Indiana vs Oklahoma: Game 2 preview with Pacers looking to cause another Paycom Center shock

Expectation is high ahead of Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday in Oklahoma City after the Pacers pulled off a stunner in Game 1.

Indiana opened the series with a 111-110 victory Thursday, when Tyrese Haliburton’s last-second shot put the Pacers ahead for the first time in the game.

The Thunder dropped the first game of their second-round series against Denver in similar, heartbreaking fashion on Aaron Gordon’s late shot but then Oklahoma City stormed back to win Game 2 by 43 points.

Thunder star player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander bagged 38 points in Game 1, the third-most for a player in his NBA Finals debut.

SGA speaks ahead of Game 2

But Gilgeous-Alexander, speaking to the media ahead of Sunday’s clash was anxious to put Game 1 behind him.

“I let the game go as soon as I learn the lessons from it, as soon as I watch film. I take what I need to take from it, and we do as a group,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “After that, I let it go, because the lessons are learned. There’s nothing else you can do. The team has the same demeanor.”

Each time the Thunder have lost in these playoffs, they have come back to win the next game.

Oklahoma City lost back-to-back games just twice during the regular season.

“The playoffs take you to the limit,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “They put your back against the wall -- in games, in series. If you make it this far, you have to endure to do that. It gives you rich experiences that you can draw on. The biggest experience we’ve had is understanding that every game’s a new game. The most important of the series is always the next one, regardless of the outcome.”

Pacers with strong starts

The Indiana Pacers have won their first game in each round on their way to the 2025 NBA Finals.

In the last two rounds, the Pacers won the first two games of their series on the road as they have become accustomed to thriving in the underdog role.

“That’s been our thing the whole year, even at the beginning of the playoffs,” Indiana’s Obi Toppin said. “Everybody got the other team winning every single game. We just go out there and always do what we do.”

Haliburton said the Pacers have drawn motivation from last season’s playoff run, where they beat the Bucks and Knicks in the first two rounds before they were swept by the Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals.

“You come into the year with all the talk around how it was a fluke,” Haliburton said. “You have an unsuccessful first couple months and now it’s easy to for everyone to clown you and talk about you in a negative way, and I think as a group we take everything personal. ... I feel like that’s the DNA of this group.”

“We can’t turn the ball over that much,” Haliburton said. “We have to do a better job of being in gaps, rebounding, all over the floor.”

NBA Finals (fixtures)

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