NBA Finals 2025: 7 Interesting Game 7 Stats Ahead Of Pacers-Thunder

The two greatest words in all of sports are here: Game 7. After six hard-fought battles, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers are knotted at 3-3. Now, the fate of the 2025 NBA Finals hinges on just one game. In anticipation of this monumental event, I’ve decided to bring you seven interesting stats on Game 7s in the NBA Finals.

No. 1: Homecourt Advantage Matters

To this point, 19 NBA Finals have gone the distance. In those contests, the home team has had a clear advantage, going 15-4 in those matchups. All postseason long, the Thunder — the home team for this Game 7 — have been far more formidable in their own building. In 12 home games, they’re 10-2 with a plus-20.7 net rating (per NBA.com). Meanwhile, on the road, they’re just 5-5 with a minus-6.2 net rating.

No. 2: It’s Been Awhile

Like Staind lead singer Aaron Lewis once said, “it’s been awhile since I could watch an epic Game 7 in the NBA Finals.” While there have been 19 Game 7s in the NBA Finals, we haven’t experienced one since 2016, when the Cleveland Cavaliers upset the Golden State Warriors. That nine-year gap between Finals Game 7s is the second-longest in league history. The longest drought took place between 1994 (Houston Rockets-New York Knicks) and 2005 (San Antonio Spurs-Detroit Pistons).

Fans used to be incredibly spoiled during the league’s infant years. From 1950 to 1955, four of the five NBA Finals went to a Game 7.

No. 3: 21 Is The Magic Number

With the evolution of NBA offenses and the amount of space on the floor teams now use, it seems like every single game some player or team is breaking a random 3-point record. Well, if the Pacers and Thunder plan on breaking the record for most total 3-pointers in a Finals Game 7, the number to beat is 21, which was set during the 2016 Finals.

This mark shouldn’t be too hard to surpass, as the two sides have eclipsed it four times in first six games of the series. For those wondering, the team to hit more threes in a game is 3-2 in this series (both teams hit 14 threes in Game 2, a Thunder win).

No. 4: The Old Heads Lied To You About Defense

Over the last few years, there’s been lots of talk (most of it misguided) about how the defense played in today’s game is far worse than what we saw back in the good ol’ days. And while I could go on for hours about how these individuals are missing the mark (here is a great piece of content from Thinking Basketball, for those who are curious), we’ll leave you with this data point.

Despite this being the most efficient offensive era in NBA history, the highest-scoring Finals Game 7 came in 1957, when the St. Louis Hawks and Boston Celtics combined for 248 points. Believe it or not, the top-10 scoring performances all happened before 1990.

This record will be a little trickier for these teams to break, as the most combined points between them in a game this series occurred in Game 2, when they totaled 230 points.

No. 5: Boston Is Best

It makes sense the team with the most NBA championships also has the most Finals Game 7 wins (seven) and the best record in these games (7-1). The only other two franchises to play in more than two Finals Game 7s are the Los Angeles Lakers (seven) and the Knicks (four), and they hold a combined record of 3-8 in those games.

Neither the Pacers nor the Thunder have ever played a Finals Game 7, even back when the Thunder were the Seattle SuperSonics. This Game 7 is actually the closest the Pacers have ever come to winning an NBA title (they lost to the Lakers in six games in 2000).

No. 6: Recent History Likes The Pacers

While these games tend to favor the home team, the Pacers have a statistic they can hold onto for hope. To force this Game 7, Indiana had to win Game 6 while trailing 3-2. Over the last 20 years, the team that won Game 6 while trailing 3-2 is undefeated in Game 7 of the Finals. Let’s see if the Pacers can keep the trend going.

Teams down 3-2 that won Game 6 of NBA Finals (last 20 years):

2025 Pacers
2016 Cavaliers*
2013 Heat*
2010 Lakers*

*Won Game 7

— Nate Duncan (@NateDuncanNBA) June 20, 2025

No. 7: Key Box Score Stats

No player suiting up in this game has ever been part of a Finals Game 7. So, most of the all-time Finals Game 7 records (like total points, rebounds, assists, etc.) will likely remain unbroken. With this in mind, let’s take a look at the best per-game averages on this stage.

Looking at the list above, two records with the best chances of being broken are points per game and field goals made per game. The most likely candidate to break these records is the reigning MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who’s averaging 30.5 points and 10.3 made field goals in the Finals.

All data for this article was pulled by Fran Huzjan (@FHuzjan on Twitter).