{"id":142918,"date":"2025-05-01T10:47:26","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T14:47:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=142918"},"modified":"2025-06-01T11:08:57","modified_gmt":"2025-06-01T15:08:57","slug":"the-pacers-disrespect-continues-in-the-nba-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/05\/01\/the-pacers-disrespect-continues-in-the-nba-finals\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pacers ‘Disrespect’ Continues in the NBA Finals"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Indiana Pacers<\/a> just knocked off the New York Knicks.<\/a> They\u2019re in the NBA Finals. But oddsmakers still won\u2019t show respect. The Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> opened as massive -750 favorites at ESPN BET. The Pacers? Huge +525 underdogs. That\u2019s a serious gap. Only the 2017-18 Golden State Warriors<\/a> had shorter odds entering the Finals in the last two decades. It feels like the Pacers disrespect has hit another level. Oddsmakers basically think this series will be over before it begins.<\/p>\n

The Pacers ‘Disrespect’ Continues in the NBA Finals<\/strong><\/h2>\n

OKC\u2019s Defensive Edge Fuels the Gap<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"The
May 26, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) attempts to make a pass against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Alex Caruso (9), guard Luguentz Dort (5) and forward Chet Holmgren (7) in the first half during game four of the western conference finals for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Let\u2019s be fair \u2014 the Thunder have been dominant. They beat the Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a> in five games. They\u2019re back in the Finals for the first time since 2013.<\/p>\n

Defensively, they\u2019re elite. OKC finished the regular season with the league\u2019s top defensive rating.<\/a> In the playoffs, they\u2019ve only gotten better.<\/a><\/p>\n

Luguentz Dort<\/a>, a first-team All-Defensive<\/a> selection, leads their perimeter defense. Inside, Chet Holmgren<\/a> and Isaiah Hartenstein<\/a> protect the rim like a fortress. Together, they make the Thunder nearly nine points per game better defensively than the Pacers. That\u2019s a lot.<\/p>\n

The Pacers disrespect partly stems from this defensive gap. They don\u2019t have an All-Defensive player. Not one. That\u2019s a rare disadvantage for a Finals team.<\/p>\n

Underdogs Rarely Win It All<\/strong><\/h3>\n

History doesn\u2019t help the Pacers’ case either.<\/p>\n

Only two teams in the past 50 years have won the NBA Finals with greater than +200 odds \u2014 the 2003-04 Detroit Pistons<\/a> and the 2018-19 Toronto Raptors<\/a>. Both teams had unique advantages.<\/p>\n

The Pistons had multiple All-Defensive players. They also ranked among the best defensive teams<\/a> all season.<\/p>\n

The Raptors got lucky breaks. Kevin Durant<\/a> tore his Achilles. Klay Thompson<\/a> tore his ACL. Without those injuries, the Warriors likely win.<\/p>\n

This Pacers team? They\u2019re not elite defensively. And unless Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a> gets hurt, nothing short of a miracle would shift the odds. Even then, they probably wouldn’t be favored.<\/p>\n

Still, this isn\u2019t a lost cause. It\u2019s just another chapter in the ongoing Pacers ‘disrespect’ saga.<\/p>\n

They Keep Proving People Wrong<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This team entered the season as 50-to-1 title longshots. Nobody expected them to make it past the first round. They reached the Eastern Conference Finals. Then they beat a battle-tested Knicks squad in six games.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s not forget \u2014 this Pacers team has gone 46-18 since January 1st. That\u2019s no fluke. That\u2019s championship-caliber basketball over half a season.<\/p>\n

And yet, even after that, people doubt them. The Thunder are great, yes. But the Pacers earned their spot.<\/p>\n

Disrespect Could Be Fuel for the Pacers<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Here\u2019s the thing: thedisrespect might actually help them. Players thrive on slights. They don\u2019t forget headlines, betting odds, or doubt. Tyrese Haliburton<\/a> is a ‘petty’ basketballer that won’t forget any slights.<\/p>\n

This group already has the underdog mindset. They\u2019ve overcome injuries, skepticism, and tough matchups. Being counted out again? That\u2019s nothing new. In fact, it might be exactly what drives them to another upset.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s Hope for a Healthy, Fun Series<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Above all, let\u2019s hope the series stays injury-free. We\u2019ve seen injuries ruin Finals before \u2014 think of Durant and Thompson in 2019. If both teams stay healthy, we\u2019re in for a fun series. The Thunder want to solidify their place as the league\u2019s next dynasty.<\/p>\n

The Pacers want to prove that belief beats numbers. Don\u2019t count them out just yet. The disrespect might just be their biggest weapon.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Indiana Pacers just knocked off the New York Knicks. They\u2019re in the NBA Finals. But oddsmakers still won\u2019t show respect. The Oklahoma City Thunder opened as massive -750 favorites at ESPN BET. The Pacers? Huge +525 underdogs. That\u2019s a serious gap. Only the 2017-18 Golden State Warriors had shorter odds entering the Finals in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5018,"featured_media":142920,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,1608,11,3,22],"tags":[49713,4292,2951,993,69,70,3838,407,4745,2607],"class_list":["post-142918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-basketball","category-pacers","category-news","category-thunder","tag-all-defensive-team","tag-chet-holmgren","tag-defense","tag-isaiah-hartenstein","tag-kevin-durant","tag-klay-thompson","tag-lugentz-dort","tag-nba-finals","tag-nba-injuries","tag-tyrese-haliburton"],"modified_by":"Frederick Okocha","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5018"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142918"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142918\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":142922,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142918\/revisions\/142922"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}