Thunder Star Drops 34 Points After Learning Hard Lesson From Blown Lead

Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander delivered a dominant performance in Game 2 of the NBA Finals, helping his team bounce back with a 123-107 victory over the Indiana Pacers to tie the series 1-1.

“You can’t just throw the first punch,” Gilgeous-Alexander said after Sunday night’s game. “You’ve got to throw all the punches all night.”

The statement reflected lessons learned from Game 1, when Oklahoma City surrendered a 15-point fourth-quarter lead before losing 111-110 on a last-second basket by Indiana.

Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 34 points, eight assists, five rebounds and four steals while shooting an impressive 11-of-12 from the free-throw line.

Thunder coach Mark Daigneault highlighted multiple areas of improvement from their opening loss. Oklahoma City capitalized better on Indiana’s turnovers, received stronger contributions from Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams, nearly doubled their assist total after recording a season-low 13 in Game 1, and got significant offensive production from bench players Alex Caruso and Aaron Wiggins.

“I think we were just a little bit better in a lot of areas,” Daigneault said, noting that no single factor determined the outcome.

The game’s pivotal moment came during a second-quarter stretch when Oklahoma City executed a decisive 19-2 run. Their defense forced turnovers while Gilgeous-Alexander converted on the offensive end, scoring seven of the Thunder’s final nine points during that sequence, all generated from Pacers turnovers.

Indiana responded with a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to 52-39, but never came closer than 13 points for the remainder of the game.

Oklahoma City dominated inside, outscoring Indiana 26-12 in the paint during the first half. For the series, the Thunder now hold an 88-68 advantage in paint scoring.

“They’re the best team in the league at keeping the ball out of there,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle acknowledged. “It’s a tough task.”

After struggling in Game 1 with a combined 8-of-28 shooting performance, Williams and Holmgren showed marked improvement. Holmgren appeared more comfortable early, connecting on five consecutive shots after an initial miss, finishing with 15 points. Williams contributed 19 points on 5-of-14 shooting while going 8-for-9 from the free-throw line and adding five assists.

Caruso provided 20 points off the bench, while Wiggins added 18.

For Indiana, Tyrese Haliburton, who hit the Game 1 winner, led with 17 points, though 12 came in the final quarter with the outcome largely decided. Through two games, Haliburton has managed just nine points on 3-of-9 shooting before halftime.

“I have to figure out how to be better at the beginning of games,” Haliburton said. “Kudos to them; they are a great defensive team.”

Thunder defender Luguentz Dort has been instrumental in limiting Haliburton’s early-game impact, though he was positioned away from Haliburton during the Game 1 winning shot. Despite scoring only three points, Dort’s defensive contributions earned recognition from teammates.

“He knows the role he needs to play for us to win the series and pick up that trophy at the end,” Caruso said.

Myles Turner contributed 16 points for Indiana, while Pascal Siakam struggled with efficiency, scoring 15 points on 3-of-11 shooting.

The series now shifts to Indianapolis for Game 3 on Wednesday, with both teams looking to gain a crucial advantage in the best-of-seven series.