CNN
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The Oklahoma City Thunder evened the NBA Finals on Sunday by rolling the Indiana Pacers, mitigating a 123-107 victory that washed away some of the bad taste left by the Pacers’ dramatic victory in the opening game of the series.
Thunder left the Pacers in the second quarter in one of the team’s patented extension runs. This is the sequence in which OKC saw them become the NBA’s best team in the regular season and lead the league.
Leading by an incredible performance from MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a strong show by bench guard Alex Caruso, Oklahoma City issued a statement highlighted in his blowout victory.
For SGA, the 34-point, eight-assist performance was a solid follow-up of 38 points in the lost effort on Thursday. Kentucky’s seventh-year player made his debut in an impressive way in the finals and dominates each series, so it doesn’t look like he’s made a mistake throughout the playoffs.
After the game, Gilgeous-Alexander told ABC that all powerful performances in Game 2 are to move from Game 1.
“Basketball is a game of ups and downs, and the season is full of ups and downs. The series is full of ups and downs. It’s about teams that can level up and get better through experience, and they’ll be on top,” he said.
He said, “We used that opportunity to make it better. We did a really good job all year round. The last game was the same. Tonight was the same. Tonight we did some good things.
The Spector of Game 1 was on the game in the first quarter, as Oklahoma City seemed to be pushing a little more than the early stages of the series opener. The Thunder committed four turnovers as they looked nervous in the opening minutes, but ended the quarter with a six-point lead.
That momentum took over in the second quarter as Thunder extended the lead to 15 points in the first five minutes and forced a timeout to Indiana try to slow down momentum. The exclamation point was a Chetholmglen dunk that was trying to erase the taste of a poor show in the series opener. The 7-foot-1, second-year player finished Game 1 with a 6-point and a -13 plus-minus rating.
The Pacers were unable to change the mood with the timeout and the lead was 23 just minutes later as the Thunder ran 19-2 in the second quarter. The Pacers shot just 33% off the field as the Thunder lights out 55.6%. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander pulled away the reverse layup and the blue-covered crowd of Paycom Arena rose to his feet after Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle called for another timeout and tried to gather his troops.
Andrew Neverd hit the bucket to stop the Thunderrun, but the damage was done. The Thunder’s massive run meant that Pacer had been staring again at a re-doing an unlikely comeback if he wanted to come back to Indianapolis with a 2-0 series lead.
The Pacers managed to cut a small lead at halftime, but the Thunder, led by Gilgus Alexander’s 15-pointer, was only 18 years old. The Thunder’s stifling defense once again went into full display, bringing the Pacer to 34.9% fire. They dominated Indiana in Paint, earning 26 compared to the Pacers’ 12.
The Pacers took the lead early in the third quarter by scoring an 8-2 run and relied on Miles Turner and Pascalciacam to pull back into the game. Game 1 hero Tyrese Halliburton was not a non-factor from the first half to the third quarter. With seven and a half minutes remaining in the third quarter, Halliburton scored just three points, three assists and three rebounds.
However, Gilgeous-Alexander and strong play from OKC’s balanced offensive kept Pacer at bay. Unlike Game 1, when the Pacers returned to the game with a string of third quarter runs, the Thunder continued to go to the MVP, where he delivered and finished the quarter with 27 points. Thunder’s Jalen Williams, Alex Caruso, Aaron Wiggins and Holmgren all finished in double digits in the third quarter.
Unlike Thursday, the Thunder refused to remove his foot from the gas pedal as the lead surged past 20 at the beginning of the fourth quarter. The Pacers continued to look after the ball far better than last week, when it had 25 turnovers, but were unable to find a consistent shooting touch and dominated by lightning on the board.
Perhaps the most disappointing performance from Pacer was the brooding show of Halliburton. The Pacers leader was suppressed by the Thunder for almost all of this year’s regular season matchups and Game 1 on Thursday. He wiped out his frustration with a clutch shot that won his first game of the final on Thursday, earning another extraordinary Indiana comeback, but his 14 points, 10 rpm and six assists performances were unforgettable.
Before he entered the rhythm in the fourth quarter, Halliburton was suffocating when the Thunder still had more than 20 leads and Indiana refused to get close. By the time he went into double digits in the point row, Oklahoma City was far from impressive range. He finished with 17 points, 12 of which came in the fourth quarter.
This was Lugenz Dort’s testimony, the man was tasked with protecting Halliburton in the middle of the night, helping him push the Star Guard against five turnovers.
“With them, that’s where it starts,” Gilgeous-Alexander told ABC about the Pacers’ attack. “They’re powerful offense. They play fast and get a lot of points. If they don’t stop, they run all the games and they can beat you like that.”
The series will move to Indianapolis for games 3 and 4 this week. The Pacers will hold lightning at Gainbridge Field House on Wednesday at 8:30pm.
A compelling victory won’t change the Thunder’s mindset coming into a break before Wednesday’s game.
“You can’t be comfortable. You have to focus on the little things, recover, and prepare for your game plan. In the end, it sounds like a record broken, but it’s better for the next game and the next opportunity,” he told ABC.