🏆️ Thunder Win NBA Finals

A series that went the distance comes to an end...

Author

Stomping Ground Sports
June 23, 2025

Good Morning, Stumpers!

The young OKC Thunder are NBA Champions! This was an unreal series capped off by one of the great back-and-forth games in recent memory. The Tyrese Haliburton injury was gut wrenching, a sad way to end it, but despite that the Pacers still fought hard to the very end! Good Stump for you today! We had a jam packed Sunday of ball!

🚨 Stump Note 🚨

One Stump note for you today. With the end of both the NBA and NHL season, and with the NFL far away as well, we are entering the dog days of the sports calendar. For the summer, we are going to transition to a Monday-Wednesday-Friday Stump schedule. We want to make sure we give you the best stories, instead of stuffing this with stories that you don’t need! Thank you all for always tuning in! Today is Stump 516. 516 consecutive days! Here’s to the next 516!

The Rundown

🏆️ Thunder Win NBA Finals! A lot of GLUE to report on!

⛳️ Keegan COMEBACK at the Travelers Championship

🏀 Durant sweepstakes are over! Lands in Houston!

On This Day

⚾️ Shohei On The MOUND

Last week we saw Shohei Ohtani on the mound for the first time in almost two years! It’s easy to forget how much of dawg he is in that facet of the game!

On this day in 2022, Shohei Ohtani struck out a career-high 13 batters in an 8-inning showing against the Kansas City Royals. He only allowed two hits in the Angels 5-0 win. He only moved stadiums, but his move from the Angels to Dodgers will most likely go down as one of the great legacy changing moves of all time!

Today’s Trivia

WAY TOO EARLY 2026 NBA Champions... who you got?

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Yesterday’s Trivia Answer: A. OKC Thunder! The Thunder are NBA Champions!

Glue Guy of the Day

🏆️ Too many too choose! The Thunder are Champions!

Glue Guy OTD: Mark Daigneault, Alex Caruso, Cason Wallace, Isaiah Hartenstein! SO MANY GLUE GUYS!

They were taken to the brink, but last night the best team in the NBA won the NBA Finals! This was the first Game Seven in the NBA Finals since 2016 (the forever cemented 3-1 comeback by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavs). That was our last benchmark.

Against all odds, like they have done all year, the Indiana Pacers fought. The early headline was heartbreaking, as Tyrese Haliburton (who started out ON FIRE!!!! With 9 points off three deep threes) likely he tore his achilles in the first quarter. He went down in pain and immediately after seeing the replay you could see what happened.

After three quarters worth of fight, the Thunder overwhelmed the Pacers early in the fourth quarter, and ballooned the lead up to 22!

We know the big dawgs, but there is so much glue to highlight. We can start with the free agent acquisitions, Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein. Alex Caruso really was the heart of this defense all postseason long. He took any assignment that was asked of him, and put his body on the line every single play. Yesterday it was him on both ends of the floor! His three point shooting early off the bench halted the early Thunder woes.

Hartenstein may not have stuffed the stat sheet, but his rebounding, presence under the rim, and boxing out were a big part of what stifled the Pacers late. These guys in their first year with the team won’t win MVP awards, but they no doubt are two of the reasons how the Thunder closed the deal this year.

Who else can we talk about? Or should I say, glue else?

Let’s go to the Head Coach, Mark Daigneault. Calm, cool, and collected. Some will say that he just has a loaded roster, but it takes a steady hand to coach such a young team with very little experience. He has been the captain of this ship and the players have full faith in their head coach.

Let’s talk about the fans for a second. When they think big three, they don’t have to think about the Russ-KD-Harden trio anymore, they can think of S-G-and-A. Last night it was hard to hear Richard Jefferson’s quick quips and Doris Burke’s analysis because of how loud that crowd was. That place might have broken decibel records last night.

Thunder def. Pacers 103-91 (OKC win series 4-3)

The OKC Thunder, absolutely full of GLUE GUYS!

Yesterday’s Moments

⛳️ Keegan Bradley Wins an INSANE Travelers!

The Stump Short Story: WOW! What a finish we had yesterday in Cromwell, CT. Coming into yesterday’s round Tommy Fleetwood had a three stroke lead, but the narrative around Fleetwood has always been the same…just can’t close! It was Captain America himself Keegan Bradley, who looked to be out of it after a bad bogey on the 12th, who buckled in down the stretch. After that bogey, Keegan would go 4-under in his last 6 holes with 4 birdies. The most epic of the 4 being on the 18th after a Tommy Fleetwood THREE-PUTT! It was a two shot swing on the 18th, leading to Bradley’s eighth win on the PGA Tour! What a finish!

Why it Matters: You might not hear about Cromwell, Connecticut on the front pages, but the Travelers has turned into one of the better tournaments on the circuit. The players love it and the fans are there in numbers! We’ve got the Ryder Cup in September, this is no doubt a big boost for Bradley before that!

🏀 Durant Lands in Houston!

The Stump Short Story: Oh man, the Kevin Durant sweepstakes has officially came to a smashing end. The All-NBA talent officially landed with the Houston Rockets, who sent back a massive package of players and picks, including Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, No. 10 pick in this draft, and FIVE second round picks. Durant will join Fred VanVleet, Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson, Jabari Smith Jr., and newly extended head coach Ime Udoka. A massive blockbuster deal on the day of the NBA Finals Game 7.

Why it Matters: The Rockets got better, sure. But did they sacrifice their future? Maybe. Jalen Green is an up and coming star in this league, and they had the chance to pick another cornerstone player at 10 in this years draft. While KD is an elite scorer, I’m a little hesitant to say this team is a surefire winner now. We saw what happened in Phoenix. There’s no way to say whether or not this is a good trade until the ball bounces on the court in Houston next year, but it’s safe to say the Rockets will score some points next year.

⚾️ Geuax Tigers! LSU Reigns in Omaha

The Stump Short Story: This LSU team may not have been as star-studded as their teams in years past, but they had the makeup of champions. Their 5-3 win over Coastal Carolina brought them their eight National Championship and second in the last three years. It’s in their DNA, LSU baseball guys have grit, passion, an unwillingness to give up or give in, and one key person: Head Coach Jay Johnson. He became the first Division 1 coach to win two titles in his first four years. Coastal Carolina came into the finals unbeaten in their last 26 contests, but LSU made quick work of them, sweeping the 3-game series 2-0.

Why it Matters: This was a tough one for our non-Power 4 schools, but even despite the loss for Coastal Carolina, it shows that schools without massive athletic budgets, NIL deals, and other payments, can still compete on the national stage. Coastal had an epic run, but it just wasn’t quite enough. As our sports continue to evolve in the college space, it’s schools like Coastal Carolina who will continue to fight for their place on the national stage.

🔗 Quick Links

Today’s Top Three

⚾️ MLB Slate: Yankees @ Reds (7:10 PM ET), Braves @ Mets (7:10 PM ET), Red Sox @ Angels (9:38 PM ET), Nationals @ Padres (9:40 PM ET)

⚽️ FIFA Club World Cup: Seattle Sounders vs PSG (3:00 PM ET), Atletico Madrid vs Botafogo (3:00 PM ET), Porto vs Al Ahly (9:00 PM ET), Inter Miami vs Palmeiras (9:00 PM ET)

🏀 NBA Hangover! That marks the end of another NBA season. We are now in what they call THE DOG DAYS of the sports calendar year!

Of! The! Day’s!

Song of the Day

We are the Champions

Queen

Have to. Absolutely have to.

Quote of the Day

“They were the best team in basketball from start to finish

Mike Breen

Who else to explain this but Mike Breen! We didn’t have any Bang’s, but poetry from Breen all night!

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