The Oklahoma City Thunder host the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night for Game 1 of this year's NBA Finals . It should be a fun matchup. Tyrese Haliburton and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are two wondrous talents at the point guard position. Both stars are flanked with great supporting casts featuring unique styles of play. Both teams can put on a great show on the right nights.

The Thunder appear to have the edge on paper as the 68-win juggernaut that employs the league MVP. But that's the beauty of it all-they have to play the games. Nothing can be determined, truly, until the ball is tipped, as it will be at 8:30 p.m. ET on Thursday.

Until then, there's plenty to be gleaned about this matchup from a statistical standpoint. The trends that suggest one team should have an edge in a key area

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