OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – The Oklahoma City Thunder needed a swing back to the Indiana Pacers after dropping a blown lead in Game 1’s loss, and they sure got it for a Game 2 win.
The Thunder won 123-107 in a match where they outplayed Indiana in every facet: fewer turnovers, more rebounds, better shooting, etc. Bigs Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein were a big piece of this.
“I thought both of them gave us huge lifts on both ends of the floor. That was one area where we improved tonight, was our pick-and-roll coverage against their bigs, they’re a different look because of their rolling and popping, just the way they play, and I thought one area that we really improved was on the defensive end in that area of the game,” head coach Mark Daignault said.
“And they both were great, I thought Chet in particular, he obviously had a rough offensive night in Game 1, as always, he rose back up and was really good.”
Former Gonzaga forward Holmgren added his thoughts on how tough it is to contain and manage a lead late, not collapsing like Game 1.
“You can’t play like you’re up and just try to run the clock out, because they can put points on the board in a hurry,” Holmgren said. “So, you gotta try and continue to score with them, and keep getting stops on the other end. And not even look at how much time’s on the clock, you just gotta continue to play like the game’s tied, try to keep winning the game with possession, one at a time, can’t get caught up playing the score.”
The Thunder and Pacers rematch again in Game 3 in Indiana this Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in the first Indianapolis NBA Finals game since 2000.
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