The Pacers are 11.5-point underdogs in Game 2 of the NBA Finals against the Thunder tonight after pulling off the massive upset on the road in Game 1.
In Game 1, the Pacers not only beat the Thunder to pull off the second-biggest NBA Finals upset since the merger, but they did it in typical Indiana fashion in this year's playoffs.
Let's take a look at some history behind not just tonight's bigger line, but the fact Indiana has been such big underdogs in the first two games of the series.
Big Line
Game 2 Spread
Overall, there have been just nine NBA Finals games with a double-digit spread since the NBA-ABA merger and we’ve seen just two upsets:
Biggest Upsets in NBA Finals Game Since NBA-ABA Merger
’01 Game 1, Sixers +11.5 over LAL
’25 Game 1, Pacers +10 over OKC
’20 Game 3, Heat +9.5 over LAL
’23 Game 2, Heat +8 over DEN
’04 Game 1, Pistons +8 over LAL
The previous nine double-digit underdogs in the NBA Finals are 6-3 ATS with those two straight up wins. Going even further back, we’ve seen 20 finals teams as an underdog of 9 pts or more in the final round and they are 3-17 SU.
Not Again
B2B Big Lines
Fifty-two teams have been double-digit underdogs in consecutive NBA playoff games — any series — in the last 20 years. Six of those 52 won the first game outright as big underdogs, not including the Pacers on Thursday:
’11 Pelicans, LAL (covered)
’13 Bulls, MIA
’17 Celtics, CLE (covered)
’19 Clippers, GSW
’20 Magic, MIL
’25 Nuggets, OKC
Those six teams went 0-6 SU and 2-4 ATS in their next game, with none pulling off the consecutive big upsets. The Pacers are trying for history tonight.
In the last 20 years, there have been twelve teams to win Game 1 of any playoff series and then be listed as a double-digit underdog in Game 2. Those teams are 1-11 SU and 4-8 ATS. The only SU win? The Knicks against the Celtics in this year's playoffs.
Underdog Club
Pacers Big Lines
Just looking at it from an NBA Finals perspective, Indiana is just the 4th NBA Finals team since the merger to be a double-digit underdogs twice in the same series … at all, with 2018 Cavaliers, 2001 Sixers and 1987 Celtics.
All of those instances have been in Games 1 and 2 of the series on the road.
Aside from the Pacers in Game 1, the Sixers are the lone winner of any of those other games back in Game 1, 2001 and they lost by 9 in Game 2.
