The Oklahoma City Thunder returned to form after blowing Game 1 against the Indiana Pacers in the NBA Finals. OKC destroyed the Pacers 123-107 in Game 2. With the NBA Finals now tied at one game apiece, it’s a best-of-five series now. Let’s jump into last night’s game!
Thunder’s Dominant First Half
One of the keys was how the Thunder would look in the opening minutes after blowing Game 1. They looked as sharp as they were to start these Finals, especially Chet Holmgren. Holmgren was dreadful in the previous game, with only six points. In the nine first-quarter minutes he played, he scored nine points on an efficient 4/5 shooting. His aggressiveness set the tone for OKC‘s big-time win.
Game 2 was the story of the role players. Aaron Wiggins had his best performance since the first game of these playoffs. Wiggins finished with 18 points and was a +24 when he was on the court, which led the team. Someone who also kept up their stellar play was Alex Caruso. The AC was on fire with 20 points on 6/11 shooting and 4/8 from deep. When you get two role players who would have led the Pacers in scoring, the Thunder will continue to look unstoppable.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 points and dished out eight assists. SGA’s 72 points in his first two Finals games are the most any player has ever scored in the first two Finals games of their career. I mentioned in the game preview that if he stayed true to his team and continued to get others involved, this team would cruise to a win and look what happened.
Lastly, when will Jalen Williams show up in these finals? Going into this series as the Thunder’s second-best player, it would seem as if he would have success going against the second-best defender on the Pacers. He has struggled through the first two games, scoring 17 in Game 1 on 6/19 shooting and 19 last night on 5/14 shooting. If J-Dub stays in this slump, OKC will continue to depend on their defensive stoppers to stay hot scoring-wise.
Three W’s for the Pacers?
What do I mean by the three w’s? It’s simple, “What Went Wrong?” Where did the Pacers lose control of the game? Much like Game 1, Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers hung around in the first quarter, trading buckets throughout. Then, from the 2:30 mark of the first quarter to 4:48 in the 2nd quarter, a nine-minute and 12-second stretch, the Pacers allowed the Thunder to go on a 35-9 run. That is where they lost this game. You can’t let the Thunder continue to front run. I know the Pacers have five 15+ point comebacks; don’t expect that against OKC again.
We knew the Pacers had their hands full going up against the best defensive team in the NBA. However, through the first two games, Indy hasn’t had a 20-point scorer. It isn’t a problem, considering they stole homecourt in Game 1. It’s the inefficiencies that would scare me if I was a Pacer fan. Pascal Siakam is a walking mismatch in this series, and he shot 7/15 in the first game; not bad, but he had a chance to help his team go up 2-0, and he shot 3/11 last night. The passionate home crowd the Pacers have may fuel a dominant performance by Siakam.
Final Thoughts on Game 2
I had a feeling last night would look like that. Last night was the Thunder’s “flex game.” They looked like the team that won 68 games in the regular season and blew out the Timberwolves in Games 1,2 and 5. SGA has continued his 30-point streak. He has scored 30+ in four straight, including 13 of the 18 playoff games. We’ve seen how Cason Wallace has performed since entering the starting lineup. How will the Pacers adjust? Who will win Game 3 in Indiana? I cannot wait for Wednesday!
