The Oklahoma City Thunder bounced back from Tyrese Haliburton’s last-gasp heroics to tie up their NBA Finals series against the Indiana Pacers and take Game 2 of the NBA Finals 123-107.
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Haliburton started to heat up late in the game with the result almost beyond doubt, although that of course is never guaranteed with this Pacers team.
But there was no late comeback from Indiana, who didn’t lead the series opener until the final 0.3 seconds when Haliburton rose up for what ended up being the game-winning bucket.
This time around Haliburton struggled early, with just five points through the first three quarters, as the Thunder threw numerous bodies at the Pacers superstar to force him into taking tough shots and pass it up to teammates.
Haliburton got into a rhythm in the fourth quarter but it was far too late, finishing with 17 points.
Meanwhile, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander backed up his dominant Game 1 with a huge two-way effort as the league’s MVP put up 34 points to go with seven assists and four steals.
The Thunder also got huge contributions off the bench from Aaron Wiggins (17 points) and Alex Caruso (20), who scored more points than any of Indiana’s players.
The series now moves to Indiana where the Pacers host the Thunder in Game 3 on Thursday at 10.30am AEST.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault resisted the temptation to go back to a two-big line-up to open Monday’s game, instead going small with Cason Wallace getting the start once again.
It was still going to require some adjusting, with the Pacers generating open looks, but there was early evidence of why Daigneault made that decision as Pascal Siakam drained a triple.
Both teams were trading baskets in the initial stages of the opening quarter, with Oklahoma City taking a 12-10 lead after five minutes before Caruso checked in and made an immediate impact as he splashed a corner 3-pointer.
That put OKC ahead 16-11 but still it wasn’t the knockout punch the Thunder delivered in Game 2 of the Denver series after they suffered a similar last-gasp loss at home.
A lot of that had to do with the fact Indiana was actually taking care of the ball unlike they did in Game 1, only turning it over twice in nine minutes.
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But the game turned in Oklahoma City’s favour late in the quarter when, for the first time in the series, they had Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein out on the floor at the same time.
Holmgren had a quiet Game 1 with six points, having shot just 2-for-9 from the field, but he exceeded that production in the first quarter alone with nine points.
The double big line-up helped Oklahoma City close out the first on a 9-0 run, with Hartenstein also having success going after Thomas Bryant when he checked in.
Meanwhile, a selfless Gilgeous-Alexander had six points in the first quarter but also added three assists as he went out of his way to get Holmgren involved instead of hunting his shot.
The Thunder finished the first quarter on top 26-20, having outscored the Pacers 10-0 in the paint, and made a strong start with Gilgeous-Alexander on the bench to open the second as they pushed further ahead 33-23.
The Pacers, as they did in the series opener, were able to keep the Thunder from blowing it out and at one point cut the deficit down to six. But then came an Oklahoma City avalanche.
The Thunder went on a 19-2 run to storm ahead 52-29 with Kenrich Williams making an instant impact in his limited minutes and while Indiana had been the comeback kings all postseason, this one on the road seemed a bridge too far.
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After all, the largest deficit they had overcome in the playoffs was 20 points.
But, once again, the Pacers quickly proved no lead is safe as they went on a 10-0 run out of the timeout to close the gap.
The Thunder still had a healthy lead though and pushed it back out to 59-41 at halftime.
Oklahoma City maintained that buffer in the early exchanges of the third quarter, although a handy eight points from Myles Turner saw Indiana start to chip away at the lead and the Thunder called a timeout when the Pacers got within 14 points.
Daigneault responded by inserting Caruso into the game and the veteran guard once again made his presence felt on both ends right away with five quick points, including his third 3-pointer of the night.
That brought Caruso up to 13 points in just as many minutes and re-established Oklahoma City’s lead, which was extended to 93-74 at the end of the third quarter.
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The Pacers desperately needed something from Haliburton, who managed just five points entering the fourth, and the Indiana guard responded with three quick buckets much to the frustration of Richard Jefferson in commentary.
“Where was this in the first half? When your team has hto set the tone, I know that might not be his natural state, but he’s got to be more aggressive early,” Jefferson said.
It mattered little anyway with the Thunder still leading 102-82 even after Haliburton aggressively drove to the rim for the dunk, while Wiggins answered the Indiana guard’s 3-pointer soon after with a triple of his own.
It saw Indiana coach Rick Carlisle empty the bench with four minutes left, which saw Australian Johnny Furphy get a brief run and he was immediately targeted by Gilgeous-Alexander as the MVP drove at the rookie to draw an and-1 in a ‘welcome to the NBA’ moment.