Oklahoma City – to reach the NBA finals and steal their opening game, the Indiana Pacers against all probabilities were shot repeatedly and defended more, in clutch situations. It was a perfect storm.
However, they could not replicate Sunday 2 in game 2, because Oklahoma City has matched the series in a game each unleashing what was equivalent to a perfect swarm.
And it could be Thunder’s plan for a championship.
“No unique show,” said Oklahoma City star, Shai Gilgous-Alxander, “can win a NBA championship.”
His 123-107 Victory Inside Paycom Center, in which he led up to 23 points in the first half and suffocated each incipient attempt to return from Indiana in the fourth quarter, was not only the product of receiving a more efficient game of Gilgeous-Alexander, the most valuable player in the league. After scoring 38 points but need 30 shots to do it in game 1, ended with 34 points in 21 attempts on Sunday.
On tonight, Oklahoma City built a two -digit advantage for a second consecutive game, and said, something that playoff opponents have rarely made against Indiana, while showing the complete capacity of the deepest list of the NBA.
After scoring four points in game 1, the initial center Chet Holmgren scored 15. Jalen Williams, the All-Star wing in control in game 1, had 19 points thanks to an aggressive plan that led to nine attempts at free throws. The most revealing was how even Alex Caruso’s reserves (20 points) and Aaron Wiggins (18) ended more score than any pacemaker. Even when Kenrich Williams, a striker whose game time has fluctuated, entered for only eight minutes, Oklahoma City beat Indiana by 15. Gilgeous-Alexander did not feel the need to force his shots on Sunday, helping six different teammates.
“They play 48 full minutes, and you can’t simply throw the first blow,” Gilgous-Alexander said. “You are going to try to throw all the blows, all night.”
Defensively, Oklahoma City caused Indiana Star Guard Tyrese Haliburton invisible during the first three quarters, having “many different types that can protect the ball, fly,” said Haliburton.
Both Oklahoma City and Indiana reflect the modern NBA, where the rules that govern the salary limit of the League have moved away the teams of the model of the last decade of signing two and, sometimes, three main stars and gathering a heavy list with talent, and towards a model based on depth.
Oklahoma City showed in game 2 how effective and aggressive, that depth can be on both sides of the ball. If Indiana has written multiple unlikely return when using opponents, Oklahoma City returned the favor. His children, with an average age of 25 years, this is the second most fair list to reach the final, they have proven to be quick apprentices. The Thunder are now 12-2 after a defeat this season.
“It would be easy to say that one thing looked better tonight, but that would be a simplification too much,” said coach Mark Daigneault. “I think we were a little better in many different areas of execution, rhythm … organization, decision making, aggressiveness in the basket, collecting the ball. We were simply a striker in all those areas.”
The Thunder used the same initial alignment, with only a big man, as three days before, but he was adjusted when choosing larger players in all his positions in all alignments, which Daigneault saw as an adjustment after his team took 17 rebounds less than Indiana in game 1. In game 2, Oklahoma City won the battle of rebounds for eight. For the first time this series, Oklahoma City played his two great men, Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein, together for four minutes, and surpassed Indiana for four points.
The size and attention to detail helped the Thunder contain one of the most reliable works of Indiana, the Pick-And-Roll, to prevent the great men of the Pacers from finding great open men to shoot beyond the 3-point line. And its constant defensive movement, either in defense of man to man or a 2-3 area, also affected Indiana’s ability to drive.
“As you have seen, they have a swarm mentality, keep everyone out of painting,” said the center of the Myles Turner Pacers. “They are sold to painting. They are willing to give up a multitude of shots, 3, average range, whatever we do not enter the painting. Now it is about making a decision, enter there.”
“I think there are ways to break down the defense. I think sometimes, it is easier to say it than to do it.”
