Indiana, however, won 12 of 16 games in the Eastern Conference playoffs and is making its first NBA Finals appearance in 25 years and second overall. Neither the Thunder nor Pacers have ever won an NBA Championship. Don’t anger people in the Pacific Northwest by mentioning the Supersonics’ one championship as some sort of technicality.

Along with former NBA champion and eventual Eastern Conference Finals MVP Pascal Siakam, the Pacers beat the Milwaukee Bucks and upset the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in five games each. They then traded haymakers with the New York Knicks in a heated six-game series that produced plenty of viral moments.

Nothing about the Indiana Pacers' win in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night should be surprising. They've been doing it over and over. For the fourth time this postseason, the Pacers pulled off an unfathomable comeback,