Thunder crush Pacers, level NBA Finals at 1-1
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has scored 34 points, Alex Caruso added 20 off the bench and Oklahoma City beat Indiana 123-107 to tie the NBA Finals at one game apiece.
Jalen Williams scored 19, Aaron Wiggins had 18 and Chet Holmgren finished with 15 for the Thunder. It was the franchise's first finals game win since the opener of the 2012 series against Miami.
Tyrese Haliburton scored 17 for the Pacers, who erased a 15-point, fourth-quarter deficit in Game 1 but never made a push on Sunday. Myles Turner scored 16 and Pascal Siakam added 15 for the visitors, the first team since Miami in 2013 to not have a 20-point scorer in the first two games of the finals.
"We did some things good tonight. We did some things bad," Gilgeous-Alexander said.
"We've got to be able to get better and be ready for Game 3."
That will take place on Wednesday at Indianapolis, in what will be the first finals game in that city in 25 years.
Gilgeous-Alexander's first basket of the night was a history-maker. It gave him 3000 points on the season, including the regular season and playoffs. And later in Game 2, he passed New York's Jalen Brunson (514) as the leading overall scorer in these playoffs.
But the real milestone for the MVP came a couple hours later, when he and most everybody else on the Thunder got a finals win for the first time.
A 19-2 run in the second quarter turned what was a six-point game into a 23-point OKC lead. It might have seemed wobbly a couple of times — an immediate 10-0 rebuttal by Indiana made it 52-39, and the Pacers were within 13 again after Andrew Nembhard's layup with 7:09 left in the third — but the Thunder lead was never in serious doubt.
Oklahoma City did what they've done pretty much all season. They came off a loss, this time a 111-110 defeat in Game 1, and blew somebody out as their response.
Including the NBA Cup title game, which doesn't count in any standings, the Thunder are now 18-2 this season when coming off a loss. Of those 18 wins, 12 have been by double digits.
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The Advertiser
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The Pacers have been outscored by 20 points in the paint. But resolve has been a major trait helping define the team's success, and they're 4-0 in the playoffs following a loss. To take control of the Finals, Carlisle is stressing the importance of tamping down turnovers without losing contact with the accelerator. "This team that we're playing now presents unprecedented challenges because they've been turning everybody over through the entire playoffs," Carlisle said. Oklahoma City's defensive approach is likely to be similar to Game 2 until the Pacers prove they can handle the on-ball energy. But how Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault executes his plan is quite literally anyone's guess. He used more than 700 lineup combinations during the regular season, more than any team in the league, and found unique groups to gain an edge on the boards in Game 2. "We have a group of guys that are just ready to play," Thunder guard Jalen Williams said. "Everybody is kind of waiting for their opportunity. "We have so many different lineups throughout the course of the year that nobody is shocked by when Mark wants to go small, change this around or do that." Daigneault doesn't take credit for throwing a changeup or two. "The general battle we're trying to win is the possession battle. There's different ways to do that," Daigneault said. "We have optionality. Every game is different." The Indiana Pacers are looking for a boost from being at home and answers for slowing down Shai Gilgeous-Alexander going into Game 3 of the NBA Finals. With the best-of-seven series tied 1-1 nothing is settled, but the Pacers must rebound from a 123-107 thumping by Oklahoma City in Game 2, having stolen a 111-110 win in Game 1. The Pacers led for just 0.3 seconds in Game 1 and a total of one minute and 56 seconds of a possible 96 minutes in the first two games. NBA MVP Gilgeous-Alexander drove the Thunder to their big win on Sunday and has 72 points through two games, the most ever in the first two games of a Finals debut. Pacers coach Rick Carlisle has constantly reminded his young team not to unpack any of the good, bad or ugly from the first two games as they embrace their home-floor opportunity on Wednesday. "Everything that's already happened doesn't matter, other than the score of the series," Carlisle said. Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton limped through parts of Sunday's loss as Oklahoma City pressured him with multiple defenders after he'd snatched victory with a heart-stopping floater to end Game 1 - his fourth game-winner of these playoffs. Haliburton said on Tuesday he has a "lower body thing" impacting him but plans to play in Game 3. Gilgeous-Alexander is expecting the unexpected. "A series is so tricky. It definitely is a feeling-out," he said. 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Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton limped through parts of Sunday's loss as Oklahoma City pressured him with multiple defenders after he'd snatched victory with a heart-stopping floater to end Game 1 - his fourth game-winner of these playoffs. Haliburton said on Tuesday he has a "lower body thing" impacting him but plans to play in Game 3. Gilgeous-Alexander is expecting the unexpected. "A series is so tricky. It definitely is a feeling-out," he said. "But there's also so many adjustments made to where it's almost hard to predict and try to determine what they're going to do with you. You kind of just have to be ready for everything." Getting to the rim has been a tall order for Indiana. The Pacers have been outscored by 20 points in the paint. But resolve has been a major trait helping define the team's success, and they're 4-0 in the playoffs following a loss. 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Daigneault doesn't take credit for throwing a changeup or two. "The general battle we're trying to win is the possession battle. There's different ways to do that," Daigneault said. "We have optionality. Every game is different."
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The Indiana Pacers are looking for a boost from being at home and answers for slowing down Shai Gilgeous-Alexander going into Game 3 of the NBA Finals. With the best-of-seven series tied 1-1 nothing is settled, but the Pacers must rebound from a 123-107 thumping by Oklahoma City in Game 2, having stolen a 111-110 win in Game 1. The Pacers led for just 0.3 seconds in Game 1 and a total of one minute and 56 seconds of a possible 96 minutes in the first two games. NBA MVP Gilgeous-Alexander drove the Thunder to their big win on Sunday and has 72 points through two games, the most ever in the first two games of a Finals debut. Pacers coach Rick Carlisle has constantly reminded his young team not to unpack any of the good, bad or ugly from the first two games as they embrace their home-floor opportunity on Wednesday. "Everything that's already happened doesn't matter, other than the score of the series," Carlisle said. Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton limped through parts of Sunday's loss as Oklahoma City pressured him with multiple defenders after he'd snatched victory with a heart-stopping floater to end Game 1 - his fourth game-winner of these playoffs. Haliburton said on Tuesday he has a "lower body thing" impacting him but plans to play in Game 3. Gilgeous-Alexander is expecting the unexpected. "A series is so tricky. It definitely is a feeling-out," he said. "But there's also so many adjustments made to where it's almost hard to predict and try to determine what they're going to do with you. You kind of just have to be ready for everything." Getting to the rim has been a tall order for Indiana. The Pacers have been outscored by 20 points in the paint. But resolve has been a major trait helping define the team's success, and they're 4-0 in the playoffs following a loss. To take control of the Finals, Carlisle is stressing the importance of tamping down turnovers without losing contact with the accelerator. "This team that we're playing now presents unprecedented challenges because they've been turning everybody over through the entire playoffs," Carlisle said. Oklahoma City's defensive approach is likely to be similar to Game 2 until the Pacers prove they can handle the on-ball energy. But how Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault executes his plan is quite literally anyone's guess. He used more than 700 lineup combinations during the regular season, more than any team in the league, and found unique groups to gain an edge on the boards in Game 2. "We have a group of guys that are just ready to play," Thunder guard Jalen Williams said. "Everybody is kind of waiting for their opportunity. "We have so many different lineups throughout the course of the year that nobody is shocked by when Mark wants to go small, change this around or do that." Daigneault doesn't take credit for throwing a changeup or two. "The general battle we're trying to win is the possession battle. There's different ways to do that," Daigneault said. "We have optionality. Every game is different."
