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The Thunder made sure lightning didn’t strike twice in Oklahoma City.
Following a shocking Game 1 loss in which they were behind for just the final 0.3 seconds, the Thunder bounced back to beat the Pacers, 123–107. The series, now tied at 1–1, shifts to Indianapolis for Game 3 on Wednesday.
The Thunder, who were seven-to-one favorites on DraftKings entering the Finals, remained three-to-one favorites despite the Game 1 loss and losing homecourt advantage. Oklahoma City is now more than five-to-one favorites ahead of Game 3 (-525).
In terms of predicting the correct score (team and number of games to clinch the series), the most likely outcome is the Thunder winning in five games (+200), followed by six games (+225). Thunder in five had the shortest odds before the start of the series (+250), though an Oklahoma City sweep, which can no longer happen, followed at +260.
The most likely outcome that has the Pacers on top has Indiana in six games (+1000).
Viewership Turnaround?
The series was not expected to draw strong ratings, given that it was a battle between two small-market teams. Game 1’s viewership numbers proved the expectations to be true.
The series opener drew just 8.91 million viewers on ABC, the least-watched Game 1 for the NBA Finals since 1988, excluding the two COVID-impacted series in 2020 and 2021. The game peaked at 11 million viewers around the time of Tyrese Haliburton’s game-winning shot, which is about the same as the average viewership of last year’s series opener between the Celtics and Mavericks.
Given the drama of the first game, this series could see a viewership lift in the coming games, especially as it’s expected to be more competitive now that the Pacers currently have homecourt advantage.
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