoured by 11.5 points, they must win by 12 or more for the bet to win.
• Prop Bets are wagers on specific markets within a game, such as a player's total points, rebounds or assists. An example of a prop bet would be backing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to score 30+ points.
  

View the latest basketball odds here.

All odds and markets are correct as of the date of publication.