ESPN's NBA Finals predictions doesn't have unanimous winner between Thunder and Pacers

Matthew Wadleigh

ESPN's NBA Finals predictions doesn't have unanimous winner between Thunder and Pacers image

The NBA Finals matchup is set with the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder facing off.

The series begins in Oklahoma on Thursday night in what should be a fun series. 

The Pacers defeated the New York Knicks in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals as Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam led the way. The Thunder defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games behind a stellar run from NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. 

Now, the Finals begin with much anticipation after a few days without any basketball. 

The Thunder are the No. 1 seed in the NBA, but the ESPN experts did not have OKC as the consensus winner. The majority did select OKC to win, but there was an exception.

  • Jerry Bembry: Thunder in 6
  • Tim Bontemps: Thunder in 5
  • Chris Herring: Thunder in 5
  • Zach Kram: Thunder in 5
  • Bobby Marks: Thunder in 5
  • Dave McMenamin: Thunder in 6
  • Neil Paine: Thunder in 5
  • Kevin Pelton: Thunder in 5
  • Omar Raja: Thunder in 5
  • Ramona Shelburne: Thunder in 5
  • Andre Snellings: Thunder in 7
  • Marc Spears: Thunder in 7
  • Jeremy Woo: Pacers in 7
  • Michael C. Wright: Thunder in 6
  • Ohm Youngmisuk: Thunder in 6

Jeremy Woo is the lone writer to pick the Pacers, and he has them winning in seven games. That would require the Pacers to defeat the Thunder on their home court, where they posted a 35-6 record during the regular season and 8-1 in the postseason.

The most popular pick was Thunder in five games.

The Thunder-Pacers NBA Finals matchup is one not many saw coming, but it should be a fascinating series.

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Matthew Wadleigh

Matthew Wadleigh is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He was born and raised in Southern California and grew up a San Diego sports fan (yes, it’s tough, except for Aztecs hoops). Matthew went to Fresno State as a journalism major and got to see Davante Adams, Derek Carr, Paul George and Aaron Judge in person. Matthew has written for publications including ClutchPoints, Sportscasting, Fansided, Trojans Wire, UCLA Wire and Buffaloes Wire.