Thunder and Pacers: The NBA’s best teams since January 1

The Oklahoma City Thunder are set to play the Indiana Pacers tonight in the NBA Finals. This matchup should be exciting, as these are the two best teams since January 1, 2025.

Related: Pacers and Thunder: Their last NBA Finals appearances

The Thunder have been the best team all season long. They led the league in wins with 68, while also having the best defensive rating at 107.5.

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Since January 1, OKC has gone 53-13. The Pacers surprised everyone with their late surge of the season.

Indiana struggled to begin the season, as they were just 10-15 after the first 25 games. Since the beginning of the year, the Pacers have gone 46-18.

Since January 1st:

Thunder: 53-13 record (80.3 win %)
Pacers: 46-18 record (71.9 win %)

The teams with the two best records in 2025 will go head-to-head in the #NBAFinals presented by @YouTubeTV! ????

GAME 1: Thursday at 8:30pm/et on ABC pic.twitter.com/knc7Ulur8k

— NBA (@NBA) June 4, 2025

These two records since January 1 were the best in the entire NBA. For those expecting a dull Finals, think again.

The Pacers’ high-octane offense going up against the stellar defense of the Thunder should make this an epic NBA Finals.

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About the Author Published Jun 5, 2025

TITAN FREY

Titan Frey is a dedicated father to three wonderful children, whom he takes immense pride in. His passions include reading, writing, basketball, both playing and watching, and playing chess. Titan spent five years working as a journalist for the basketball website fadeawayworld.net, where he served as editor-in-chief for four and a half years. One of his most notable achievements was interviewing Chuck Cooper III, the son of Chuck Cooper, the first African American ever drafted by an NBA team, and writing a biography that has been praised as the most definitive article about Cooper’s legacy. Titan is the author of more than ten novels and the screenwriter of three produced short films. His newest young adult novel, Echoes of the Hardwood: Braxton Foxworthy’s Time‑Travelling Book Report, blends basketball history with heartfelt storytelling and is now available. Order here: https://a.co/d/bo7BYz1