2 Best NBA Finals MVP Bets for Pacers vs. Thunder

The 2025 NBA Finals pits the Indiana Pacers against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

OKC (-750) is a massive favorite to win the title, which leaves us with chalky NBA Finals MVP odds, per FanDuel Sportsbook.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (-550) is unsurprisingly the favorite to take home this year's Bill Russell trophy, which would make him just the 11th player in league history to notch the NBA MVP and Finals MVP award in the same season.

Can we find value elsewhere in the NBA Finals MVP market?

Best NBA Finals MVP Bets for Pacers vs. Thunder

Tyrese Haliburton (+700)

I do not think the Pacers can win the NBA Finals (+530) without getting an MVP-type series from Tyrese Haliburton, making him a potential Finals MVP target at +700 odds.

It goes without saying that Indiana is outmatched by OKC, making it that much more important for Haliburton to be a score-first option throughout this series.

Notably, the Pacers have gone a perfect 6-0 this postseason when Haliburton takes at least 16 shots, while they've gone just 6-4 otherwise. Even more telling? Indiana is 8-0 when Haliburton takes on a 23.6% usage rate or higher, but the team has gone a meh 4-4 when he fails to meet that usage mark.

Indiana's road to the Finals has included vintage clutch shot after vintage clutch shot from Haliburton in every series. If the Pacers manage to pull off this upset, I'd be quite surprised to see anyone but Tyrese take home the Finals MVP hardware.

Jalen Williams (+2500)

If you can stomach fading SGA in this market, Jalen Williams is an intriguing pivot.

We don't need to lay out why Shai is the favorite. He's averaging 29.8 points per game this postseason despite shooting at somewhat inefficient clips. His points prop for Game 1 is set at a whopping 33.5 points.

However, the Pacers get to throw Aaron Nesmith and Andrew Nembhard at SGA -- arguably his toughest matchup to date. Could that lend itself to a more passive SGA and a more aggressive Jalen Williams?

Williams is averaging 20.4 points per game, along with 5.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 1.6 steals, this postseason. Indiana can live with J-Dub taking on a meaty role, and OKC trusts Williams enough to let him burn the Pacers. He's had seven 23-plus-point outings during this short and sweet OKC playoff run, even going for 34 in Game 4 against Minnesota. Plus, a potentially short series could give way to more volatility in this market.

We've seen the second option on a team win Finals MVP as recently as last season (Jaylen Brown). Since the market is handing OKC an 88.2% win probability (via -710 odds), I believe their second option should have higher than a 3.8% probability (via +2500 odds) to win Finals MVP.

You can also check out our latest 2025 NBA Playoffs printable bracket, which includes the seeding and matchups for each conference.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author’s advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.