First two games of NBA Finals showed Pacers' good and bad. They have one more weapon: Indy

Indianapolis Star

2 days ago

OKLAHOMA CITY – Now, the terms are set.
Each in a way as distinct as the two results, Games 1 and 2 of these NBA Finals have shown us the viable paths for Indiana and Oklahoma City to winning this year's NBA title. The one variable left to introduce — Indianapolis — enters the mix Wednesday night, after the Thunder's 123-107 win Sunday night effectively reduced this seven-game series to five.
For those Thunder, Sunday unfolded according to the formula: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's brilliance lighting the game as his natural gravity simultaneously pulled his supporting cast into it, while Oklahoma City's exhausting defense made hard work of everything at the other end of the floor.
Thunder-struck: No miracle comeback this time as OKC buries Pacers in Game 2
And for Indiana, Game 1 reminded a league expecting something akin to an OKC coronation that the Pacers are older, they are deeper, they are molded and polished by the sheer number of times they have stared failure in the face without flinching and, because of it, they live by one of sport's most important lessons: No game is over if you refuse to let it go.
So much of what we believed about these two teams coming into this series was affirmed by these two games, precious little of it disproven. On a razor's edge, the series shifts to the corner of Maryland and Delaware, the Pacers with one more ace to play.
'Gainbridge,' Myles Turner said postgame Sunday, 'is gonna be rocking.'
For all Indiana could celebrate Thursday what has become its trademark never-say-die character — the soul of this team now seemingly defined by its myriad unlikely comebacks — Sunday delivered a series of stiff reminders.
Gilgeous-Alexander (34 points, eight assists) remains one of the league's least stoppable players. The Thunder have depth to burn themselves. And they did not finish with a league-best 68 regular-season wins by accident.
That Indiana's slow start Thursday could largely be blamed on the Pacers' own mistakes was a quiet blessing. If you're the one digging your own holes, then you can still climb out of them.
Sunday was not that. Sunday was not 20 first-half turnovers and frustratingly sloppy, but fixable, offense.
Sunday was Oklahoma City at its dominant, championship best.
'They did a good job being disruptive,' Pascal Siakam said. 'They got out in transition. They made some tough shots. They've got guys that contributed across the board.'
Gilgeous-Alexander made a visible effort to involve his teammates more immediately in Game 2, passing up early looks in favor of kickouts and skip passes. The result: He still scored 34, to accompany 38 in Game 1, but this time with help.
Alex Caruso and Aaron Wiggins combined for 38 points off the bench, while Chet Holmgren finished with 15, and Jalen Williams 19. Indiana has found success in these playoffs living with an opponent's best player scoring in bunches, so long as he can't bring his complementary pieces into the game around him. The Pacers got a full dose of Thunder on Sunday.
'They were huge tonight,' Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said of his bench.
And, for the second-straight game, Daigneault's defensive gameplan rendered Tyrese Haliburton human.
Haliburton's 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in Game 1 were comfortably offset by his last-second heroics but, on Sunday, there would be no such sparkle. After draining a first-quarter 3 it looked like he might find him his rhythm, Haliburton went nearly two full frames without making a shot of any kind.
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle deflected Haliburton-specific questions postgame, spreading responsibility among his entire team. Carlisle called the Pacers 'an ecosystem that has to function together,' and declared 'everybody's got to do more.'
But Indiana will not be long for this series if its centerpiece star is so absent from the box score for such long stretches as Haliburton was Sunday. And Haliburton knows that.
'I've had two really poor first halves (this series),' said Haliburton, who found that offense in the fourth quarter and finished with a team-high 17 points. 'I've got to do a better job figuring out where I can be better.'
This is the path Oklahoma City can open no previous opponent could. A way to win distinct to the Thunder on the Pacers' playoff journey.
No one Indiana saw in the East can dictate with lineups, matchups, depth and size the flow of a game defensively the way Oklahoma City can.
Collective versatility allows the Thunder to flash enough different kinds of defenses at Haliburton to keep him off balance. Daigneault's subtle shift back to more big lineups locked Indiana out of the paint Sunday. At their best, they are the best team in the NBA because they are the best defense in the NBA.
The Pacers felt that to the tune of just 45 points and 20 turnovers in the first half of Game 1, before their prodigious 3-point shooting threat saved them in the second. There was no such rescue Sunday.
Whether at the Paycom Center or Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indiana won't win this series without unpacking at least some of what Oklahoma City wants to make happen at the defensive end of the floor.
'Our offense is built from the inside out. We've got to do a better job getting downhill,' Haliburton said. 'It's a great defense. We can do a lot better job and watch the film, see where we can get better going into Game 3.'
All of which should be said against the context of the Pacers' Game 1 win.
Ultimately, the baseline job of any road team in the first weekend of a seven-game series is to grab at least one win. Take back homecourt advantage. Reset control of the series, at least for a time.
Siakam acknowledged the Game 1 win didn't provide much 'consolation' after Game 2, but Game 1 did show us functionally how Indiana can beat this excellent Oklahoma City team.
The same 3-point disparity the Pacers could not open up in Game 2 proved the foundation for a comeback in Game 1. Oklahoma City's depth shone so brightly on Sunday night in large part because it was rendered ineffective Thursday.
And while the Thunder are still justifiable favorites in this series, Game 1 showed them what Milwaukee, Cleveland and New York already learned at great cost: The only way to know you've beaten these Pacers is to keep hammering until the clock hits zeroes.
So, the series shifts.
The Paycom Center was deafening for much of these first two games. After a quarter-century wait for another Finals appearance, the Pacers fly home firm in their belief theirs will be an equally intimidating atmosphere.
'Give credit where credit's due: This is a great playoff environment,' Turner said of Oklahoma City. 'I expect it to be a lot louder in Indianapolis. I know how long the city's been waiting for this Finals experience. They're gonna show up.'
These first two games affirmed so much of what we believed about these teams' title credentials, and their respective paths to that end goal. Now, Indiana introduces a weapon that if not secret is certainly at very least dangerous.
Game 3, Wednesday night. Indianapolis is waiting.