A look at the NBA Finals Game 7 history and home court advantage as the Indiana Pacers take it down to the wire
The Indiana Pacers dominated Game 6 of the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night, forcing a Game 7.
The Pacers came into Game 6 needing to win at all costs to keep the series alive. The team managed to pull off a stunning and dominant win, meaning that the fans will see a first NBA Finals Game 7 in nearly a decade.
There will be many firsts to look forward to in the upcoming NBA Finals Game 7. First of all, it will be the first Game 7 in the Finals since LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers played it out with Stephen Curry's Golden State Warriors back in 2016.
It will also be the first NBA Finals to go into Game 7 without LeBron James on the court in 15 years. The last time it happened was when Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers took on the Boston Celtics in the 2010 finals.
Whoever wins Game 7 will become the champion for the first time in their history. The last time it happened was in 2023, when the Denver Nuggets won the championship. Ten teams are still looking for their first NBA title, but the list will shrink down to nine on Sunday.
The Oklahoma City Thunder will have home-court advantage in the NBA Finals Game 7. The finals have gone to full stretch 19 times in the past, and the home team has come out on top on 15 of those occasions. So, the odds are heavily in the Thunder's favour.
The Indiana Pacers hope to defy those odds and join the Celtics, the Washington Bullets, and the Cleveland Cavaliers in winning Game 7 on the road. The Celtics won it twice, in 1969 and 1974, while the Bullets and the Cavaliers triumphed in 1978 and 2016, respectively.
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