Summary of the first four games of the finals: Pacers slap in the face many predictions, lineup depth has become a new direction for team building

After the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Indiana Pacers 111-104 on Saturday, the 2025 NBA Finals tied 2-2. The

series will now return to Oklahoma City, where any team can win another victory, just one step away from their first NBA championship in their respective team history.

So far, the competition has been very exciting. Both teams are always focused on both offense and defense. The stars played very well, too. And despite the Thunder’s victory in Game 4 Saturday, people began to feel like the Pacers had a real chance to complete the uproar.

To look back on all the matches so far - perhaps looking forward to the future - we will look at this series from the perspective of "winners and losers". The biggest winners and losers of this series can be found below.

Winner: Star guard

In some ways, Tyres Halliburton had a tough night on Saturday, making 7 of 15 shots and had an abnormal five turnovers.

But overall, this series proves one thing: Halliburton is a star worthy of the stage. This has actually been reflected in other playoff games.

When Halliburton rushes inside, both as a scorer and a playmaker, the Pacers' offense usually plays quite consistently in the face of the best defense of the season.

Halliburton averaged 17.8 points and 7.5 assists per game in this series. And after four games, his plus or negative value is +9.

Of course, Thunder's Shea Gilgers Alexander performed more explosively, especially in the final stage of Game 4.

Alexander got into the form and took over the game when the team fell behind double digits in the late third quarter. His signature mid-range shooting and foul ability completely reversed the momentum, and the Thunder not only smoothed the gap, but also achieved a rebound.

Alexander scored 14 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter, and currently averaged 32.8 points in the series.

Whoever ends up winning in this series will add an important point to his historical status, but even losers, this journey may be remembered for a while.

Loser: Traditional concept

The Thunder won 68 games in the regular season, breaking the historical record of single-season net wins, double-digit score difference games and 15-point score difference games.

Apart from a little stress test from the Denver Nuggets, the Thunder basically easily passed the stronger Western Conference.

And the Thunder entered the finals with an overwhelming odds of -750 (which means there is an 88% chance of winning the series).

So, it's no surprise to hear that almost all NBA analysts, fans, and their family pets outside Indiana predict the Thunder will win in five games.

And in many explanations of such predictions, forecasters would say something like this: "I want to predict a sweep, but out of respect for the Pacers, I will give them a victory."

Well, the Pacers have pushed this giant into a tougher situation than many expected. And they played very close in three of the four games, which shows that the last two or three games should also be very intense.

This is good for everyone, especially for fans. One of the best things about sports is watching competitors break traditional ideas.

Winner: The NBA League

The poor TV ratings of this round of the series, the small media market that both teams are from the league that may not be very popular, and the lack of very well-known stars in both teams, such statements have been widely discussed.

But the basketball game presented by the Pacers and Thunder should ultimately overshadow all the above discussion.

After all, the alliance has locked in an 11-year media copyright agreement worth nearly $80 billion, and the agreement has not even begun to take effect. Now is a great time to leverage some lesser-known teams to "test" the market.

At the end of the day, more teams like the Pacers and Thunder need this national attention. Beyond those big teams, there are also a large number of interesting basketball games and entertaining stars. This series is proving this. The Pacers showed a balanced, improvised style that encourages ball transfer and player movement. Their role players are always putting their best efforts. The same is true for the Thunder at the last point, except that their offensive design revolves more around the gravity brought by the new MVP Alexander.

Here, almost any fan can find something they like.

And if the alliance can figure out how to demonstrate this during the expiration of this new media agreement, then their situation will be better.

The encounter between these two teams in the finals is a good start.

Loser: Myers Turner

To a large extent, it is difficult to find a real loser in this 2-2 draw series. So far, this is a fierce and fierce showdown, so it doesn't feel right to put the "lose" label on any player.

Even Miles Turner listed here has the upper hand in many ways in the match against Chet Homgren.

But if the Pacers want to complete the huge upset they are pursuing, it's almost certain that they need Turner to make more of their offensive contributions.

In Saturday's game, Turner made 3 of 10 shots and 0 of 6 three-pointers. So far in the entire series, Turner averaged only 13.0 points per game, of which the shooting percentage was 39.5% and the three-point shooting percentage was only 20.0%.

And many of the outside phones that Turner gets will be open, thanks to Halliburton and Andrew Nemhard's ability to create opportunities, and the Pacers' overall skill in transferring the ball.

Turner has shot 37.7% from three-pointers in the past three seasons, so he is expected to return to average. If Turner can do that, the Pacers have a good chance of winning two more games. If you can't do it, it's hard to imagine the Pacers being able to overcome the Thunder's home advantage in the next three new winning and losing series.

Winner: Lineup depth

In terms of team building, the NBA has a certain periodicity. Sometimes, every team is chasing the "Big Three". After Dirk Nowitzki emerged, the outside projection big man was once popular. And now, with Nikola Jokic's dominant performance, the organizational fifth position is in full swing.

And the two teams that are still playing this season may be at the forefront of a new trend, driven in large part by a new labor agreement.

The punishment for exceeding the first or second luxury tax line is extremely severe. And when a team has multiple maximum contract players in their roster, it will be difficult for them to keep their total salary levels below those lines.

Therefore, the team may now begin to look more actively for building a team around two (or even one) stars and several useful role players. That's the case with the Pacers, who have Halliburton and Pascal Siakam, surrounded by eight to nine players who are trustworthy at critical moments in the playoffs. The Thunder situation may be more difficult to replicate, as some of their best players are still in the rookie contract period, but the depth of the lineup is equally a clear advantage for them.

In today's NBA, surviving the playoffs means preparing sufficient troops for the war of attrition, and there are almost no (or no) weak links that can be attacked.

Author: Andy Bailey

Translator: GWayNe