OKC dominates Indiana in NBA Finals Game 2 with 123-107 win

That’s all, folks. OKC cruises to a victory in Game 2 to tie the series 1-1.

Game 3 is in Indiana on Wednesday.

Thunder coach Mark Daigneault takes a timeout with four minutes to play, his team holding a 17-point lead, to ensure Indiana has no escape route this time. Indiana was down by as many as 22 points only two minutes earlier, but after a 3-pointer by Tyrese Haliburton trimmed the lead to 17, the Thunder didn’t want to leave anything to chance.

The Thunder have remained steadily in front in the second half. They lead by 22, 109-87, with 6:11 to go in the fourth.

The Pacers’ star guard has four assists and five turnovers with 9:53 to go in the fourth. The five giveaways are the most Haliburton has had since April 27.

Every time the Pacers have threatened to make this a close game, the Thunder have answered with a run of their own.

Indy had a couple nice stretches in the third quarter, but couldn’t make a second push to cut the lead to single digits.

OKC is now well positioned to even this series before Game 3, barring yet another miracle comeback.

In a game where little has gone right for Indiana offensively Aaron Nesmith has made four of his seven 3-pointers. The Pacers are 4-1 this postseason when he makes four or more 3s, which have been a vital component to any Pacers comeback. The question is whether anyone on his team will join him in scoring the ball.

Twenty-six minutes into this game, Tyrese Haliburton has made his second basket of the night. That’s how much of a scramble each Pacers possession feels like against the rotations of Oklahoma City’s defenders.

Haliburton is 2-of-7 shooting, including 1-for-5 from 3. He has yet to get to the free-throw line.

The Pacers haven’t been able to get any closer to the Thunder than 13 points so far in the second half. OKC leads 81-64 with 3:50 left in the third.

Oklahoma City’s defense ranks as the best in the NBA all season but that physicality leads to a lot of fouls. Indiana used that against the Thunder by racking up five quick fouls and getting into the “bonus” early in the third quarter.

Each time Indiana can shoot free throws and score with a stopped clock, it helps their chances of mounting a comeback. The Pacers are 12-of-16 at the line tonight, to 9-of-12 for Oklahoma City.

After the Thunder pushed their lead to 20, Indiana now trails 68-54 with 7:36 left in the third quarter. The Pacers haven’t been within single digits since 8:51 left in the second, though.

Indiana’s star guard has an uncanny way of making criticisms of his play look foolish, so it may very well be the case that Game 2 ends much like Game 1: slow start, followed by a clutch finish. Yet to this point, nearly midway through the third quarter, he has been pressed to find any room to dribble into the interior of Oklahoma City’s defense, where he is most dangerous. With just three points in 21 minutes, and only five shots, this is as ineffective as Haliburton has looked all postseason.

And the Pacers score the first point of the third quarter via a Myles Turner free throw.

To go from trailing by 23 points with four minutes before halftime, to just 13, and ultimately 59-41 at the break, Indiana should draw a lot of confidence to still be in this game, by the Pacers’ ridiculous comeback standards.

Oklahoma City played better in this half than during Game 1 but still finds itself in the same position of having not truly broken Indiana’s spirit. All I’m saying is don’t be so quick to count out the Pacers.

The Thunder led by as many as 23 in the second quarter but will head into halftime with an 18-point advantage.

OKC’s defense has been ferocious, limiting the Pacers to 34.9% shooting from the field.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leads all scorers with 15 points.

Tyrese Haliburton has struggled for Indy, scoring only 3 points on 1-of-5 shooting.

After the Thunder pushed their lead to 23, the Pacers have responded with a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to 13. It’s now 52-39 OKC with 2:40 left in the first half.

If Indiana can get this to under 10 before the third quarter, that would be a massive win at this point.

Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein furiously pumped his first after teammate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander made a layup and was fouled to put his team up 18. But Oklahoma City wasn’t done. It followed with a 3-pointer on the next possession and then another layup by Gilgeous-Alexander for what is now a 23-point lead with 4:47 to play before halftime. This building is as loud as I’ve heard it.

Chances are that on the broadcast of this game, you’re hearing what sounds like prolonged boos. Not quite: The Oklahoma City crowd isn’t booing the Pacers, it’s lovingly cheering ace defender Lu Dort, whom it serenades with a “Luuuuuuuu” anytime he makes a play.

It’s 42-27 Oklahoma City with 7:06 left in the second. The Thunder have looked like the much better team so far tonight.

At the first timeout of the second quarter, the Thunder are up 35-27 with 8:49 to go in the half. Alex Caruso has 5 points off the bench for OKC.

While seemingly no lead is safe against the Pacers, OKC is up 33-23 a couple minutes into the second quarter.

Oklahoma City leads 26-20 after one quarter in Game 2.

The Thunder are shooting 47.6% from the floor, while the Pacers are only converting on 33.3% of their field goals.

Both teams have only three turnovers so far.

Thunder center Chet Holmgren already has more points in 9 minutes tonight (9) than he had in all of Game 1 (4). And not only off catch-and-shoot 3s, but on an aggressive drive, too.

Oklahoma City’s home arena was so loud during Game 1 that even Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, who has seen just about everything in four decades around the NBA, called the decibel levels “insane.” Tonight has been no different inside Paycom Center, where arena workers have earplugs available. The Thunder left a blue T-shirt saying “Loud City,” and a rolled-up noisemaker on every seat, which has amped the volume up higher. Can Tyrese Haliburton quiet them, again?

Oklahoma City’s use of two big men, Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren, had been a staple of its playoff lineups leading into the Finals but was never used in Game 1. With 3 minutes left in the first quarter, the Holmgren-Hartenstein combination is on the floor.

Lu Dort, the Thunder’s best perimeter defender, picked up his second foul with under 5 minutes to go in the first quarter. He’s staying in the game for now, but his foul trouble could potentially play a role tonight.

The backup big man played a big role in Game 1, hitting five threes off the bench for the Pacers. He’s still hot from outside apparently, draining his first attempt from deep tonight.

In a change from Game 1, it’s Oklahoma City that has had trouble with turnovers through the first six minutes, with three already. The Pacers have just one turnover.

It’s been non-stop action to start the game. The Thunder lead 12-10 with 6:40 to go in the first quarter.

Oklahoma City’s decision to switch the starting lineup it had used throughout the postseason, featuring two big men, and instead replace one with guard Cason Wallace, was scrutinized after Thursday’s loss, especially given the Thunder’s struggles to rebound. But Thunder coach Mark Daigneault did not go back to his two-big starters for Game 2, instead keeping Wallace in to match up with Indiana’s speed.

And the teams traded buckets on the first two possessions of the game.

Asked yet again Saturday how Indiana has pulled off an improbable comeback victory in all four rounds of the postseason, Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton said the team had become conditioned to focus on the next task in front of them, whether that means fulfilling media obligations, or chipping a 15-point deficit down to 10. He has tried to apply that mantra of staying present to the playoffs as a whole, he said.

“The sense of urgency for Indiana fans and for everybody should be heightened because, you know, we always talk about you never know when you’ll get this moment again,” Haliburton said. “I had a great conversation with Steve Nash a couple days ago, and he said, ‘Hey, you’re in rare air, I’ve never been there.’

“I thought, damn, Steve Nash has never been to the Finals? That’s pretty crazy. Some guys don’t get the chance to do that. So I’m trying to live in the moment every day.”

Thunder guard and newly crowned league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander took 30 shots in a Game 1 loss, only his fifth time in 93 games this season with 30-plus attempts.

Gilgeous-Alexander made 14 of those shots for 38 points, but in the wake of Oklahoma City’s collapse after leading by as many as 15 points, he was asked — by Miami forward Jaime Jaquez Jr., who was moonlighting as a media member — about the balance of looking for his own opportunities while creating more for teammates. Gilgeous-Alexander said he does not “predetermine” how many shots he will take.

“Last game, I felt more often than not, I had a shot or a play that I could attack on more than in the past, and that’s just the way it went,” he said. “So the same thing will happen in Game 2. I will read the defense and I will play off my feeling and my instincts, and if it’s calling for me to shoot or if it’s calling me to pass is what I will decide to do.”

Carlisle is in his fourth season of his second stint with the Pacers after coaching the team for four seasons (2004-07) nearly two decades earlier. He has reached the playoffs in 16 of his 23 seasons as an NBA head coach.

This is Carlisle’s second NBA Finals appearance (won 2011 NBA Finals with the Mavericks).

He’s just the fifth coach since the NBA-ABA merger to reach the Finals with multiple franchises. Carlisle can become the fourth coach in NBA history to win a title with multiple teams, joining Phil Jackson (Chicago Bulls & Los Angeles Lakers), Pat Riley (Lakers and Miami Heat), and Alex Hannum (St. Louis Hawks and 76ers).

“I think as a group, we take everything personal. It’s not just me, it’s everybody,” Haliburton told reporters after Game 1. “I feel like that’s the DNA of this group. And that’s not just me. Our coaching staff does a great job of making us aware of what’s being said. Us as players, we talk about it in the locker room, we talk about it on the plane. We’re a young team, so we probably spend more time on social media than we should. But I just think we do a great job of taking things personal, and that gives this group more confidence.”

Led OKC in rebounds (6.6) and was the series-leader in steals (2.0) while averaging 22.2 points per game (second on the team) during the Western Conference Finals. He a playoff career-high 34 points in the team’s Game 4 win over Minnesota.

Williams notched first career All-Star selection, first All-NBA selection (third team) and first NBA All-Defensive selection (second team) in just his third season in the league.

Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the first player to win MVP and reach the NBA Finals in the same season since Stephen Curry did with the Golden State Warriors in 2016.

He’s now looking to become the first player to win the regular season MVP and a title since Curry in 2015. He can also become the first to win MVP and Finals MVP since LeBron James in 2013 with Miami (he also won both in 2012).

The Pacers started the season just 10-15, and were still 16-18 when they woke up on New Year’s Day. They had won eight of their next nine games by the time they arrived in Paris for a two-game series Jan. 23-25 against San Antonio and French superstar Victor Wembanyama, who starred in a homecoming atmosphere during a 30-point Spurs win in the opening game in the capital city.

“It was literally us against the entire world,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said.

Two days later, however, Indiana won by 38, and in its next game, once back in the U.S., it knocked off a Detroit team that had easily handled the Pacers earlier in the month. Carlisle described January as “our turnaround month,” and that response in Paris as particularly critical.

“We had a couple of very productive meetings, and there was a lot of conversations,” Carlisle said. “I like to open up our meetings to conversations and sometimes listen to the players first after a game like that. I mean it, was embarrassing. We lost by 30-something. Victor went crazy.

“… So we talked through it, and it was an important moment. Going into the second game, this is a massive place, there’s 20-some-thousand, and all these challenges, and we were able to galvanize for that second game, and then it was big.”

Including the win in Paris against San Antonio, Indiana went 26-12 the rest of the regular season, tied for the fourth-best record in the league, behind only Oklahoma City (32-6), Boston (30-7), Cleveland (28-10), and Golden State (26-12).

Since being named the NBA’s “most overrated” player in April by an anonymous vote of his peers, as polled by The Athletic, Haliburton has authored a revenge tour that has landed Indiana in the NBA Finals. The Pacers are now four wins away a title.

“I’m at my best,” Haliburton told me, “when people are talking s— about me.”

Game 1 marked the first time in NBA history that three Canadian players started a game in the Finals: Lu Dort and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for Oklahoma City, and Andrew Nembhard for Indiana. Pacers wing Bennedict Mathurin, a reserve, also grew up in the same Montreal neighborhood as Dort and has known Dort since childhood.

The matchup of Nembhard and Gilgeous-Alexander has drawn the most attention because they often guarded each other in Game 1, with Nembhard making a late 3-pointer after crossing over his compatriot. Gilgeous-Alexander also gave Nembhard a light shove after a foul.

“Nothing more than two guys wanting to win, no malicious intent behind it,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.

Their friendship has taken a back seat this week. Nembhard was asked about Gilgeous-Alexander several times Saturday but didn’t mention Gilgeous-Alexander by name.

“He’s a winner,” Gilgeous-Alexander said of Nembhard. “Plays the game the right way on both ends of the floor. Really good player.”

Indiana led, in total, for three-tenths of a second in Game 1, but that was enough for a 111-110 victory that saw what would have been an inexplicable comeback for any other team become an inevitable Pacers hallmark. It was the third consecutive series in which they authored a stunning series-opening victory on the road by remaining cool in the clutch.

The Pacers have made a habit of winning the hard way. Indiana is the first team since 1998 with five playoff comebacks of at least 15 points. The team has been so consistent at it that it now anticipates postgame questions about how, exactly, it pulls off improbable victories.

“Our biggest thing is our response,” Pacers center Myles Turner said. “We know things are going to go bad at times and not look good, but you got to be even keel. Calm waters.”

The Pacers are seeking their first NBA title, while the Thunder are looking for their first title since moving to Oklahoma City in 2008.

• The Thunder’s only NBA title in franchise history came in 1979 as the Seattle SuperSonics.

• Indiana won three ABA titles (1970, 1972 & 1973) before joining the NBA in the 1976 ABA-NBA merger.

Chris Paul, a hoops addict who is constantly watching film, notices the little ways Gilgeous-Alexander picks his co-stars up.

“My favorite part about his game is the trust that he has in his teammates,” Paul says. “If he passes the ball to Lu and he don’t shoot, he goes up to Lu in the dead ball or something and says, ‘Yo, if I pass it to you, shoot it!’ Just about every time, Shai makes the right play.”

Paul, who can speak from experience about trying to be both a team’s facilitator and its top scorer, says the groups that are most successful are the ones whose best players give their teammates confidence. “And that’s the way the Thunder play,” he says.

It can be tricky for Paul, who isn’t exactly known for his buddy-buddy nature on the court, to speak so highly of an opponent. He says it’s difficult to discuss Gilgeous-Alexander’s game without starting to scout him. And still, the fact their relationship has sustained despite their being teammates for only one season during radically different moments in their careers is a testament to the loyalty SGA can engender.

“I’m ultracompetitive, I want to beat these guys every time I play against them, but some relationships are different after the fact,” Paul says. “That year was a very pivotal year in my life. My first year away from my family. Shai will forever be one of my brothers.”

Jay Croucher and Drew Dinsick preview the 2025 NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers, sharing one long shot on each team who could be named the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player.

Game 1 of the NBA Finals could have been an especially crushing defeat for a young Oklahoma City Thunder team had they not dealt with nearly the exact same scenario earlier in these same playoffs.

On Thursday, the Thunder led by as many as 15 points in the fourth quarter before they became the latest group to succumb to an improbable Indiana Pacers comeback, losing by a Tyrese Haliburton pull-up jumper that fell through the net with 0.3 seconds remaining.

The loss was eerily similar to Game 1 of the second round, when Oklahoma City led the Denver Nuggets by as many as 13 points in the fourth quarter, but ultimately lost because of an Aaron Gordon 3-pointer that sank with 2.8 seconds remaining.

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