Thunder vs Pacers grades: Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams step up in NBA Finals Game 2
The Thunder evened the NBA Finals on Sunday night thanks to a Shai Gilgeous-Alexander masterclass and big-time bench performances from Aaron Wiggins and Alex Caruso.
OKC beat Indiana 123-107. Now the series heads to Indianapolis.
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Let's get to the grades:
MUSSATTO: Aaron Wiggins, the man who saved basketball, saved Thunder in NBA Finals Game 2
The guy keeps making history amid an already-illustrious season.
Gilgeous-Alexander's 72 points through the first two games of the Finals are the most ever by a player in his first two NBA Finals games.
The previous high was Allen Iverson, who scored 71 points in his first two Finals games in 2001.
Gilgeous-Alexander had 34 points and eight assists — both game highs — to go with five rebounds and four steals with only two turnovers.
Gilgeous-Alexander crossed the 3,000-point threshold Sunday (regular-season and playoffs combined). He's the 12th player to ever reach that mark in a single season, joining Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Rick Barry, Elgin Baylor, Kobe Bryant, Luka Doncic, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Bob McAdoo and Shaquille O'Neal.
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— Joe Mussatto
More: How historic has Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's start been in NBA Finals? Inside the numbers
After a meh performance in the series opener, the Thunder got solid performances from the two of its Big Three not named Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Williams scored 19 points on 5-of-14 shooting, a much more efficient night than what we saw in the opener. Even though he still missed a couple of shots in the restricted zone and a couple more from within 8 feet, he stayed aggressive. Williams got to the free-throw line nine times, making eight of his free shots.
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Holmgren scored 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting. He also added six rebounds and a blocked shot.
Williams had five rebounds, five assists and a steal.
All-around better performances for the two emerging stars.
—Jenni Carlson
REQUIRED READING: How Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder 'threw enough punches' to tie up NBA Finals vs Pacers
Oklahoma City forward Chet Holmgren (7) dunks the ball in the second quarter during game 2 of the NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers at Paycom Center Oklahoma City, on Sunday, June 8, 2025.
Double-big lineup: C
Mark Daigneault stuck with the same starting lineup from Game 1, going small with Cason Wallace in place of Isaiah Hartenstein.
Daigneault did give the double-big lineup of Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren a look, though, after completely shelving it in Game 1.
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The two bigs played 3:36 minutes to end the first quarter and a minute to close the third quarter. OKC outscored Indiana 9-6 in the double-big minutes to close the first quarter.
It still doesn't seem like the series to play Holmgren and Hartenstein together, but having one of them on the floor at all times is preferable.
— Joe Mussatto
CARLSON: A late Tyrese Haliburton heater doesn't doom Thunder in NBA Finals this time
Rebounding: A
Another area of concern in the opener that the Thunder took care of in Game 2.
After being outrebounded 56-39 in Game 1, the Thunder turned the tables on Sunday and outrebounded the Pacers 43-35.
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The usual suspects led the way on the boards for the Thunder; Isaiah Hartenstein had eight rebounds while Chet Holmgren had six. But it wasn't just the OKC bigs who were going after missed shots. Six other players had three or more rebounds.
Easily the best rebounding sequence of the night came early in the fourth quarter when the Thunder had three offensive rebounds on one possession, and all of them came from different players. Jalen Williams had the first, then Hartenstein, then Aaron Wiggins.
It spoke to the overall team effort to get on the glass.
—Jenni Carlson
5 TAKEAWAYS: Thunder thumps Pacers in NBA Finals Game 2 as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC even up series
NBA Finals presentation: C
The NBA league office and/or ABC might be a little too online.
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On one hand, good for them for trying to juice up the presentation after it was panned in Game 1 — including here — for lacking a Finals feel. On the other hand, addressing that criticism by projecting a pair of little Larry O'Brien trophies onto the court was not the answer. The logos were as sharp as a Microsoft Paint drawing.
With more online backlash came another change! The trophies were replaced by cursive 'NBA Finals' script. And that, my friends, was the answer. An actual 'NBA Finals' decal on the court would be ideal, but hey, small steps.
— Joe Mussatto
More: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC Thunder storm past Indiana Pacers in Game 2 to tie NBA Finals
Reserves: A-
Everyone knows about Aaron Wiggins — perhaps you've heard; he saved basketball — but he wasn't the only Thunder reserve to make a significant contribution Sunday.
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Alex Caruso actually outscored Wiggins, going for 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including hitting 4 of 8 from behind the arc. And of course, he played suffocating defense on whatever Pacer stepped in his path.
Isaiah Hartenstein came off the bench, and even though he scored just three points, he grabbed eight rebounds and dished four assists. He was plus-17, second only to Wiggins' plus-24.
Kenrich Williams didn't score any points but had four rebounds, two assists and one block; he was plus-15.
—Jenni Carlson
More: NBA Finals Game 2 box score, stats: OKC Thunder ties up series vs Indiana Pacers
Shooting efficiency: A-
The Thunder almost went 50/40/90.
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OKC shot 49% from the field (40 of 82), 39% from 3-point range (14 of 36) and 88% from the foul line (29 of 33).
The Pacers had shooting splits of 45%/35%/73%.
The Thunder was a plus-10 in free-throw margin, which was huge in a 17-point game.
SGA went 11 of 12 from the foul line. Jalen Williams was 8 of 9.
Alex Caruso and Aaron Wiggins were mighty efficient off the bench. They both shot 6 of 11 from the floor, combining for 38 points.
— Joe Mussatto
More: Ex-Mavs coach Don Nelson earns NBA Lifetime Achievement Award, protests Luka Doncic trade
Response: A+
Forty-eight hours after taking a gut punch, the Thunder showed no ill effects of that devastating Game 1 loss. Instead, it showed it learned some valuable lessons.
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Oklahoma City never took its foot off the gas. It didn't have a careless stretch that allowed the Pacers to stick around and build hope. Not early on. Not at the end of quarters. Not in crunch time.
Maybe most impressive was the fourth-quarter closeout. The Thunder didn't relax. It stayed in kill mode.
—Jenni Carlson
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams step up for Thunder in NBA Finals Game 2
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