Thunder open another big lead and keep control, topping Pacers 123-107 to even NBA Finals
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) reacts after winning Game 2 of the NBA Finals basketball series against the Indiana Pacers Sunday, June 8, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
basketball
By TIM REYNOLDS
This has been Oklahoma City's formula all season: Lose one game, respond in the next.
That's exactly what the Thunder did in Game 2 of the NBA Finals.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 points, Alex Caruso added 20 off the bench and the Thunder beat the Indiana Pacers 123-107 on Sunday night to tie these 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.
'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.'
Tyrese Haliburton scored 17 for Indiana, which 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 Pacers, the first team since Miami in 2013 to not have a 20-point scorer in the first two games of the finals.
Game 3 is Wednesday at Indianapolis, in what will be the first finals game in that city in 25 years.
'A bad first half, obviously, was a big problem," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. 'And we just played poorly. A little better in the second half. But you can't be a team that's reactive and expect to be successful or have consistency.'
Gilgeous-Alexander's first basket of the night was a history-maker: It gave him 3,000 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 Thunder lead. It might have seemed wobbly a couple of times — an immediate 10-0 rebuttal by the Pacers made it 52-39, and Indiana was within 13 again after Andrew Nembhard's layup with 7:09 left in the third — but the Thunder lead was never in serious doubt.
'They did a good job being disruptive,' Siakam said. 'They got out in transition. ... They were super aggressive, which is what they do."
With the noise level in the building often topping 100 decibels — a chain saw is 110 dB, for comparison purposes — the Thunder 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.
'That's a long 48 hours when you lose Game 1 like that, coming into Game 2,' Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. 'The guys did a great job of just focusing on what we needed to do to stack to a win tonight. That's how we got it.'
© Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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Japan Times
14 hours ago
- Japan Times
Thunder roll past Pacers in Game 2 to even NBA Finals
The Oklahoma City Thunder, fueled by an efficient 34 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, thumped the Indiana Pacers 123-107 on Sunday, punching back hard to even the NBA Finals at one game apiece. Gilgeous-Alexander, the NBA MVP, connected on 11 of 21 shots and added five rebounds, eight assists and four of Oklahoma City's 10 steals as the Thunder bounced back from an agonizing Game 1 defeat on their home floor. Jalen Williams added 19 points, and center Chet Holmgren bounced back from a lackluster six-point Game 1 to score 15 points with six rebounds for the Thunder, who limited Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton to 17 points, three rebounds and six assists with five turnovers. Haliburton, who drilled the last-gasp, game-winning shot for Indiana in its 111-110 series-opening triumph, had just five points through the first three quarters. Despite his 12 points in the fourth, the Pacers never looked like they could mount the kind of comeback that saw them erase a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit in the opener. "We know with them (defense) is where it starts," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "They're a high-powered offense, they play fast, score a bunch of points, and if you don't get stops you end up running all game, and they can beat you that way." The Thunder denied the Pacers the 2-0 lead they had grabbed in their three prior series, climbing back on even terms as the best-of-seven championship showdown heads to Indianapolis for Games 3 and 4 on Wednesday and Friday. "We did some good things tonight," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "We did some things bad, and we've got to be able to get better, get ready for Game 3." Alex Caruso scored 20 points off the bench, and fellow reserve Aaron Wiggins made five 3-pointers on the way to 18 for the Thunder, who closed a back-and-forth first quarter on a 9-0 run to lead 26-20. Holmgren punctuated the period with a 3-pointer, and Oklahoma City only ramped up the pressure in the second. Another 9-0 run included a 3-pointer from Williams off a feed from Holmgren and a Holmgren dunk. After Wiggins drilled a step-back 3-pointer, Gilgeous-Alexander drove for a reverse layup that pushed the Thunder lead to 52-29. The turnovers that stymied the Pacers in Game 1 began to creep up again, but Indiana offered a glimpse of just how dangerous it can be as it reeled off 10 unanswered points to slice the deficit to 13 before Oklahoma City pulled away again to take a 59-41 lead at halftime. The Thunder took a 93-74 lead into the fourth and were up by 22 after a 3-pointer from Wiggins on a possession kept alive by three offensive rebounds. Haliburton finally started to heat up, making three straight Pacers baskets, but his driving dunk with 8:12 remaining only cut the deficit to 20. Myles Turner added 16 points and Pascal Siakam had 15 as seven Pacers players scored in double figures, but the Thunder maintained their record of not losing back-to-back games in these playoffs. "Basketball, it's a game of ups and downs," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "The season's full of ups and downs. The series is full of ups and downs. "The team that can stay level headed and get better throughout the experiences is going to come out on top."
Japan Today
15 hours ago
- Japan Today
Thunder open another big lead and keep control, topping Pacers 123-107 to even NBA Finals
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) reacts after winning Game 2 of the NBA Finals basketball series against the Indiana Pacers Sunday, June 8, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) basketball By TIM REYNOLDS This has been Oklahoma City's formula all season: Lose one game, respond in the next. That's exactly what the Thunder did in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 points, Alex Caruso added 20 off the bench and the Thunder beat the Indiana Pacers 123-107 on Sunday night to tie these 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. '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.' Tyrese Haliburton scored 17 for Indiana, which 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 Pacers, the first team since Miami in 2013 to not have a 20-point scorer in the first two games of the finals. Game 3 is Wednesday at Indianapolis, in what will be the first finals game in that city in 25 years. 'A bad first half, obviously, was a big problem," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. 'And we just played poorly. A little better in the second half. But you can't be a team that's reactive and expect to be successful or have consistency.' Gilgeous-Alexander's first basket of the night was a history-maker: It gave him 3,000 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 Thunder lead. It might have seemed wobbly a couple of times — an immediate 10-0 rebuttal by the Pacers made it 52-39, and Indiana was within 13 again after Andrew Nembhard's layup with 7:09 left in the third — but the Thunder lead was never in serious doubt. 'They did a good job being disruptive,' Siakam said. 'They got out in transition. ... They were super aggressive, which is what they do." With the noise level in the building often topping 100 decibels — a chain saw is 110 dB, for comparison purposes — the Thunder 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. 'That's a long 48 hours when you lose Game 1 like that, coming into Game 2,' Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. 'The guys did a great job of just focusing on what we needed to do to stack to a win tonight. That's how we got it.' © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Japan Times
4 days ago
- Japan Times
Haliburton's last-second shot lifts Pacers over Thunder in Game 1
Indiana's Tyrese Haliburton sank the game-winning basket in the final second to give the Pacers a stunning 111-110 fightback victory over Oklahoma City in Thursday's opening game of the NBA Finals. Haliburton, who had 14 points and 10 rebounds, gave the Pacers their only lead of the game on a dramatic 21-foot jump shot with 0.3 of a second remaining to deliver a shocker after Indiana had trailed by 15 points with 9:42 remaining. "We got the stop and coach trusts us in those moments to not call a timeout, trusts me in those moments, guys trust me and just trying to make a play," Haliburton said of the last shot. "Basketball is fun, man, winning is fun," he added in an on-court interview. "That's a great win for us." With a game-closing 14-2 run, the Pacers seized a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series with game two on Sunday at Oklahoma City. Pascal Siakam led the Pacers with 19 points while reserve Obi Toppin added 17, Myles Turner had 15 and Haliburton and Andrew Nembhard each added 14. "It was a total team effort, we had so many guys chip in. Obi was huge off the bench, Myles in the fourth, Andrew Nembhard in the fourth — so many guys stepped up and just really proud of this group," Haliburton said. The finish evoked memories of the first game in the Eastern Conference finals, when a Haliburton shot at the buzzer bounced high and went in to force overtime as the Pacers stunned New York on the way to a series victory. The Pacers seek the first NBA crown in their 58-year history while the Thunder, who took a title in 1979 as Seattle, have not won a crown since moving to Oklahoma City in 2008. Indiana overcame 24 turnovers and a 38-point performance by Oklahoma City's NBA Most Valuable Player and top season scorer Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. A 12-2 run pulled Indiana within 98-94 with 6:16 remaining in the fourth quarter, with Turner and Toppin each making two three-pointers in the spurt. The Thunder, with the NBA's best regular-season record, clung to the lead as Gilgeous-Alexander made a driving layup and added two free throws for a 106-98 edge with 3:24 remaining. Aaron Nesmith and Nembhard sank back-to-back three-pointers to lift Indiana within 108-105 with 1:59 remaining and after a layup by Gilgeous-Alexander, Nembhard made two free throws and Siakam scored off a rebound to lift the Pacers within 110-109. Resilient Pacers Nesmith rebounded a Gilgeous-Alexander miss to set up Haliburton's game-winning shot. "We just had to figure out how to win in so many different ways all year," Haliburton said. "There's so many weird different ways ... we're a resilient group ... We keep believing and we stay together." Gilgeous-Alexander scored 12 points in the first quarter and the Thunder forced nine turnovers on the way to a 29-20 lead. Oklahoma City surged to a 57-45 half-time lead with 19 points from "SGA" while the Thunder, playoff leaders at forcing turnovers, got 18 from Indiana in the first half. The Pacers pulled within 85-76 entering the fourth quarter but a Jalen Williams slam dunk produced the Thunder's biggest lead at 94-79 with 9:42 remaining, setting up the intense finish. Oklahoma City lost its only prior NBA Finals appearance in 2012 to Miami while the Pacers dropped their only prior NBA Finals trip in 2000 to the Los Angeles Lakers.
