Nuggets-Knicks: After pushing the Thunder to Game 7 in last year’s Western Conference Semifinals, this time around it is Nikola Jokić and the bolstered Nuggets that prevail in seven games in the Western Conference Finals to dethrone Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and OKC and guarantee an eighth straight season with a new NBA champion.

“The NBA will return to painting the Larry O’Brien trophy at center court and Finals script logo on the home team’s floor for the Finals starting this season, per sources. The last time the large trophy was painted on court was 2009,” reported ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania on X, formerly Twitter.

Pacers star Pascal Siakam hit a clutch jumper over Chet Holmgren to send their game against the Thunder to overtime.

Well, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver rolled his eyes at the thought. Ahead of the 2025-26 Opening Night, where the Thunder handed out rings and unveiled their championship banner, he said there's zero correlation between market size related to TV ratings. He talked to ESPN's Pat McAfee.

ESPN NBA analyst Monica McNutt believes the Golden State Warriors are frontrunners to reach the 2026 NBA Finals.

Penny Hardaway understandably couldn't help but reminisce about the time he played for the championship whenever he watches the NBA Finals. Weighing in on the differences between today's NBA and his time, Hardaway admitted that he wasn't as serious as the players of the current era when his team reached the Finals in 1995.

Both the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers may be without some key players in Thursday's NBA Finals rematch.

Tyrese Haliburton went down with a devastating injury in Game 7 of the NBA Finals last June, the Pacers' hopes at a title all but dashed as a result. In the aftermath, the Thunder would hoist the trophy, and the Pacers learned Haliburton's fate: a torn Achilles tendon.