"They're finally battle-tested" - Paul Pierce drops massive prediction about OKC Thunder after they bounce Nuggets from playoffs

Former NBA star Paul Pierce has picked the OKC Thunder to win the 2025 championship after their second-round series. On Sunday, the Thunder had a blowout 125-93 victory in Game 7 against the Denver Nuggets. The young squad outlasted the experienced team to play in the Western Conference finals.

OKC is set to play a best-of-seven series against the Minnesota Timberwolves. After their performance, the former Boston Celtics star is convinced they have what it takes to win it all.

On Monday, the 2008 Finals MVP explained why he believes in the Thunder moving forward on Fox Sports' "Speak."

"This team," Pierce said, "nobody is giving any credit because of how young they are and they haven't got the respect. They got my respect. After watching them through a seven-game series.

"This series proved to me that they're finally battle-tested. This battle-tested them. They went toe-to-toe with the best player in the NBA and showed them who's boss. I think they're gonna win it all."

The Thunder is led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a finalist for the MVP award. Gilgeous-Alexander stepped up to lead the team through the seven games against Denver. SGA averaged 29.7 points, 6.4 rebounds and 6.6 assists on 52.9 percent shooting.

With how they played, Paul Pierce believes the Thunder could reach the NBA Finals.

Paul Pierce believes the New York Knicks got lucky in the playoffs

The Celtics' season ended disappointingly for many fans. Jayson Tatum's Achilles injury and two consecutive games with blown leads led to the New York Knicks advancing to the Eastern Conference finals against the Indiana Pacers.

However, Celtics legend Paul Pierce believes the Knicks got lucky in this year's postseason.

"In order to win a title, you have to be good and lucky... you have to have a little luck on your side and the Knicks got lucky."

Pierce explained that the missed shots from the Celtics during the first two games gave the Knicks the luck to make a comeback.

Also, the former All-Star admitted that the Celtics got lucky in 2008 when they won against the LA Lakers. Paul Pierce explained that in Game 3 against the Lakers, they were down by as much as 20 points. However, they were able to bounce back in the following game.

Pierce said the Knicks did not outplay the 2024 champions. Instead, the Celtics were outworked, and he believes New York got lucky.

Ultimately, the Celtics did their best against the Knicks, but their main star suffered a devastating injury.