The Pacers enter the championship series as the underdogs on the road, a place they have thrived thus far in the playoffs. They defeated the No. 1 Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference semifinals series, 4-1, and the No. 3 New York Knicks in the Conference finals, 4-2.

The Indiana Pacers started the NBA Finals by making the wrong type of history. The Pacers committed 19 turnovers in the first half of Game 1 against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night. It was the highest number of turnovers by a team before halftime of a postseason game during the league's digital play-by-play era,