OKLAHOMA CITY — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Indiana Pacers 123-107 in Game 2 of the NBA Finals, avenging their series one-point series-opening loss at the Paycom Center. After Thunder fans showed out in droves for their first NBA Finals game in 13 years, it didn’t disappoint in Sunday’s win. After a blowout victory, Gilgeous-Alexander addressed its significance during his media availability.
Gilgeous-Alexander called Thunder fans the best in the world, which for him, says it makes the road games that much easier when you have the loudest crowd at home.
“It helps a lot. It feels like throughout the whole playoffs, the crowd has found a way to get louder every game. I don’t know how they do it. It’s special to play in front of them. It makes the road games a little bit easier because it’s almost not as loud as it’s been at home. So, they’re special. Best fans in the world.”
Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 34 points on 11-of-21 attempts, and 11-of-12 from the free-throw line, eight assists, five rebounds, and four steals. Alex Caruso and Aaron Wiggins led the bench production with 20 and 18 points, including a combined 9-of-16 from deep.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on ‘punches thrown’ in Thunder win
Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander opened up about punches thrown in Game 2, metaphorically speaking, against the Pacers, the NBA Finals has been a slugfest. From the Thunder losing Game 1 after holding a 15-point lead to a back-and-forth battle where the Pacers didn’t trail far behind until the second half.
For Gilgeous-Alexander, Game 2 came down to which team could throw the most punches.
“You have to stay focused on the task at hand. Now, whatever that may be, for your team, and how you want to attack them, or go about the gameplan, but you have to lock in, and stay focused,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Even tonight, you had some moments of slippage. You’re not going to be perfect out there, but it goes without saying that to make it this far into the season, it’s going to take a supreme level of focus to reach the ultimate goal.
“And they’re a display of that at the highest form. They play a full 48 minutes, and you can’t just throw the first punch. You have to throw all the punches all night, and that’s what we did. We threw enough punches tonight to get the W,” Gilgeous-Alexander concluded.
The Pacers will host the Thunder in Game 3 on Wednesday.
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