The Oklahoma City Thunder have evened up the 2025 NBA Finals after taking a 123-107 victory over the Indiana Pacers in Game 2 on Sunday night. They began to pull away towards the end of the first quarter, with Chet Holmgren seizing the momentum in OKC’s favor after scoring seven straight points — setting the stage for Aaron Wiggins to run rampant against the Pacers’ defense in the second quarter as the Thunder built up a lead that even the miraculous powers of Indiana couldn’t come back from.
Holmgren and Wiggins, along with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, will draw most of the headlines for how they established the Thunder on both ends of the floor, allowing them to build a 23-point first-half lead that proved insurmountable even for the mighty Pacers. But it was Alex Caruso, as per usual, who infused OKC with the energy they needed to turn on the jets defensively against the Pacers — guarding everyone from Tyrese Haliburton to Pascal Siakam to Andrew Nembhard.
In Holmgren’s postgame presser, he was asked to say his thoughts about the energy Caruso gave the Thunder, especially when Caruso, at 31 years of age, is the team’s oldest player. Holmgren then hilariously defended Caruso from such “disrespect”.
“Don’t disrespect my GOAT like that man. He’s one of those guys who you know is going to bring it every single night whether he’s 22 or 30 [years old]. Doesn’t matter. He’s going to bring it. As a collective, we’re gonna feed off of that. Also his ability to kinda process things that are happening out there and relay it and communicate it to everyone is very important for us. Hopefully that doesn’t fade away as the years go,” Holmgren said with a huge smile on his face, via Clemente Almanza of Thunder Wire.
Chet Holmgren was asked about Alex Caruso’s energy, especially for a 31-year-old. Jokingly said: “Don’t disrespect my GOAT like that man.” pic.twitter.com/V4mzv6R25Q
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) June 9, 2025
Caruso is who comes up in the encyclopedia whenever someone looks up what a winning NBA player is like, and the Thunder have to be very happy to have him in their corner.
Thunder regain momentum as they head on the road in the 2025 NBA Finals
After a disastrous ending to Game 1, the pressure was on the Thunder to take care of business in Game 2 of the 2025 NBA Finals. That’s exactly what they did; buoyed by a total team effort led by Gilgeous-Alexander’s 38 points, the Thunder ran out into a huge first-half lead and did not look back.
They will look to keep it going when they head into Gainbridge Fieldhouse for Game 3 on Wednesday night at 8:30 PM EST.
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