Oklahoma City Thunder came up with a dominant performance in the second game of the NBA Finals against Indiana Pacers to level the series 1-1. Thunder registered a 123-107 win on Sunday night after Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 points, and Alex Caruso added 20 off the bench.
OKC came up with a collective show as Jalen Williams scored 19, Aaron Wiggins had 18 and Chet Holmgren finished with 15 for the Thunder.
“We did some things good tonight. We did some things bad,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We’ve got to be able to get better and be ready for Game 3.”
Tyrese Haliburton, who had starred in the opening game for the Pacers, scored 17. Myles Turner scored 16 and Pascal Siakam added 15 for the Pacers.
The Pacers conceded a 18-point lead after the first half and their coach Rick Carlisle admitted they had a poor first half, which led to their downfall.
“A bad first half, obviously, was a big problem,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “And we just played poorly. A little better in the second half. But you can’t be a team that’s reactive and expect to be successful or have consistency.”
“They did a good job being disruptive,” Siakam said. “They got out in transition. … They were super aggressive, which is what they do.”
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault lauded his players for bouncing back in style after losing the series opener.
“That’s a long 48 hours when you lose Game 1 like that, coming into Game 2,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “The guys did a great job of just focusing on what we needed to do to stack a win tonight. That’s how we got it.”
Game 3 of the series is on Wednesday at Indianapolis.
