Thunder Respond, Thunder Roar: Game 2 Blowout Evens NBA Finals vs. Pacers
So this is who the Oklahoma City Thunder are, and who they’ve been all year.
Lose a close one, then come back with the type of vengeance usually reserved for an NBA team that’s been around longer than a TikTok trend. That’s what happened Sunday night in Game 2 of the NBA Finals, when the Thunder did what they always do: responded to a loss by blowing someone out. Final score: Thunder 123, Indiana Pacers 107, and this series is all tied up.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander? The usual brilliance. 34 points, new postseason scoring leader, and now over 3,000 combined points on the season. You could say he’s making a case for Finals MVP — but he’s already made one for just MVP.
Alex Caruso came off the bench like a firecracker with 20 points, Jalen Williams added 19, and the Thunder got five players in double figures, with Chet Holmgren (15) and Aaron Wiggins (18) chipping in big-time.
The run that defined the night? A 19-2 blitz in the second quarter, stretching a six-point lead into a 23-point statement. It felt over by halftime. Even when the Pacers clawed within 13 in the third, it never really got tense. And that’s saying something, because Oklahoma City still hasn’t played its best basketball yet.
“Some good things, some bad,” SGA said after. “But we’ve got to be ready for Game 3.”
Indiana, meanwhile, is searching for answers. Tyrese Haliburton led the Pacers with just 17 points, and no one in a blue uniform hit the 20-point mark for the second straight Finals game. Not a stat you want hanging over your head in June. Not unless you’re the 2013 Miami Heat — the last team to go two Finals games without a 20-point scorer and still come out OK.
Game 3 tips Wednesday in Indianapolis, the city’s first taste of NBA Finals basketball in 25 years. And if the Pacers want a shot, they better hope their first quarter doesn’t look like their second quarter from this one.