The Pacers’ playoff magic ran out seven minutes into Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
That’s when Tyrese Haliburton’s strained right calf gave out, an injury to his Achilles.
The Thunder won the NBA title with a 103-91 victory on Sunday night.
Despite Haliburton’s injury, Indiana led at halftime 48-47, but a disastrous turnover-filled third quarter sealed the Pacers’ fate. OKC covered the closing -6.5/-7 and the Total went Under 215.5.
The 2025-26 NBA season started even before the current one was over.
Earlier in the day, the Rockets acquired Kevin Durant from the Suns for Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the 10th pick in Wednesday’s draft and five second-round picks.
VSiN.com senior editor Zach Cohen suggested betting on the Rockets back in May when they were at 16-1 to win next year’s title. Now they are at +750, second behind OKC to repeat at +240, and tied with the Knicks.
The Rockets couldn’t have done better in acquiring the 36-year-old Durant. Houston was fourth in the NBA in adjusted defensive rating (110.1) last season, but the team was in desperate need of a go-to scorer. He’s still one of the most dangerous scorers in the game, and he’s a productive defender. So, the fact that the Rockets were able to get him without giving up Jabari Smith Jr., Tari Eason or Reed Sheppard was massive.
>>More from Zach, including his early bet on the NBA Draft.
As for the Pacers, FanDuel had them at 13-1 two days ago. With the prospect of losing Haliburton for next season, they are at +4500.
KillerSports NBA Playoff Challenge final standings: Steve Fezzik won the $3,000 first prize by one point over the aforementioned Zach Cohen and Doug Kezerian, who split the second-place money of $500. Thanks to KillerSports owner Carl Sack for sponsoring the contest. And thanks to our contestants. >>Standings.
That’s a wrap for CWS
Congrats to LSU for winning on and off the field on Sunday.
The Tigers won the College World Series, defeating Coastal Carolina 5-3 to sweep the best-of-three series in Omaha.
And their supporters blew away the competition in the CWS Jello Shot Challenge at Rocco’s with more than 45,000 shots.
(Alas this championship series will be remembered as the one where the ump threw out the Coastal Carolina manager and first-base coach in the first inning.)
Congrats as well to VSiN contributor Aaron Moore, who wrote this back in February:
If you are only going to make one CWS futures bet this year, consider investing in LSU.
Aaron’s latest piece for VSiN.com: Betting on the MLB Draft.
Just in case the jello shots dulled our memories of VSiN’s trip to Omaha, we put together a little highlight reel.
MLB Today
Greg Peterson has Best Bets for today’s menu.
Steve Makinen and Josh Appelbaum will file their daily contributions later this morning.
Quick Hits
Golf: Wes Reynolds, Indianapolis native and Pacers backer, at least had a successful Travelers Championship. Keegan Bradley (35-1) and Russell Henley (40-1) finished 1-T2 after a meltdown by Tommy Fleetwood.
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