SGA dazzles as Thunder constrict Pacers in Game 2

Indiana couldn't create or take away space

By: Samson Folk I @samfolkk

Two teams overloading on the ball. Two teams hitting some catch and shoot triples. The pressure was on. For one, players were met high up court, and with bothersome, poking, intrusive arms. For two, the Oklahoma City faithful, at their quietest, provided a loud humming and buzzing to score the game. At their loudest? A raucous cheering without quit. Fitting then, that they were all of them adorned in blue shirts with “LOUD CITY” emblazoned across the chest. 

The Thunder were up 12-11 when the first subs were made. For the Thunder? A swap of their bigs. For the Pacers? Exchanging Aaron Nesmith and Pascal Siakam for Bennedict Mathurin and Obi Toppin. Of note? Nembhard continued to hang off the MVP like a shadow, showcasing an almost preternatural ability to slide with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s jittery and glitchy movement patterns. 

What ended up being the best stretch of the quarter for the Thunder (for either team, frankly) was motivated by their double big lineup. The Pacers were very quick to launch against them from downtown, given the extra space, and didn’t hit at the level you might expect. Going the other way, the Pacers continued to load up on the MVP, and Chet Holmgren more than anyone made them pay for it. A huge swing for the Thunder’s young big man as he tallied more points in the first quarter than he did in all of Game 1. Pacers down, 26-20. 

It was helter-skelter hoops to start the second quarter. Without either of Tyrese Haliburton or Gilgeous-Alexander on the floor to organize offense for their team, the game got messy. A big swing one way for the Thunder that grew their lead to 10, a quick rush of play from the Pacers to bring it back to six, but ultimately settling at a deficit of eight before Rick Carlisle called a timeout. The ball was pinging everywhere, and with little control. The Pacers were a few inches of ball control away from having the game get away from them in that stretch. Three or four possessions swung their way and kept them hanging around. The timeout didn’t stop the bleeding, and neither did Haliburton checking in as the Thunder were able to drive the lead back up to 15 quickly. 

The Pacers started 4-of-14 inside the arc, and faced a 14-point deficit in points in the paint early (18-4). They were losing the rebounding battle, the turnover battle, the shot making battle, and had less assists. 

Gilgeous-Alexander slithered to the bucket for an And-1. Aaron Wiggins hit his second step back triple of the night. The MVP got to the bucket for a layup off a SLOB. The lead jumped to 23. The Thunder, who are the league’s best team at throwing haymakers, well they threw one. 

Also, as a B story, this Siakam game was reminiscent of passive stretches we’ve seen in the past. Both in that it seemed like Siakam could be a little bit more involved, but also in that the Pacers aren’t doing a good enough job of getting him the ball. (He got a flattened out iso and beat J-Dub and Holmgren for an And-1 immediately after I wrote this. Drove Holmgren for a layup after that. And finally drew two to find Nesmith for a corner triple. Funny! Thunder lead back to a salvageable 13!)

As I referenced last game though, the Thunder are very good at stiff arming, keeping that chasm between themselves and others - and they had a run to finish the half and closed it out up by 18. The struggles remained largely the same for the Pacers, they were losing in every important category. 

Mostly, you could track the reasoning back to one thing. The Thunder were far more accomplished at getting into the teeth of the Pacers defense, than the Pacers were getting into the teeth of the Thunder’s. Controlled, live-dribble creation that created advantages. As far as turning the corner goes? The Pacers most dependable man on the night was Siakam, who only did it for a spurt of a couple minutes. Nembhard and Haliburton had flirted with it, but the former kept having to take his drives horizontal instead of vertical, and the latter was consistently picking up his dribble above the break.

Well done to the Thunder, as they assaulted the Pacers shot quality. 

A lot of Turner to start the second half. He was the Pacers natural release valve on offense and a lot of possessions slid his way. On the other side of the court, the Thunder kept trying him, to test his constitution at the level of the screen. The Pacers offense was in grind it out mode. The only thing that could come easy were ATB triples for Turner, and they got one of those to fall, but everything else was a fight to the death inside the arc. Siakam was bruising and battering, trying to create through gritted teeth, and somehow after some free throws and a push pass to a relocating Nesmith for 3, the Pacers forced a timeout from the Thunder, who were then up 14. 

Listen, I’m not gonna sugarcoat it. Gilgeous-Alexander (my autocorrect keeps trying to autocorrect Gilgeous to Folgers) was undressing the Pacers defense, and the shot making on the end of his passes was there to punish all the attention he was drawing. As Siakam toiled away, grinding for free throws to help the Pacers stay afloat - they threw zone on defense to provide something different and to keep Haliburton out of actions - the Thunder were picking him out prior. 

The Thunder’s 10-of-24 mark from downtown was a big deal at this point in the game. 

We got a Haliburton-less, Siakam-less lineup to finish the quarter. Two triples from Nesmith helped keep the lineup afloat. Man alive, he has shot that thing lately. Ultimately though, the Pacers entered the fourth quarter down by a gargantuan 19 points. 

First play for the Pacers to start the fourth? A handoff from Siakam to Haliburton, where Haliburton had space to work, resulted in a travel. Bad omen. 

A string of a lot of offensive rebounds, and I mean way too many, gave more life to the Thunder’s offense than it needed. Caruso, in particular, did a tremendous job of cutting against the scrambled Pacers defense. Extra looks. Extra points. That made it so the Pacers gained absolutely no ground, even with Haliburton hitting a couple shots to start. Stuck 20. Stuck. All you can really hope for is that Haliburton takes some of this shot making momentum into Game 3. 

The death rattle came early. The Thunder took Game 2 handily. 

Caitlin and I will get into some of what the Pacers did to see Haliburton loose a little bit towards the end of the game, but the Thunder did a hell of a job on him. They did a hell of a job overall. They didn’t allow any deep catches for Siakam, who shot terribly because he was handed shot clock grenades, and had to initiate from the top, through Caruso, through Jalen Williams, and through grabbing arms. At times, it looked akin to Jon Snow climbing out of the pile of bodies in the Battle of the Bastards. Grinding. Grinding. Grinding. 

On the other side, the MVP was masterful, with Caruso and Wiggins flanking him for two of their best games of the playoffs. When the defense was as good as it was, that’s all you need - and the Thunder got more besides. 

Back to Indy for Game 3. I’ll see y’all there. Let’s hope the fellas try to impress me. 

A split going home is very good.

Have a blessed day.