OKLAHOMA CITY — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander walked off the court for the final time this season, collapsed into the arms of coach Mark Daigneault and finally smiled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The climb is complete. The rebuild is done. The Oklahoma City Thunder are champions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The best team all season was the best team at the end, bringing the NBA title to Oklahoma City for the first time. Gilgeous-Alexander finished off his MVP season with 29 points and 12 assists, and the Thunder beat the Indiana Pacers \u2014 who lost Tyrese Haliburton to a serious leg injury in the opening minutes<\/a> \u2014 103-91 in Game 7 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t feel real,\u201d Gilgeous-Alexander said. \u201cSo many hours. So many moments. So many emotions. So many nights of disbelief. So many nights of belief. It\u2019s crazy to know that we\u2019re all here, but this group worked for it. This group put in the hours and we deserve this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jalen Williams scored 20 points and Chet Holmgren had 18 for the Thunder, who finished off a season for the ages. Oklahoma City won 84 games between the regular season and the playoffs, tying the 1996-97 Chicago Bulls for third most in any season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Only Golden State (88 in 2016-17) and the Bulls (87 in 2015-16) won more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s the second championship for the franchise. The Seattle SuperSonics won the NBA title in 1979; the team was moved to Oklahoma City in 2008. There\u2019s nothing in the rafters in Oklahoma City to commemorate that title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In October, a championship banner is finally coming. A Thunder banner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Pacers led 48-47 at the half even after losing Haliburton to what his father said was an Achilles tendon injury about seven minutes into the game. But they were outscored 34-20 in the third quarter as the Thunder built a 13-point lead and began to run away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bennedict Mathurin had 24 points and 13 rebounds for Indiana, which still is waiting for its first NBA title. The Pacers \u2014 who were 10-15 after 25 games and were bidding to be the first team in NBA history to turn that bad of a start into a championship \u2014 had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in the series, but they simply didn\u2019t have enough in the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n