The final act of the NBA Finals: 2 teams, 1 game, 1 trophy. Pacers at Thunder will decide a champion
OKLAHOMA CITY — It started with 30 teams, most of them fairly optimistic about their chances when the season began eight months and 1,320 games and 35,543 3-pointers and 299,608 points ago.
Only two teams remain. For one game. Game 7.
The NBA season ends Sunday night when the Indiana Pacers visit the Oklahoma City Thunder to decide which team will hoist the Larry O'Brien Trophy, take over for the Boston Celtics as champions and become the league's seventh different title winner in the last seven years. It's the first winner-take-all game in the NBA since 2016, when Cleveland beat Golden State.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indianapolis Star
12 minutes ago
- Indianapolis Star
He wanted to live long enough to see Pacers win NBA title. He died day before Game 7 at 48
INDIANAPOLIS -- Former Indiana Pacers photographer Matt Dial, whose friends rallied around him as he battled Stage 4 colon cancer to get him one last night inside his beloved Gainbridge Fieldhouse, wanted to live long enough to see his team win its first NBA Finals. Dial died early Saturday morning at Life Journey Hospice, just one day short of the Pacers' Game 7 at Oklahoma City on Sunday night. He is survived by his wife, Shelley, and two sons Noah and Aaron. "At 2:54 am, Matty passed on from this life. I was humbled by the bravery of Aaron, who was there until the end. Pat and Gary (Dial's parents) were champions and provided so much support through all of their own pain," Shelley posted to Dial's Caring Bridge page. "I appreciate them so much. The end was so hard for us." Shelley called Dial the best husband, father, son, partner and friend. "He is missed by all who knew him," she wrote, "especially me." It was February 2023 when doctors finally discovered the reason Dial had been losing so much weight without trying, why he wasn't hungry. He had a cecal mass that had spread to his abdominal lymph nodes and his liver. When Dial was first diagnosed, he started planning trips with his family to make memories. Not fancy trips. Better than that. Trips to Tennessee to see the mountains and one to Branson, Missouri, known as "the live entertainment capital of the world," because of all those shows and theaters. But, in the past year, the pain from the cancer and everything that treatments had done to his body became, at times, unbearable. In late May, Dial's friends and an army of people came together to give Dial a chance to make one last, beautiful Pacers memory with his family at Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Dial felt well enough to make the trip from his Zionsville home to Gainbridge for that historic, electric Game 6. "He's not able to travel as much, and that's why this game was so important," said Noah. "Because I never thought I'd get that chance to go with him again." Those who knew Dial called him a kind, wickedly smart, self-proclaimed technology nerd, lover of the Pacers and even moreso lover of his family and friends. They were all fiercely hoping that Dial lived long enough to see his Pacers win an NBA title. "I was going to cry anyway (if they won it), but I would cry even more because, you know, he's been waiting for this. And he might not see another run," Dial's son Noah, 25, told IndyStar earlier this month. "When we get through this and we win the championship, it's going be a memory I'll always cherish." There will be no funeral for Dial, at his request, Shelley wrote. Just a party to celebrate him. "Thank you to all our friends and family who have stepped up so much in the last difficult weeks," Shelley wrote. "I love you."
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
McBride scores 15 of her 29 in 4th as Lynx beat Sparks 82-66 without Collier
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Kayla McBride scored 15 of her season-high 29 points in the fourth quarter, Courtney Williams added 18 points and the Minnesota Lynx beat the Los Angeles Sparks 82-66 on Saturday night for their third straight win. Napheesa Collier did not play for the Lynx (12-1). The 2024 WNBA defensive player of the year, Collier left early in the third quarter of Minnesota's 76-62 win over Las Vegas on Tuesday and did not return. Advertisement McBride made 9 of 13 from the field, 5 of 7 from 3-point range, and Williams finished with six assists and four steals. Maria Kliundikova had 12 points, eight rebounds, three steals and two blocks for Minnesota. Sarah Ashlee Barker hit a 3-pointer that gave the Sparks a 59-58 lead with 7:43 remaining in the game. Kliundikova answered with a layup 24 seconds later, McBride added a 3-pointer and a three-point play and Williams made a pull-up jumper with 4:48 left that gave Minnesota a nine-point lead. Dearica Hamby made a layup to cut the deficit to seven before Alanna Smith and McBride hit 3s 31 seconds apart about a minute later. Kelsey Plum scored 11 of her 15 points in the first half, including a layup with 0.2 second left in the second quarter that gave the Sparks a 35-34 lead at halftime. Hamby finished with 13 points and four steals and Azura Stevens had 11 points and nine rebounds. Los Angeles (4-10) has lost 16 of its last 18 against the Lynx, who beat the Sparks 89-75 in Los Angeles on May 18 and 101-78 at home last Saturday. Up next The Sparks play at Chicago and the Lynx at Washington on Tuesday. ___ AP WNBA:
Associated Press
40 minutes ago
- Associated Press
McBride scores 15 of her 29 in 4th as Lynx beat Sparks 82-66 without Collier
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Kayla McBride scored 15 of her season-high 29 points in the fourth quarter, Courtney Williams added 18 points and the Minnesota Lynx beat the Los Angeles Sparks 82-66 on Saturday night for their third straight win. Napheesa Collier did not play for the Lynx (12-1). The 2024 WNBA defensive player of the year, Collier left early in the third quarter of Minnesota's 76-62 win over Las Vegas on Tuesday and did not return. McBride made 9 of 13 from the field, 5 of 7 from 3-point range, and Williams finished with six assists and four steals. Maria Kliundikova had 12 points, eight rebounds, three steals and two blocks for Minnesota. Sarah Ashlee Barker hit a 3-pointer that gave the Sparks a 59-58 lead with 7:43 remaining in the game. Kliundikova answered with a layup 24 seconds later, McBride added a 3-pointer and a three-point play and Williams made a pull-up jumper with 4:48 left that gave Minnesota a nine-point lead. Dearica Hamby made a layup to cut the deficit to seven before Alanna Smith and McBride hit 3s 31 seconds apart about a minute later. Kelsey Plum scored 11 of her 15 points in the first half, including a layup with 0.2 second left in the second quarter that gave the Sparks a 35-34 lead at halftime. Hamby finished with 13 points and four steals and Azura Stevens had 11 points and nine rebounds. Los Angeles (4-10) has lost 16 of its last 18 against the Lynx, who beat the Sparks 89-75 in Los Angeles on May 18 and 101-78 at home last Saturday. Up next The Sparks play at Chicago and the Lynx at Washington on Tuesday. ___ AP WNBA:
