NBA commissioner Adam Silver shot down the small market criticism for the NBA Finals. The Oklahoma City Thunder are taking on the Indiana Pacers for all the marbles with Game 1 on Thursday. Both teams have hungry fan bases and are vying for their first championship. This matchup is a clash of the league's best defense versus one of the most unique and unpredictable offenses in recent memory.

Like many fans are, Silver is excited about the Finals and shot down any notion that the league was disappointed that the two franchises didn't come from bigger markets in a recent interview.

Legacies will be cemented over the next couple of weeks. The Oklahoma City Thunder built on their phenomenal regular season with a dominant playoff run through the Western Conference. The No. 1 overall seed in the NBA is led by the league's MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is trying to join an exclusive group of players to win MVP and Finals MVP in the same season. He is joined by a relentless young supporting cast that has given opponents fits on both ends.

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Meanwhile, on the other side is the Indiana Pacers, who took a more unconventional route to this stage. Indiana was .500 heading into the new year and looked like a team that was not going to meet expectations, especially after making the Conference Finals the previous season. Fortunately, the Pacers eventually found their rhythm, finishing the season with 50 wins for the first time since the 2013-2014 season.

Tyrese Haliburton and company then proceeded to run through the East. First came a five-game series win over the Milwaukee Bucks, which ended on a stunning comeback. The Pacers subsequently faced the heavily favored Cleveland Cavaliers, dominating the East's No. 1 seed in five games as well. Once again, Indiana showed its mettle in close games, walking down the Cavs in several fourth-quarter affairs.

And this year, Rick Carlisle's team took advantage of its Eastern Conference Finals appearance, beating the New York Knicks in a thrilling, six-game series. The Pacers are subsequently in their first Finals in 2000, and like last time, they are heavy underdogs. But this team is used to being underestimated and has more than a puncher's chance against this juggernaut. Overall, Silver seems thrilled by the matchup, and the market size of these two franchises should be irrelevant.