The Indiana Pacers have an unusual advantage over the Oklahoma City Thunder that makes an NBA Finals victory inevitable if history repeats itself. Since the 2017 NBA Finals, every championship-winning team has had a former member of the Washington Wizards on the roster. Indiana has Thomas Bryant and Quenton Jackson, both former Wizards, on the roster. The Thunder, however, currently do not have a former Wizard on the team.
Championship team | Former Wizards on roster |
|---|---|
2016-17 and 2017-18 Golden State Warriors | Shaun Livingston, JaVale McGee |
2018-19 Toronto Raptors | Jodie Meeks |
2019-20 Los Angeles Lakers | Dwight Howard, JaVale McGee, Markieff Morris |
2020-21 Milwaukee Bucks | Bobby Portis |
2021-22 Golden State Warriors | Chris Chiozza, Gary Payton II, Otto Porter |
2022-23 Denver Nuggets | Thomas Bryant, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Jeff Green, Ish Smith |
2023-24 Boston Celtics | Kristaps Porzingis |
This, of course, will not be a factor in Indiana's odds of defeating the Thunder in the NBA Finals. Regardless, it is an interesting narrative to follow, and after all, the stats don't lie.
Thomas Bryant has had an up-and-down playoff run
The Pacers acquired Bryant from the Miami Heat back in December. Since then, he has been a very solid backup center who has stepped up at times when needed. However, he has mostly struggled in the playoff minutes he has gotten. So much so that it looked like Bryant's season (and potentially career) in Indiana was done. However, following Tony Bradley's injury, the Pacers went back to the New York native, who was huge in the team's series-clinching Game 6 victory against the New York Knicks.
In Game 6 of the conference finals, Bryant scored 11 points on 3-for-5 shooting in 13 minutes off the bench. Additionally, he scored eight of those points in the third quarter alone. Only Pascal Siakam outscored Bryant in the third quarter of the game between the two teams.
It remains to be seen what Bryant's role in the NBA Finals will look like. Not only is Bradley still nursing a hip injury, but Bryant played well enough in Game 6 against New York to justify giving him some more opportunities. He is far from the team's most important players, but the Pacers may have to rely on him a little bit against the Thunder.
The Pacers will have a difficult challenge ahead of them as they look to eliminate the league-leading Thunder and win their first-ever NBA Championship. A lot of things have to go right, and everybody on the team needs to bring their A-game, but the Pacers have constantly shocked the basketball world, and they are well-equipped to do it again.
For Indiana to take home the Larry O'Brien Trophy, they need to keep relying on their top guys. However, in a strange way, Bryant's presence (along with Jackson's, who is ineligible for the postseason because he is on a two-way contract) may be one of the most important ones for the Pacers.