How Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder 'threw enough punches' to tie up NBA Finals vs Pacers

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25-06-2025

This lead was safe.
Safe from the dread that comes with entering a game's final minutes opposite of Indiana. In the urgent hands of the version of the Thunder that has so often given teams wedgies and stuffed them in lockers before the fourth quarter even arrives.
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With just under four minutes remaining in its 123-107 Game 2 win to even up the NBA Finals, Oklahoma City received Johnny Furphy's blessing to close the game without fear of leaving disheveled. One game was all it took for OKC to understand the trip wire that playing ahead of these Pacers can be.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sat with that for at least 24 hours. He rinsed out the bitterness of Indiana's Game 1 robbery, but the exigency required stuck.
'You can't just throw the first punch,' he said. 'You got to try to throw all the punches all night. Yeah, that's what we did. We threw enough punches tonight to get a W.'
The Pacers don't know a knockout punch. Entering this series, they'd yet to meet a Sonny Liston or a Mike Tyson, a foe that could make them hug hardwood and stay there. Consider the Thunder's second quarter the closest thing — more like a long-reaching, persistent jab than an uppercut.
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Thunder buries Pacers with 35-9 avalanche in NBA Finals Game 2
Between the end of the first quarter and deep into the second, the Thunder embarked on a 35-9 run. The kind of stint that's defined its season and ended others. This one didn't depend on turnovers or points off them. This was grinded out in the halfcourt, with stops and offensive rhythm even the Pacers couldn't match.
Peep all the variables involved in the Thunder's dominant period:
Aaron Wiggins danced with the ball, spinning off defenders and watching them stumble over his stepbacks, en route to eight of his 18 points.
Jalen Williams did a George Gervin impression, and he was reunited with the mid-range jumpers that betrayed him a game ago.
Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton, who had just five points in the three quarters of consequence, attempted just one shot in his seven second-quarter minutes.
Cason Wallace and Kenrich Williams, despite scoring zero points combined then, were a plus-25 in the quarter.
Mike Breen appropriately punctuated the run, resulting in a 23-point OKC lead, by labeling it an avalanche.
This bottled-up burst of energy that would so often feel like a lethal dosage against an immune system other than Indiana. That those zoomies came with a half of hoop left meant that Indiana wasn't entirely out of the question.
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Against the Pacers, a 20-point lead is eyebrow-raising. A 15-point lead is nail-biting. Ten is eye-popping. Anything inside of that is hardly a lead at all.
The moment of truth, the test of how well the Thunder came to grasp that, came midway through the third quarter.
OKC's halftime lead of 19 had been trimmed to 13. Yet even its grip on its worst defensive quarter never truly slipped.
More: How historic has Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's start been in NBA Finals? Inside the numbers
Indiana Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith (23) walks off the court as Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) and center Isaiah Hartenstein (55) celebrate during Game 2 of the NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Sunday, June 8, 2025. Oklahoma City won 123-107.
Chet Holmgren bounces back for Thunder in Game 2
Fresh off a Game 1 in which Indiana forced him to attempt 30 shots, Gilgeous-Alexander more carefully toggled between his spots. With the necessity of young center Chet Holmgren in mind, SGA sliced through double teams and reached for Holmgren, who drilled two early 3s.
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SGA waded his way through waves of defenders, all aiming for a piece of his drives, very few successful. Twelve of his 34 points (11 of 21) came in the third, earning six of his free throws then. He also added five boards, eight assists and four steals, seemingly surveying the floor for shooters almost as often as he surveyed the rim for angles.
His first two games, in which he totaled 72 points, marked the highest-scoring two-game debut in NBA Finals history.
Slow-motion drives and buttery finishes aside, Gilgeous-Alexander played with the alertness of a man who never quite felt safe by the Thunder's cushion.
'No,' said Gilgeous-Alexander, shaking his head when asked by ESPN's Scott Van Pelt if he ever thought OKC's lead was large enough to exhale. 'Probably when (the lead) was like 15 with a minute left.'
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For a second straight game, center Isaiah Hartenstein was lumped in with the bench. He was a plus-17, marvelous with the group that began the second and fourth quarter and a heavy-handed option alongside Holmgren once the two were reunited.
Their two-man lineup held a net rating of 40 in nearly five minutes together.
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SGA: Thunder's depth is key to success
Alex Caruso, also part of the lineup that saw Wiggins erupt and Hartenstein bruise, added 20 points and four 3s.
'We are the team that we are because of our depth, and because of the punches we can throw between 10, 11 men,' SGA told SVP. 'That's what makes us special, that's what makes us this historic defense, this historic season that we've had so far.'
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Added Pacers coach Rick Carlisle: 'I don't know if there was any lineup that they used that wasn't impactful for them.'
Caruso understands what's required to outlast the Pacers better than most. He's acknowledged that they'll play to their identity with a 20-point lead or 20-point deficit, almost making them tolerant to OKC's outbursts. Almost.
The Thunder's best line of defense for that disposition — besides holding Indiana below its averages from 3 and making its stars invisible — is to understand the long game. Caruso, 31 going on pension, embodies the long game.
'I keep seeing people for the first time this postseason, people that I know or don't know, they say, congratulations,' Caruso said. 'I truly don't want them to tell me congratulations until the series is over and we've won. I don't feel like we've accomplished anything until we win four games. That's just kind of the mindset I have.'
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Sneak up on these Thunder once, shame on you. Try to come back on OKC twice in a row, be forced to let Furphy provide the testimony.
Joel Lorenzi covers the Thunder and NBA for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joel? He can be reached at [e-mail] or on X/Twitter at @joelxlorenzi. Sign up for the Thunder Sports Minute newsletter to access more NBA coverage. Support Joel's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: SGA, OKC Thunder 'threw enough punches' to tie up NBA Finals vs Pacers