The Oklahoma City Thunder, fueled by an efficient 34 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, thumped the Indiana Pacers 123-107 on Sunday, punching back hard to level the NBA Finals at one game apiece.
NBA Most Valuable Player Gilgeous-Alexander connected on 11 of 21 shots and added five rebounds, eight assists and four of Oklahoma City’s 10 steals as the Thunder bounced back from an agonizing game one defeat on their home floor.
Jalen Williams added 19 points, and center Chet Holmgren bounced back from a lackluster six-point Game 1 to score 15 points with six rebounds for the Thunder, who limited Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton to 17 points, three rebounds and six assists with five turnovers.
Photo: Matthew Stockman via Imagn Images/USA Today
Haliburton, who drilled the last-gasp game-winner for Indiana in their 111-110 series opening triumph, had just five points through the first three quarters.
Despite his 12 points in the fourth, the Pacers never looked like mounting the kind of comeback that saw them erase a 15-point fourth quarter deficit in Game 1.
“We know with them [defense] is where it starts,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “They’re a high-powered offense, they play fast, score a bunch of points and if you don’t get stops you end up running all game, and they can beat you that way.”
With their latest bounce-back performance, the Thunder denied the Pacers the 2-0 lead they had grabbed in their three prior series, climbing back on even terms as the best-of-seven championship showdown heads to Indianapolis, Indiana, for games 3 and 4 tomorrow and Friday.
“We did some good things tonight,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We did some things bad, and we’ve got to be able to get better, get ready for game three.”
Alex Caruso scored 20 points off the bench, and fellow reserve Aaron Wiggins made five three-pointers on the way to 18 for the Thunder, who closed a back-and-forth first quarter on a 9-0 run to lead 26-20.
Holmgren punctuated the period with a three-pointer, and Oklahoma City only ramped up the pressure in the second.
Another 9-0 run included a three-pointer from Williams off a feed from Holmgren and a Holmgren dunk.
After Wiggins drilled a step-back three-pointer, Gilgeous-Alexander drove for a reverse layup that pushed the Thunder lead to 52-29.
The turnovers that bedeviled the Pacers in Game 1 began to creep up again, but Indiana offered a glimpse of just how dangerous they can be as they reeled off 10 unanswered points to slice the deficit to 13 before Oklahoma pulled away again to lead 59-41 at halftime.
The Thunder took a 93-74 lead into the fourth and were up by 22 after a three-pointer from Wiggins on a possession kept alive by three offensive rebounds.
Haliburton finally started to heat up, making three straight Pacers baskets, but his driving dunk with 8:12 remaining only cut the deficit to 20.
Myles Turner added 16 points and Pascal Siakam had 15 as seven Pacers players scored in double figures, but the Thunder maintained their record of not losing back-to-back games in these playoffs.
“Basketball, it’s a game of ups and downs,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.
“The season’s full of ups and downs. The series is full of ups and downs,” he said. “The team that can stay levelheaded and get better throughout the experiences is going to come out on top.”
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