The Oklahoma City Thunder mostly controlled the first two games of the NBA Finals but only managed a split on their home floor.
They blew a 15-point lead to lose Game 1 on Thursday and led by as many as 23 while winning Game 2 on Sunday.
If the Thunder held a 2-0 lead, this series would feel entirely different heading to Indianapolis for Games 3 and 4.
But the split in Oklahoma City gave the Pacers life that their performances didn’t fully deserve.
Still, it almost feels like Indiana must win both games at home to have a legitimate shot at winning the series.
Their building will be rocking, and the highly charged atmosphere will make things tough on the Thunder.
But if the teams split the two games in Indianapolis, that favors Oklahoma City. And obviously, losing both would be disastrous for the Pacers.
Indiana needs wins — preferably convincing ones — on its home court.
Through the first two games, there aren’t enough signs that the Pacers can beat Oklahoma City four times.
Indiana never led in Game 1 until Tyrese Haliburton’s decisive basket with 0.3 seconds left. Without that late comeback, the Pacers would already be staring at an 0-2 deficit.
In Game 2, the Pacers never mounted a serious charge while falling 123-107. The Thunder led by 18 at halftime and made sure not to squander another lead.
For the Pacers to win the next two games, Haliburton must raise his game. His performance has been decidedly lukewarm so far.
Haliburton is averaging 15.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 6.0 assists in the series — an OK stat line for a team’s fourth-best player. But the Pacers need superstar-level production.
Maybe Haliburton has struggled to get comfortable on the NBA’s biggest stage. Sometimes it takes a player time to settle in. But the time is now.
“I have to do a better job of figuring out where I can be better,” Haliburton said. “… I think through the course of the series or through these first two games, I’m learning where my spots are and where I can be better.”
Haliburton said the Pacers feel good about earning a split. Well, yeah — they were dangerously close to being down 0-2.
The Thunder surely kicked themselves for blowing a big lead in Game 1, and they tightened their focus in Game 2.
There was no way Oklahoma City was letting Sunday slip. You could sense it from the opening tip.
“The guys did a great job of just focusing on what we needed to do to stack a win,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said.
League MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 34 points Sunday and has totaled 72 points in the series — breaking Allen Iverson’s record (71 in 2001) for the most in a player’s first two NBA Finals games.
Gilgeous-Alexander needed 30 shots to get his 38 points in Game 1. He was much more efficient in Game 2, scoring 34 on just 21 attempts.
The thing about Gilgeous-Alexander is that a team can play relatively strong defense and he’ll still finish with close to 30 points. He draws fouls and rises to every big moment.
That’s bad news for the Pacers because this much is clear: Oklahoma City will win the series if SGA keeps averaging 36 points per game. No doubt.
Who knows what’s in store Tuesday night? The comeback Pacers will be sky high at home, and the Thunder will be motivated to seize control.
But if we’re going to get a truly competitive series, Indiana needs to go 2-0 at home.
