Thunder crowned NBA champions for the first time in history

Oklahoma City, June 24: The Oklahoma City Thunder crowned a dazzling season with an NBA title on Sunday, pulling away relentlessly in the second half to beat the Indiana Pacers 103-91 in game seven of the NBA Finals.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points and handed out 12 assists and the Thunder's swarming defense finally proved to much for a Pacers team that lost talisman Tyrese Haliburton to a leg injury just seven minutes into the contest.

The underdog Pacers hung tough and held a 48-47 lead at halftime, but the Thunder out-scored them 34-20 in the third quarter and pushed the lead to as many as 22 points in the fourth.

"It doesn't feel real, so many hours, so many moments, so many emotions, so many nights of disbelief," Gilgeous-Alexander said, his voice breaking "It's crazy to know that we're all here.

"But this group worked for it, this group put in the hours and we deserved this."

Gilgeous-Alexander put himself among some of the game's greats as he earned Finals Most Valuable Player honors to go with his regular-season MVP and scoring title along with his first championship.

The 26-year-old Canadian star becomes the first player since LeBron James in 2012-2013 to win both the NBA regular season MVP and Finals MVP in the same campaign.

Jalen Williams scored 15 of his 20 points in the second half and Chet Holmgren added 18 points, eight rebounds, a steal and five of the Thunder's eight blocked shots.

A crowd of 18,203 at Paycom Center were given some tense moments as the Pacers chipped away at the deficit, but 23 Indiana turnovers leading to 32 Thunder points were ultimately too much for the Pacers to overcome.

The Thunder, who led the league with 68 regular-season wins, captured their first title since the club's controversial move to Oklahoma City in 2008, the franchise having won it all in 1979 as the Seattle SuperSonics.

The Pacers, three-time American Basketball Association champions in the 1970s -- remain in search of a first title since joining the NBA in the NBA-ABA merger.

Afterwards, Gilgeous-Alexander said the championship represented "a great start" for this Thunder generation.

Gilgeous-Alexander's Finals-Regular Season MVP double puts him into an exclusive club of only 11 players to have achieved the feat which includes LeBron James, Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Moses Malone, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Willis Reed.

Only three other players -- Abdul-Jabbar, Jordan and O'Neal -- have also added the league's scoring title in the same season. (AFP)