The Stage is Set

Game 7s are the moments where legends are made. These are the games -- with little margin for error and everything on the line -- that go down in the annals of history, particularly at this stage of the playoffs when they are rare. Since the NBA-ABA merger at the start of the 1976-77 season, there have been only eight winner-take-all games to decide the NBA title.

Sunday night will see that number grow to nine, when the host Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers square off in Game 7 of the NBA Finals -- the first time that the league's championship round has gone the distance since 2016. That game is, at a minimum, on the short list for the greatest game in the history of the sport, with LeBron James leading the Cleveland Cavaliers back from a 3-1 deficit in the best-of-7 series to dethrone the 73-win Golden State Warriors on their home floor.

Thunder's Quest for Glory

The Thunder have been waiting for their first title since they left Seattle for Oklahoma City 17 years ago. The franchise has left the SuperSonics' history in the past. Still, after several near-misses -- including an NBA Finals trip in 2012 and conference finals appearances in 2014 and 2016 -- Oklahoma City had the seventh-most wins in NBA history (68) this season. It will be the fifth-best team, in terms of wins, in the history of the sport if the Thunder can claim this year's title.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, meanwhile, would put himself in rarified air if he's able to win a championship after winning the scoring title and the league's regular-season MVP award -- something only Shaquille O'Neal, Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have done.

Pacers' Unlikely Journey

This is a moment the Thunder were expected to be in all season. The same cannot be said for their opponents, however, as a win for Indiana will cap what has to be one of the most unexpected runs to a championship in the NBA. The Pacers have completed one historic comeback in each of the four rounds of the playoffs, including star guard Tyrese Haliburton completing an unparalleled run of clutch shotmaking to go along with Indiana's penchant for wearing down its opponents.

Coach Rick Carlisle, who led a similarly constructed Dallas Mavericks team to a title against a massive favorite in the James-led Miami Heat in 2011, has already won seven games in the Finals as an underdog, the most in NBA history.

Indiana would also earn its first NBA championship after making the Finals with Reggie Miller leading the way 25 years ago. It won a couple of ABA championships behind Hall of Famers Mel Daniels and Roger Brown in the 1970s.

Keys to the Game

Thunder's Home-Court Advantage

The Thunder earned the right to host the most important game of the season by rolling to 68 wins and the best record in the league. The Paycom Center has been an awfully tough place for opponents to play this postseason. The Thunder are 10-2 at home with nine double-digit wins, including victories by 30- and 32-point margins in elimination games the past two rounds.

The fans in Oklahoma City -- a small market with only one big-league franchise -- provide a true home-court advantage that Jalen Williams has compared to a high school football powerhouse, the kind of program that an entire town revolves around. The stands will be packed with folks wearing the same T-shirts by the time the layup lines begin. They'll be loud, providing the Thunder "the wind behind our backs," as coach Mark Daigneault puts it.

Pacers' Controlled Chaos

Limit turnovers and control the pace. It's easier said than done against a defense as swarming as the Thunder's, but the Pacers have been at their best when they've managed to win the turnover battle and stop Oklahoma City from getting out in transition.

The results are twofold. Not turning the ball over allows the Pacers to attempt more field goals instead of coming away with empty possessions and it stops the Thunder from getting easy transition baskets, which makes their offense thrive.

The Pacers want a chaotic game controlled in their favor, similar to Game 6, when Indiana was the team flying around the floor while Oklahoma City got stagnant trying to run an offense in the half court repeatedly.

Players to Watch

Oklahoma City Thunder

Alex Caruso is the only proven NBA champion on the Thunder's roster, the veteran leader of this team and a player who was a dominant force in Oklahoma City's previous Game 7 win against the Denver Nuggets.

Caruso wreaked havoc as the primary defender against three-time MVP Nikola Jokic that afternoon, a major factor in the 23 turnovers that the Thunder converted into 37 points. He was a plus-40 in 26 minutes.

He's one of the toughest competitors in the NBA, a guy who lives for this type of highest-stakes situation. Caruso has had his fingerprints all over Oklahoma City's playoff run so far. Count on that continuing in Game 7.

Indiana Pacers

The Pacers' depth has been their strength throughout this playoff run and T.J. McConnell has stepped up with a fantastic performance in this series. His high-energy style for 19 minutes per game has provided a spark in each contest he checks into, and he's averaging 11.3 points and 4.5 assists in the series on 54% shooting.

Haliburton played through a calf injury in a high-stakes Game 6 and was effective, but not as mobile as usual, which means the Pacers are going to need a variety of ball handlers to help keep their pace and run their offense.

McConnell almost certainly won't win the Finals MVP with the efforts of Haliburton and Pascal Siakam coming up big for Indiana all series, but the way McConnell and the bench unit have energized the team -- and outplayed their reserve counterparts from OKC -- is a major reason the Pacers have an opportunity to win this series.

Legacy on the Line

If the Thunder win Game 7, we'll remember their title as crossing the finish line for a historic season -- and taking the first step in a potential dynastic run.

Oklahoma City profiles statistically as one of the most dominant teams of all time with the best regular-season point differential ever. The only champion to finish the season with more total wins than the Thunder's 84, if Oklahoma City finishes the job, was the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls.

Oklahoma City is in this position with almost its entire core consisting of ascending talent.

Gilgeous-Alexander is an MVP who is just entering his prime. Williams is an All-NBA sidekick still in the relatively early stages of his development, as is Chet Holmgren, who has All-NBA and Defensive Player of the Year potential.

GM Sam Presti still has an unprecedented treasure chest of first-round draft picks to utilize to continue adding talent and perhaps eventually replace some core players if difficult payroll decisions result in departures.

This should be the first of many Junes when the Thunder is the focus of the basketball world.

If the Pacers win Game 7, we'll remember their title as the biggest upset in NBA history.

Indiana entered the playoffs as a No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference. Its run through the East was filled with buzzer-beaters and thrilling comebacks as the Pacers defied the odds, and they still began the Finals facing the longest odds of a team in 20 years in the championship series.

They will not be the favorites in any of the seven games in this series, but it all sets Indiana up on the doorstep of one of the most unlikely championships in league history.

The Pacers don't profile like a usual championship contender, but they've spent the playoffs disproving any notion that they are not.

Final Thoughts

The Pacers and Thunder will sit 48 minutes away from immortality when they take the court Sunday night. Only one thing is for certain: Whatever happens, the game will never be forgotten.