After winning the franchise's first NBA title since becoming the Oklahoma City Thunder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and company will be targeting to defend their crown in the coming 2025-26 NBA season. While the full schedules for all teams have yet to be released, Oklahoma City at least knows when it will meet the very same team it conquered in the 2025 NBA Finals to raise the Larry O'Brien Trophy.

On Tuesday, the list of games for ESPN's Opening Week Presented by State Farm has been revealed, with the Thunder in line to lock horns with the Indiana Pacers on Oct. 23. Thursday, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

That scheduled matchup will be missing some key names from the 2025 NBA Finals matchup between the Thunder and the Pacers, mostly on the latter's side.

For one, Tyrese Haliburton has already been ruled out for the entire 2025-26 campaign due to the torn right Achilles tendon injury he suffered in the first half of Game 7 of the Thunder series. Haliburton underwent surgery to address the injury in June.

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Also, the Pacers no longer have the services of big man Myles Turner, who left the Pacers and inked a four-year contract worth $107 million with the Milwaukee Bucks. As great as the Pacers were last season, the road back to the NBA Finals for Indiana has seemingly gotten harder, given Haliburton's absence and Turner's departure.

As for the Thunder, who won 68 games against just 14 losses last season, their core remains intact, with Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning NBA Most Valuable Player, leading the charge. Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, Lu Dort and Alex Caruso are all still in the Thunder's fold.

In the 2025 NBA Finals, Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 30.3 points per game while Williams and Holmgren contributed 23.6 points and 12.3 points averages, respectively.

Other games on ESPN's Opening Week slate include a showdown between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the New York Knicks on Wednesday — the same night of the clash between the San Antonio Spurs and the Cooper Flagg-infused Dallas Mavericks. Following the Thunder's clash with the Pacers, the Denver Nuggets and the Golden State Warriors will square off at Chase Center in San Francisco.

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