INDIANAPOLIS — Nothing is settled in the NBA Finals through two games with the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder trading wins as the series shifts to Indianapolis for Game 3 on Wednesday night.
“Now the goal is to get to three games,” Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said on Tuesday, a workout day at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. “It’s first team to three. Kind of like it’s a blank slate, a scratch — 1-1, 0-0, and it’s first to three.”
Gilgeous-Alexander drove the Thunder to victory in Game 2 after Tyrese Haliburton’s heart-stopping floater ended Game 1, his fourth game-winner of these playoffs. The MVP has 72 points through two games, the most ever in the first two games of a Finals debut.
Haliburton limped through parts of Sunday’s loss, with Oklahoma City pressuring him with multiple defenders and trying to force the ball to Pascal Siakam or Indiana’s other offensive players.
Haliburton said on Tuesday he does have a “lower body thing” impacting him but plans to be on the floor when Indiana hosts an NBA Finals game for the first time since losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2000.
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, going for his second NBA title as a head coach, has constantly reminded his young team not to unpack any of the good, bad or ugly from the first two games of the series as they embrace the home-floor opportunity.
The Pacers led for 0.3 second in Game 1 and a total of one minute, 56 seconds of a possible 96 minutes in the first two games of the series.
They’re looking for a boost from being at home and answers for slowing down Gilgeous-Alexander, who grasps the notion he might see a new mix of defensive looks from the Pacers with two off days since Oklahoma City claimed a 123-107 win on Sunday night.
“A series is so tricky. It definitely is a feeling-out,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “But there’s also so many adjustments made to where it’s almost hard to predict and try to determine what they’re going to do with you. You kind of just have to be ready for everything and just try to be as sharp as you can. That’s how I kind of see it.”
The Pacers overcame a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter of Game 1 to steal one in Oklahoma City (111-110).
Getting to the rim has been a tall order for Indiana. The Pacers have been outscored by 20 points in the paint. Resolve has been a major trait helping define the team’s success, and they’re 4-0 in the playoffs following a loss.
To take control of the Finals, Carlisle is stressing the importance of tamping down turnovers without losing contact with the accelerator. Haliburton tied his playoff high with five in Game 2 and entered the fourth quarter with just five points.
Oklahoma City’s defensive approach is likely to be similar in Game 2 until the Pacers prove they can handle the on-ball energy. How Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault executes his plan is quite literally anyone’s guess.
He used more than 700 lineup combinations during the regular season, more than any team in the league, and found unique groups to gain an edge on the boards in Game 2. — Reuters
