NBA Finals: Thunder take control of Game 2 with explosive 2nd-quarter run

One bright and shiny master stroke of strategy or performance could have done it, explaining the Oklahoma City Thunder’s considerable turnaround from Game 1 of the 2025 NBA Finals to Game 2.

In this case, though, it was small improvements in several areas by the players and coaches whose efforts added up to the 123-107 victory over the Indiana Pacers to even the best-of-seven championship series at 1-1.

This wasn’t, after all, OKC’s first rodeo. Resilience has been at the ready all season, with this one Sunday at Paycom Center boosting their record in games immediately following losses to 17-2.

If there is one thing the Thunder know how to do, it’s bouncing back to make sure one loss doesn’t become two, two don’t become three and three becomes, yuck, an actual stinking losing streak.

The group effort that cracked open the game came a few minutes into the second quarter. That’s when a game that was mildly going the Thunder’s way got seized and secured.

A soft finish to the first quarter and a soft start to the second dug the Pacers their first 10-point deficit Sunday. But that was nothing compared to what followed. Indiana turned a pair of Thunder turnovers into layups to get within six.

At which point, Oklahoma City went on a 19-2 run in less than five minutes of that second quarter, its lead ballooning to 52-29. It was the Thunder’s biggest lead of the night, too fat even for the Comeback Kids of Indiana to whittle down. The closest the Pacers got from there? Thirteen points.

It wasn’t just the numbers, it was the way Oklahoma City got them and maintained them over the game’s last 29 minutes. The quarter was playing out calmly enough with six lead changes in less than 15 minutes — compare that to the single, lethal lead change that went Indiana’s way with just 0.3 seconds left in Game 1.

It was nearly all hands on deck when this game convulsed. The first nine points came courtesy of Jalen Williams (four), Aaron Wiggins (three) and Chet Holmgren (two) in a span of 2:30. Indiana coach Rick Carlisle flipped through four substitutions in that run and retreated to a timeout at 7:08.

A layup by Aaron Nesmith out of the timeout was fool’s gold — rather than sparking any positive stretch for the Pacers, it merely triggered OKC’s 10-0 run in response. This one was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander-heavy, with the Kia MVP scoring 10 around another 3-pointer from Wiggins.

Three more substitutions by Carlisle that altered nothing, another Indiana timeout at 4:47 and the Pacers were blinking up at a 52-29 problem on the scoreboard.

“Indiana is kind of an acquired taste. We haven’t played them a ton. They’re not in the West obviously. They play a very distinct style on both ends. I felt like tonight there were a lot of things we were a little better in and more comfortable. That was on both ends of the floor.”—Thunder coach Mark Daigneault.

“I don’t know if there was any lineup that they used that wasn’t impactful for them.”— Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, when asked about OKC’s more effective use of big men Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein in this one

“We were the aggressor for much of the game, even when we had a lead. I thought the guys did a really good job of keeping the foot on the gas, especially defensively.”— Daigneault

“I always love playing with Hart. Especially when he’s throwing lobs up to me ...”— Chet Holmgren, on the dunk set-up that Hartenstein tossed up for him, some big-to-big love

“Obviously you’re not going to like the downside to low minutes or not playing consistently a lot every night. But it’s the NBA. There’s a lot of highs and lows. There’s a lot of other guys going through similar things and guys who have just kind of earned their rights.”— Aaron Wiggins, whose minutes, touches, opportunities and directives change almost game-to-game for the Thunder, after scoring 18 points.

With the scoring gap solidly above 20 for much of the fourth quarter, even Carlisle couldn’t see any late-game heroics coming from his guys this night. He took out frontline players and dipped deep into the bench, his focus — like so many in the stands or watching at home — shifting to Game 3 Wednesday (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC) in Indianapolis.

The Pacers will welcome having the next two games at home (though they were 0-3 in Game 3 after their first three playoff rounds), with their impassioned fans.

But it will be a rejuvenated Thunder team making the trip to Gainbridge Fieldhouse too. Most of what Daigneault tried Sunday worked — the double-big lineup, Jalen Williams back as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s lieutenant on the court, a defense that doused Indiana’s corner 3s, sparks off the bench from Wiggins, Hartenstein, Alex Caruso and others.

Carlisle, his staff and their players will adjust, but just as Oklahoma City shifted into a new gear in Game 4 against Denver in the Western Conference semifinals, it might have found what it needed to deal with the Pacers. Two games sooner, in Game 2’s second quarter.