It’s a rematch of last season’s NBA Finals…almost in name only…as the Indiana Pacers (0-0) tip off their season against the Oklahoma City Thunder (1-0) tonight at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Plenty has changed since June for Indiana as the Pacers are a shell of the team that surprised the NBA community and took OKC all the way to Game 7 of the Finals.
The Pacers will be without their star point guard Tyrese Haliburton, who suffered an Achilles tear during Game 7 of last year’s NBA Finals. The loss of Haliburton, a crucial facilitator for the team, significantly impacts their offensive output. Also missing from the Eastern Conference champs’ lineup is Myles Turner who signed with Milwaukee as a free agent over the summer. The void created by those two absences is massive. The Pacers with Haliburton and Turner were a Top 10 offense. They must find their identity without the pair. How effectively they do that will determine their success this season.
The names may not be as big and their absences from the lineup may not seem as significant, but the Thunder’s lineup is expected to look significantly different tonight compared to that which opened the season just two nights ago. Yes, guard Jalen Williams remains on the shelf as he recovers from offseason wrist surgery. However, Alex Caruso is now in the league’s concussion protocol (timeline for his return is unknown), and Cason Wallace (knee) Luguentz Dort (ankle) are both questionable after being sidelined during the Thunder’s season-opening win Tuesday night in double-overtime against Houston.
Lets dive into the game and see where the numbers take us or if, frankly, there are too many unknowns to get involved in this “rematch” of last season’s NBA Finals.
We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the
latest info on how to catch tipoff, odds courtesy of DraftKings recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
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Game Details and How to watch the Thunder vs. Pacers live
- Date: Thursday, October 23, 2025
- Time: 7:30PM EST
- Site: Gainbridge Fieldhouse
- City: Indianapolis, IN
- Network/Streaming: ESPN
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Game odds for the Thunder at the Pacers
The latest odds as of Thursday courtesy of DraftKings:
- Moneyline: OKC Thunder (-305), Indiana Pacers (+245)
- Spread: Thunder -7.5
- Total: 230.5 points
That gives the Thunder an implied team point total of 116.91, and the Pacers113.
Be sure to check out DraftKings for all the latest game odds & player props for every matchup this week on the NBA schedule!
Expected Starting Lineups
Thunder
G Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
G Ajay Mitchell
F Aaron Wiggins
F Chet Holmgren
C Isaiah Hartenstein
Pacers
G Benedict Mathurin
G Andrew Nembhard
F Aaron Nesmith
F Pascal Siakam
C Isaiah Jackson
Important stats, trends and insights ahead of Thunder at Pacers on Thursday.
- The Pacers’ last 3 games at home against the Thunder have stayed under the Total
- Chet Holmgren opened the season with 25 points in 38 minutes against Houston
- Aaron Wiggins scored 10 points in 21 minutes against the Rockets
- Isaiah Hartenstein pulled down 11 rebounds in 37 minutes against Houston
Rotoworld Best Bet
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the NBA calendar based on data points like recent performance, head-to-head player matchups, trends information and projected game totals.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projections next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for today’s Thunder & Pacers game:
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